Back in 1991, Provincial Treasurer Dick Johnston declared to the world: “The 1991 budget delivers on all our commitments to Albertans. Mr. Speaker, this is a balanced budget.”
Unfortunately it wasn’t true. The truth was that the Alberta government had fudged the numbers in the provincial budget and ended up running a $2.6 billion deficit – the second largest under Don Getty’s watch.
This game of jiggery-pokery wasn’t appreciated by Albertans and they rightfully demanded the government open up their books and tell Albertans on a regular basis what was going on with the provincial budget.
This did not fall on deaf ears. When Ralph Klein took over as premier in 1992, one of his tasks to his new provincial treasurer, Jim Dinning, was to restore confidence in Alberta’s books.
From that, first Bill 67 was passed in 1992 and Bill 40, the Government Accountability Act, was passed in 1995. The former required the government to update Albertans every quarter as to how the provincial budget was faring, the latter enshrined in law what information government had to include in provincial budgets and annual reports.
The Government Accountability Act was landmark legislation that codified a high standard of transparency and accountability in the provincial budget making process. In fact, former treasurer Jim Dinning declared in 1995 that the support he had received from his fellow MLAs as he pitched the Government Accountability Act “was one of the highlights of my career in public service.”
And while the two acts were eventually merged, the nuts and bolts remained intact for the past 18 years.
That was until Finance Minister Doug Horner introduced Bill 12.
Bill 12 will repeal the Fiscal Responsibility Act and Government Accountability Act, replacing them with the Financial Management Act.
Repealing the Fiscal Responsibility Act will legalize deficits. The government has been amending that legislation nearly every year to allow them to run deficits, so it’s already not worth the paper it’s printed on. However, repealing the Government Accountability Act and replacing it with significantly watered-down legislation will allow the government to keep vital information from Albertans.
Specifically, once Bill 12 is passed it will mean that the government won’t have to provide Albertans with provincial revenue sources by category, expenses by ministry, a breakdown of liabilities and assets, borrowing (debt) requirements, and the details of capital spending by ministry.
In place of specific items that currently must be included in the government’s consolidated fiscal plan, Bill 12 only requires that there be revenues and expenditures for “an operational plan, a savings plan, a capital plan,” and a list of the major economic assumptions.
In theory, the government could present its entire budget on the back of a napkin.
To be fair, it’s highly doubtful that the government would take their highly detailed budgets and replace them with a single sheet of parchment, but might they remove information they find embarrassing if it’s no longer required by law?
That’s precisely what Finance Minister Doug Horner has done since last August when it comes to the quarterly budget updates – in violation of the current law.
Horner removed the provincial balance sheet (showing assets and liabilities) and grouped all revenues and expenditures into larger, less-specific categories when he tabled the first quarter budget update last August.
Bill 12 also amends the quarterly budget update requirements to no longer require the government provide information on the accuracy of the budget, but rather short three-month snapshots.
In a twisted way, it’s a bit satisfying to see minister Horner confirm the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s claim that he was in violation of the law by amending it to meet his current practices.
Premier Redford and Finance Minister Doug Horner need to understand that Albertans have a healthy, natural suspicion of politicians. When those politicians water-down accountability laws in order to hide information, they shouldn’t be surprised if that suspicion turns into derision.
Or perhaps it was best said by former treasurer Jim Dinning on May 11, 1995 as he was moving third reading of the Government Accountability Act: “I'm proud that my colleagues have been willing to set the standard and set a high one such that no matter who may come behind us, they will not be able to water the standard down without looking at the whites of the eyes of Albertans and saying, "We're going to deliver to you substandard government."”
If Bill 12 passes, Mr. Dinning will be correct. Substandard indeed.
Co-authored by CTF Alberta Director Derek Fildebrandt and National Communications Vice-President Scott Hennig
