| Perhaps it’s the last grand gesture of a king who wants to be remembered by his subjects as generous rather than mean-minded. Perhaps it’s his last gasp: Ralph’s chance to do whatever he wants before the party gives him the heave-ho. Or maybe it’s a cover for some wretched policy yet to be unveiled that will cost us much more than $400 a person.
Whatever the reason, if indeed reason had anything to do with the decision, most Albertans will welcome the extra cash to be dispensed, according to Ralph, just before Christmas. And why shouldn’t they? It’s not very often that a person gets to decide exactly how she will spend a piece of revenue collected by the government. And it sure beats flinging coins at homeless people, as Ralph did a few years back.
Nevertheless, this has to be the most bizarre decision of King Klein’s reign. This is the gist of it: every Albertan – man, woman and child (except for those in prison) – will receive $400 from the government of Alberta. The giveaway will total $1.4 billion dollars, or about 20 per cent of the government’s projected revenue surplus for this fiscal year.
Ralph didn’t actually have to do anything in order for the government treasury to amass such wealth – it’s simply a function of the rising price of oil and gas, and that comes about because of decisions made quite a distance away from the Kingdom of Alberta.
Since the money started to pile up in the treasury a few years back, Albertans have become used to hearing government revenue discussed in terms of "billions." What’s a billion here or a billion there? After all, Klein and company spent more than $4 billion in 2001 (just before the provincial election) on electricity and natural gas rebates to compensate for the deregulation mess.
But $1 billion still buys a lot. The new children’s hospital in Calgary will only cost about $253 million. Of course, $50 million of that has to be raised through corporate and private donations because we wouldn’t want the government to have to pay for the whole thing. If a new hospital is ever built in southeast Calgary, it will cost about $620 million. The government’s capital plan for secondary education – new facilities for universities and colleges – will cost only $614 million over the next four years. Those three projects alone could be funded by the money that will be dispersed in the Christmas bonus.
Which raises some interesting questions. Would you rather have a hospital in southeast Calgary or $400 just before Christmas? Would you rather have a world-class university, with reasonable tuition fees or no fees, or extra cash for shopping? If you’re a single mom, would you rather have a regular social services cheque that provides enough for decent housing and food for your family, or a one-time coin toss from the government? Keep in mind that in the fiscal year 2003-04, the entire budget for the government department called Seniors and Community Supports (formerly Social Services) was $1.3 billion, about the same amount that Santa Ralph is spending on us for Christmas. It would have made more sense to double up payments for a year for the people who really need the money.
But then Ralph didn’t ask me, or anyone else, it would appear, for an opinion on the matter. He didn’t bother going through that pesky Legislative Assembly where elected people stand up and ask embarrassing questions – it doesn’t sit again until November and the cheques will be in the mail by then.
He didn’t even listen to the Chamber of Commerce, which wanted more corporate tax cuts. But then the business shirts always want tax cuts. They are as predictable as parrots in a pub. No matter the question, you know what their answer will be.
I’m thinking that Ralph hankers for the days when he was the much-beloved mayor of Calgary. It was the mid-1980s, Calgary was on the road to the Olympics, money was pouring in from the federal and provincial governments, and the corporate sector. Ralph wasn’t a tight-fisted fiscal conservative then. He was a spender, and he was popular. Calgarians saw him as one of them, someone who knew what it was like to work for a living, someone who could quaff a beer with the regulars at the St. Louis, a mayor who had the citizens’ well-being at heart.
But that was a long time ago. Since then Ralph has become arrogant and isolated. He has no clear vision for the province, or his role as premier. He stumbles from pillar to post, mouthing policy sound bites. None of them seem to have been thought through, they’re more like bits of the last conversation he happened to have with who knows who. He embarrasses us on the national stage, embarrasses his own party, contradicts his ministers and befuddles Albertans almost every time he opens his mouth.
We can only hope that the $400 Christmas bonus is Ralph’s parting gift to us – his last-ditch attempt to regain our favour. After all, 53 per cent of people who turned out to vote in the last provincial election voted against Klein and company. Even Ralph must know it is time to go. But not before one last fling, one last stab at popularity. So what if it costs $1.4 billion? |
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