AB Pol Econ

Frustrations of a FOIPP applicant- the case of the Alberta Pension Plan (Part 1)

24Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Government Finances, Intergovernmental, Opinion/Research, Politics

Frustrations of a FOIPP applicant- the case of the Alberta Pension Plan (Part 1)

Updated 25 March 2024 Last summer the Globe and Mail ran a series of important articles about the failure of Canada’s freedom of information legislation to provide meaningful information to the public. While this issue is endemic across provincial and federal governments, the series singled out Alberta’s FOIPP (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy) system as being especially vexatious. Specifically, The Globe initially sought basic information about the tracking system requests for “data fields from each ministry’s FOI tracking system, such as when requests were received and completed and whether any information was provided.” The Alberta government, unlike every other jurisdiction in Canada, denied The Globe’s requests, claiming “no records” existed – even thoug...

Eric J. Hanson Memorial lecture – 10 April 2024

22Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Uncategorized

Eric J. Hanson Memorial lecture – 10 April 2024

Readers are cordially invited to the 2024 Eric J. Hanson Memorial lecture at the TELUS International Centre at the University of Alberta hosted by the Institute for Public Economics. To register please go to this link. This year's speaker is Anil Arora, the former Chief Statistician of Canada from 2016 to 2024 speaking on "Data Insights for a Better Canada." Anil Arora is a Canadian civil servant who has been the Chief Statistician of Canada since September 19, 2016. He is the twelfth Chief Statistician since Statistics Canada was founded as the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in 1918. He first joined Statistics Canada in 1988 and has since overseen major transformations such as computer-assisted interviewing, online publishing and multi-dimensional output databases, and more recen...

17Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Capital Spending, Credit Ratings, Education, Government Finances, Politics

Budget 2024- 13th Post-mortem- Panelists’ presentations

On Monday, 11 March I moderated a panel of experts who provided different perspectives on Alberta's 2024 budget tabled by the Honourable Nate Horner on Thursday, 29 February 2024. Our panelists included: Shauna Feth, the CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce gave her Association's views on the Budget. See PDF of slides below. The ACA's perspective (slides 10-15) is generally approving of the budget which supports business competitiveness, growing trade, building healthy communities, and improving government accountability. Two areas of concern regarding competitiveness were Land Titles Office fees increasing which will effect commercial real estate, and the insurance premium tax. The Chamber was pleased with increased investment in the First Nations Development Fund and Alberta...

AIMCO and the Heritage Fund- What is investment income? Part 3

26Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Government Finances, Investment, Opinion/Research

AIMCO and the Heritage Fund- What is investment income? Part 3

In the first part of this series, I investigated information the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) supplies to the Securities and Exchange Commission on their quarterly Form 13F filing. Some unusual findings were cited about AIMCo's U.S. holdings, that to my knowledge, have not been publicized before. In Part 2, I looked at AIMCo's total portfolio and performance metrics which are disclosed in its 2022 annual report, the latest available. I concluded that Alberta taxpayers and citizens deserve much better financial reporting on the significant assets managed by the Government of Alberta and its agencies. Indeed, given AIMCo's performance on its fixed income portfolio, I argued that it would be prudent for Treasury Board and Finance to consider repatriating managing short t...

26Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Capital Spending, Credit Ratings, Energy, Environment, Fiscal History, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

Kaplan-Ten major reasons why Alberta’s new fiscal framework won’t bring a long-term sustainability focus to fiscal planning.

In this critical and timely essay- a few days before the province's 2024 Budget is tabled, fiscal planning expert Lennie Kaplan provides an in-depth analysis of problems embedded in the Smith government's Sustainable Fiscal Planning and Reporting Act (SFPRA). Kaplan argues the SFPRA must be fully re-opened to meet Premier Smith’s commitment to long-term fiscal planning. This analysis reveals there is a great deal of flexibility in the government's framework in spite of the impression that the government has little fiscal flexibility to spend. In her televised address on February 21, 2024, Premier Smith promised to bring a long-term fiscal sustainability focus to Alberta fiscal planning, including building up the assets of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (AHSTF) and paying d...

