All eyes now on provincial budget
Posted Feb 23, 2011 7:44 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
With the long awaited throne speech over, the province’s focus is now on the budget set to be unveiled in Edmonton on Thursday.
Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove had been quoted earlier as saying it will be fiscally tough, but the Tories still promise there will be money for priorities.
Mount Royal University associate professor Lori Williams tells 660News this will be a budget where the government will want to fly below the radar.
“I think more than anything the resolution of existing problems has got to be the focus of this sitting,” she says. “The visionary future has to be left up to others, those who are going to be taking up the leadership positions in those three parties that have vacancies.”
Williams says the government should look at focusing on things that face most Albertans, which could go a long way towards appeasing those that have become annoyed with the Progressive Conservatives.
She says she was surprised to see the premier talk about Bill 1, a piece of legislation that would strengthen economic ties with Asia; something she says doesn’t concern most Albertans.
“Some of the stuff is a little bit visionary and there’s a new direction that they want to move in,” says Williams. “But they really have to get their nose to the grindstone and get some work done, solve some of the problems, and that’s going to be the surest foundation upon which to build the next government.”
She says she’ll be particularly interested to see what the shadow budgets from the Liberals, Wildrose Alliance and the Alberta Party have to say.
