Unpaid leave to help provinces finances

[Hamloc]

Mustardman, when Ralph Klein retired there was a 17 billion dollar sustainability fund. Every government after him spent more than they took in. Having said that I believe there was still 3 billion in that fund when the NDP came to power. Certainly the PC governments of Stelmach and Redford could spend the money but the NDP are setting a new standard.

[Guest]

Need to change their name to "Sasquatch Party"

Better chance of seeing a Sasquatch than they are of Balancing books

at least he knows it has to be paid , what about this other f$&king moron that thinks they balance themselves ????????????

[Oliver88]

Should do like Ralph Klein did when he came to power in Alberta. Everyone from the top ( Premier) down took the same percentage pay cut.Every person that gets a pay cheque from the province takes the same percentage cut..

This is a wonderful idea, Ralph Klein administration would be a good one to copy for reducing costs.
The good news is there is a great reason to get out the chopping block and axe to reduce salaries, perks, green projects, all unnecessary trips.
SaskTel and SGI should be evaluated for review and possibly privatized or at least some of their divisions.
Healthcare spending is over 40% of all government spending so must be reduced.
There is a LOT of wasted resources put into universities, time to trim especially for all the "degrees" that don't end up getting students employment.


We don't want to end up anything like the dumpster fire with the Alberta NDP bringing in a carbon tax after having a $15 billion deficit. Where are the green jobs they promised?

[Partners]

We had good times..yes we are broke..why?
Because everyone wants a new hospital..a new school..all the roads paved..a wage increase every yr.for ever..
People are spoiled..we want it all..plus be wealthy..

[Hamloc]

Absolutely right partners!

[perfecho]

Well...just can't sit back on this one......one of the reason's we are in a big deficit, is due to Ralph's cut backs. (And I was a Ralph supporter in the beginning) The cutbacks let a lot of infrastructure and civil servants out of the picture....civil servants mostly from Edmonton, not the favored Calgary...but when they had to be caught up, they cost way more than they should have. It's like a roof on your house...let it go until you can afford it, and you will have to rebuild the house, not just the roof. So when we had to rebuild, it cost way more than it should have. He also used proceeds of the Heritage Trust Fund in general revenues...

"The rest will be siphoned off to general revenues. According to the Edmonton Journal the government has no specific plans for the money but will use it “to pay for existing programs. In all, more than $36 billion has been drained off over the years in this way. What was meant to act as a savings plan and rainy day fund for the long-term benefit of Albertans has become a cash cow to cover short-term needs of governments that can’t control their own spending. Though it has long been Canada’s richest province, Alberta still spends more each year than it brings in." (National Post 2014)

And again, there were favored corps and industries that got away with not paying what they should have...plus industries that got favored with tax payer dollars.... "$240 million Lakeside $ 32 million Cor-Van $ 29 million Cargill $ 9 million Horse Racing $130 million Electric Co's." Alpac, Ghermezian brothers, Pocklington, loans through Alberta Treasury Branch....forgiven royalties and taxes...
I am not sorry to say, at this time, I would much rather take the ND's than the corruption of the Cons. And they too will have to be replaced. We had a great opportunity, however it was wasted... IMHO, Ralph was not a savior, he was closer to the wolf in a sheep skin...or at least he got to be.
Cheers

[Guest]

We had good times..yes we are broke..why?
Because everyone wants a new hospital..a new school..all the roads paved..a wage increase every yr.for ever..
People are spoiled..we want it all..plus be wealthy..

Truer words have never been spoken . it is just this simple . and to compound the problem , half the work force doesn't want to work anymore

[fjlip]

We had good times..yes we are broke..why?
Because everyone wants a new hospital..a new school..all the roads paved..a wage increase every yr.for ever..
People are spoiled..we want it all..plus be wealthy..

50 years on the farm to get what the 20 somethings want at the start. Wants beat needs.
Agree on those who are able to work!
Why the hell does the unemployment rate NOT count those NOT looking for work????
Bet Sk is about 20%, other provinces way higher too.

[Hamloc]

Perfecho, I think Ralph was a victim of his own success. The low income tax rates and large influx of workers created an increased demand on infrastructure and services that couldn't be met without a large increase in spending. Did they make some bad investment decisions absolutely. Has every government spent more than they brought, absolutely.

Interesting, had a salesman in my yard today who deals mostly with the colonies. He was telling me of what is available through growing forward 2 for energy efficiency improvements. They will pay up to 70% of the project cost up to 750000 dollars. He was telling me he had worked with colonies building new shops and with lighting, insulation and then installing high efficiency boiler systems they had received over 250000 dollars towards these projects, one was 400000 dollars. Am I that out of the loop to realize this existed or is MNP keeping the Colonies that far ahead of the rest of us. Looked on the government sight out of money for this year, no surprise.

Perfecho if your worried about bad government investments wait until the government starts doling out carbon tax money.

[sawfly1]

oliver here we go again, conservatives/ sask party in power'
start spending fast and loose. and in the best of times at that.

just like the last time, now again ,you want to start selling off assets.
potash corp. and others last time,
sask tel sask power this time.

how long do you think you would survive if ran run a farm like that.

sure sell off your assets, sell the land , rent it back
sell the equipment lease it back.
pretty soon you have nothing , then what?.

then you have to elect the NDP to tax the shit out of every one for eight years.
to get the books back in order.

then change your party name, to get elected , pretend your all new and better.

and screw it up again.

[perfecho]

Well, Hamloc, think it was more than success....he got full of himself and hung around a crowd that "respected" him when he helped them......he did forget what got him there. He grabbed onto the "entitlement" cliché that did in his party. There were way too many back room deals that cost Alberta big time.
Yeah, the return of the carbon levy will be interesting, and unlike most here, I am OK with it. I think of it as a "too much" tax.....people drive way bigger vehicles, waste gallons of fuel leaving trucks, tractors idling unnecessarily....there is a better way, and what I like is people are talking and thinking about our wasteful society. We even think about taking one vehicle to town more often, even though gas is cheaper than it has been.....we are trying to do things differently because we want to help make a difference.
And to me...that is the important part, and I think the younger generation is more cognizant of this sort of thing and I find lots of young people are "less entitled" than their parents were...and its good to see. Although I still won't give up the motor home, the big house, because I too, am entitled.
Stop in some day on your way to Edmonton...we are just off number 2....

[Hamloc]

Well, Hamloc, think it was more than success....he got full of himself and hung around a crowd that "respected" him when he helped them......he did forget what got him there. He grabbed onto the "entitlement" cliché that did in his party. There were way too many back room deals that cost Alberta big time.
Yeah, the return of the carbon levy will be interesting, and unlike most here, I am OK with it. I think of it as a "too much" tax.....people drive way bigger vehicles, waste gallons of fuel leaving trucks, tractors idling unnecessarily....there is a better way, and what I like is people are talking and thinking about our wasteful society. We even think about taking one vehicle to town more often, even though gas is cheaper than it has been.....we are trying to do things differently because we want to help make a difference.
And to me...that is the important part, and I think the younger generation is more cognizant of this sort of thing and I find lots of young people are "less entitled" than their parents were...and its good to see. Although I still won't give up the motor home, the big house, because I too, am entitled.
Stop in some day on your way to Edmonton...we are just off number 2....

That would be an interesting visit Perfecho, I hope it works out someday.