Auditor General ‘qualifies’ his unqualified opinion

5Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Credit Ratings, Energy, Environment, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

Auditor General ‘qualifies’ his unqualified opinion

In December 2023 Alberta’s Auditor General, Doug Wylie produced a report on his opinion on the Government of Alberta’s Consolidated Financial Statements, The report identifies in the matters which, in the professional judgment of the Auditor General and his staff (OAG), were the most significant matters raised during their audit work. These matters were the Accounting for environmental liabilities Implementation of the new public sector accounting standards related to asset retirement obligations, financial instruments, and foreign currency. (OAG, December 2023, p. 15). This post focusses on environmental liabilities. Background Alberta’s financial statements are released by the end of June each year by the Finance Minister and the OAG’s audit objective is “to provi...

3Feb

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Credit Ratings, Government Finances, Investment, Politics

AIMCo’s Portfolio and Performance (Part 2)

This series has been informed by the public meeting of the Standing Committee of Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. An overview of the meeting can be found on Abpolecon.ca here. Part 1 investigated information the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) supplies to the Securities and Exchange Commission on their quarterly Form 13F filing. Some unusual findings were cited about AIMCo's U.S. holdings, that to my knowledge have not been publicized before. The 13F filing is the most current disclosure of AIMCo's assets to 30 September 2023. In Part 2, I examine AIMCo's total portfolio and performance metrics which are disclosed in its 2022 annual report, the latest available. At the Heritage Fund public meeting on 30 November 2023 (Hansard record), one of the problems ide...

Now is the time to establish a Legislative Assembly Budget Office in Alberta says Lennie Kaplan

28Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Credit Ratings, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Politics

Now is the time to establish a Legislative Assembly Budget Office in Alberta says Lennie Kaplan

In a second of a series of essays recommending more fiscal accountability, Lennie Kaplan proposes a new legislative office. The office would assist legislators outside in provincial cabinet in holding government accountable for their fiscal plan. The new office would provide analysis of the cost of government programs. Alberta needs a legislative budget office Provincial governments across Canada, including Alberta, have seen their credibility decline over the past two decades due to inaccurate budget forecasts and a lack of comprehensive assessment of the costs of policy measures and programs, particularly policy measures and programs with significant medium- to long-term fiscal implications. Weakness in legislative oversight over spending and the lack of legislative scrutiny ov...

23Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Energy, Environment, Politics

Alberta needs an Alberta Climate Change Accountability Act contributor Lennie Kaplan argues

I have known our new contributor Lennie Kaplan since a meeting with then Treasurer Jim Dinning, Alberta Liberal party finance critic Mike Percy and other Treasury officials about 1994. Lennie was then Percy's legislative assistant and I was part of a briefing crew on amendments to the Financial Administration Act. Dinning, in a somewhat unorthodox procedure, shared legislative briefings with the like-minded opposition critic before tabling in the Assembly. Lennie and my paths crossed episodically over the years. I was therefore very pleased when he contacted me about writing some pieces based on his budgetary experience as a practitioner and a researcher. I might not always agree with Mr. Kaplan but I deeply believe, like Lennie, that accountability, transparency, and better f...

14Jan

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Agencies, Government Finances, Opinion/Research

AIMCo’s investments -Part 1- U.S. equities

In my recent post describing events at the public meeting of the Standing Committee of the Alberta Heritage Fund I provided an overview of AIMCo's investments in the United States. In this post, the first of a three part series, I take a deeper look at AIMCo's U.S. portfolio.The next part addresses AIMCo's overall portfolio of about $150 billion and part 3 examines the volatility of Heritage Fund income. Background As an institutional investor with over $100-million in U.S. registered securities AIMCo is required to file a monthly Form 13F. The filing was utilized by members of the public questioning the wisdom and ethics of certain investments. This externally required disclosure by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission only shows a small proportion of AIMCo's total assets un...