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LETHBRIDGE, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Alberta government to cut spending, pay down debt, and increase transparency for bureaucrat salaries. These are the CTF’s key pre-budget recommendations for Alberta.
“Premier Danielle Smith has done the right thing for Albertans by cutting taxes,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “But now she needs to take the next step and cut government spending to pay down the province’s massive debt.
“The tax relief is at risk if Smith doesn’t get the size and cost of the Alberta government under control.”
Alberta is currently on track to have a debt of $82.9 billion this fiscal year. The government will waste $3 billion on debt interest payments this year.
In this week’s budget, the CTF is recommending that the Alberta government:
- Meet or beat the income tax rate of the NDP government in British Columbia
- Pay down debt to save money on debt interest payments.
- Stop giving taxpayers’ money to corporations and NHL teams.
- Scrap funding for individual arts projects and conduct a funding review.
- Reduce Alberta MLA pay below the MLA pay in B.C.
- Cut size of the Alberta bureaucracy to pre-lockdown levels, saving billions.
- Reduce the number of directors at Alberta Health Services by half, saving approximately $28 million.
- Conduct a value-for-money audit of AHS roles that appear on the sunshine list.
- Reduce sunshine list threshold to $123,838 – the salary of an Alberta MLA.
Alberta taxpayers were forced to pay more than $5.2 million to individuals for their personal arts projects in 2024-25, a 91 percent increase from the previous year. Examples of the art included take out food container garbage taped to tinsel and an earlier example of a woman videotaping herself hiding behind a sheet of paper.
“The Alberta government should not be blowing more than $5 million a year on personal art projects and it shouldn’t be overpaying AHS managers to manage more managers,” Sims said. “The Alberta government needs to find savings in Budget 2026 to start paying down debt.”
Budget 2026 will be released on Thursday, Feb. 26, in Edmonton.
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Alberta Legislature in Edmonton
CTF images are FREE for media to use
For more information & interviews:
Kris Sims, Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Phone or text: 604-997-1798
Email: [email protected]
X (Twitter): @kris_sims
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is Canada’s leading non-partisan citizens’ advocacy group fighting for lower taxes, less waste and accountable government.
Founded in 1990, the CTF has seven offices across Canada.
The CTF is funded by free-will contributions that do not get tax receipts.
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