The Redford government has announced plans it says will give ordinary Albertans a meaningful say in setting boundaries on provincial spending, saving and infrastructure funding.
The ‘Dollars and Sense' consultations will include the gathering of public input through online surveys and at a series of panel discussions.
“It's important to hear what all Albertans have to say on how they want their government to manage the province's finances and savings,” said Kyle Fawcett, associate minister of finance.
“I hope people take the opportunity to share their opinions about how we can shape our province's future prosperity.”
A website, www.dollarsandsense.alberta.ca, has been set up to give residents a chance to review information and provide comments on when the province should save, whether a dedicated account for infrastructure should be created, and what the Alberta Heritage Trust Fund should be used for.
The deadline for online submissions is October 31. A report summarizing the results from both the online survey and discussions at expert panels will be released later in the fall.
Also starting next month the government will be conducting public sessions across the province to gather resident input on priorities for the 2013 provincial budget.
The Wildrose official opposition says that to be truly worthwhile this latest round of consultations must include a commitment to “end wasteful spending that puts core social programs at risk and that will rescue Alberta's Heritage Fund from its current neglected state.”
“We've seen this routine before where the government has a pre-determined decision and fans out across the province to have invite-only closed-door consultations,” says Wildrose finance critic Rob Anderson.
“It's time to have a real open and transparent process that helps Alberta save for the future instead of maintaining the status quo of big uncontrolled spending and ongoing deficit budgets that put the sustainability of core programs at risk.”
Of course this new consultation project is nothing new in Alberta. Premier Redford's predecessors have all conducted similar public opinion gathering projects over the years – in some cases the input was implemented into government plans and in others it was essentially ignored.
Whether this latest project will end up being more like the former than the latter remains in Premier Redford's hands.
The government says these ‘Dollars and Sense' consultations will give Albertans a meaningful opportunity, as Minister Fawcett says, to “shape our province's future prosperity.”
West Central residents are encouraged to take part in this consultation project – and hopefully in the end the Redford Tories will make it worthwhile by taking at least some of the resident input to heart.
