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Well, it could have been worse

Considering the mess the province is in, it’s actually kind of surprising the first-ever budget from the NDP released last Tuesday isn’t worse than it is.

Considering the mess the province is in, it’s actually kind of surprising the first-ever budget from the NDP released last Tuesday isn’t worse than it is.

Sure, it’s going to take quite a few years before Alberta is even close to pretending that the budget is balanced, but with the oil-rich, top-heavy budget system that the province has had for years, it would be foolish of people to think that a new government would fix everything — at least not right away.

For years and years, the previous Alberta government has sunk money into the oil industry to (what appears to be) the exclusion of all else. This new one seems to have picked up the dropped ball when it comes to putting money where it counts: in education (both lower and higher) and infrastructure projects — some of which may even be in rural Alberta.

That being said, the new budget isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, of course.

The introduction of a “sin tax” on alcohol and tobacco is bound to irritate some people. An increase to the tax on gas will make filling up at the pump even less fun (although, gas prices are still lower here than on the East Coast). Finally, you really had to look to find out if anything at all will be coming to Athabasca region. The answer: probably not.

During interviews and presentations, MLA Colin Piquette mostly insists that he’s going to “fight” to put the Athabasca region’s infrastructure deficit on the agenda.

However, when the Athabasca bridge project isn’t even in the three-year capital spending plan, it tends to leave one with not much faith. The highway twinning project is a lovely mess: with one side saying one thing to the press and in official statements, and yet another thing to officials.

In the end, though, despite an increase in price at the pumps and the tills, an increase in taxes for the wealthy among us and the serious lack of anything to do with rural Northern Alberta, it could’ve been worse.

We could’ve went the way of Greece and Detroit and went bankrupt instead of just looking at red numbers for a couple years.

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