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It is difficult for Alberta residents not to be caught up in the "challenges" facing our currently depressed economy.  Whether you are a social worker addressing crises stemming from the wildfires or recent unemployment of clients to a young entrepreneur struggling to make inroads into craft brewing, it is difficult to step outside one's immediate "space-time continuum." So this column is going to take the quarterly reports from seven banks' most recent quarterly reports (31 July 2016), summarizing the comments about "Alberta," "energy," and "oil and gas."  One of the banks is Canadian Western Bank and it is not surprising that considerably more attention was paid to these terms than by the Big 6 banks. For those readers wishing more detail, the link below extracts the key sections of the...

Two recent developments on the labour front suggest that the provincial government does not intend to reduce wages in the public sector...yet. Custodians at Edmonton Public Schools received a new three-year contract.  The contract grants the 800 workers a 1.75 per cent increase effective 1 September 2016, a two per cent retroactive adjustment for 2015-16 and a $700 lump sum retroactive payment to September 2014. Last week, the provincial government concluded an agreement with the Alberta Medical Association.  According to the government's news release, a "needs-based" Physician Resource Plan will place physicians where they are needed.  The agreement also is expected to "improve financial sustainability, quality of care, and access."  Moreover, a new compensation model will be developed...

Tom Flanagan's article in The Globe and Mail on 3 September offers one perspective on recent changes to general election financing in Alberta. In his opinion piece, Professor Flanagan analyzes the recent moves by the NDP government to alter the electoral playing field. Dr. Flanagan is no stranger to election planning and understands intimately the details of election finance laws. Flanagan  observes that changes proposed in Bill 1, which ended corporate and union donations harmed the Progressive Conservatives in two respects.  First, by ending corporate donations, the Tories gave up a huge advantage enjoyed since the time of the Lougheed dynasty.  Over their 44 year reign, the PC Association of Alberta collected millions from oil firms, construction and engineering firms, and law firms,...

On 23 August, Joe Ceci, Treasury Board President and Finance Minister released the provincial government's first scorecard on its April budget. The First Quarter Fiscal Update detailed the financial implications of the Fort McMurray wildfire.  However, the net impact of the fire, after estimated federal assistance, is minimal in a financial sense but not a human one. A key concern for provincial fiscal planners will be the pace of rebuilding in the Wood Buffalo area and projected rise in employment in this area. The practice of updating the public on the province's fiscal situation goes back to the mid-1990s when then Treasurer Jim Dinning brought in a batch of fiscal rules to consolidate financial reporting and to mandate firm deadlines for budget updates and financial reports. Reve...