The premier of Alberta laments postponing the tax decrease and expects

The premier of Alberta laments postponing the tax decrease and expects that health reform will be paid for in 2025.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is eager to show that her government can finally put the pieces of a  shattered provincial  health system back together in the new  year.
In a recent year-end interview, Smith said  that the work that began in 2023 to create four new organizations  instead of  a single health authority is almost complete, but  much more  needs to  be done.
"I think next year will be the real  test of the new model," she  said.
Critics said the restructuring would  silo decision-making, make the system  harder for patients and workers to navigate, add layers of bureaucracy and fail to address the shortage of  health care workers and  beds.
Some of the biggest  things to  be done include  ensuring that everyone  has access to a family doctor and  reducing wait times  for surgeries to  what doctors recommend. For Ms. Smith, it  was about identifying  the big problems and starting to  solve them.
"That was very rewarding for me," she said,  noting the introduction of a new  reimbursement model for nurse practitioners, expanding the role of pharmacists and  increasing the number of  surgical procedures in private  facilities.
Ms. Smith's coalition Conservative government  has been busy on  several other fronts in  2024.
Ms. Smith highlighted  "tremendous progress" in  overhauling electricity market rules to try to calm  price volatility and lower  electricity bills, including  the introduction of a new default rate starting in  January.
She also said Alberta  has dealt with more than 1,200  fires, including one that  destroyed the mountain town of Jasper in  July. In the spring,  the Smith government laid the groundwork for a new provincial police  force and committed increasing  amounts of money  to sheriff-led projects, including  strengthening security  on Alberta's southern border with  Montana.
The UCP also  imposed new regulatory hurdles  on the development of renewable wind and solar  energy.
And a provincial law  bans partisan  slogans at the local level. In  the upcoming municipal elections in October, municipalities will be forced to count  votes manually, among other changes  that will reshape the political  landscape.
Smith has the unwavering support of the UCP.  In November, she won a 91.5  percent approval rating  among party members shortly after introducing a new Alberta Bill of  Rights that promises to protect the right to refuse  vaccinations.
She continues to be buoyed by her near-constant legal and symbolic  resistance to the federal Liberal government,  which is deeply unpopular in Alberta, and  by her willingness to turn conservative  social proposals into government  policy.
Similarly, the government also passed  a law restricting  health care for transgender  people, which is now  the subject of a  legal challenge.
The cost of  Smith's health care overhaul, estimated by the government  at $85 million, will not be the only item  cutting Alberta's budget in the new  year.
Billions of dollars have been  pledged over the next three years to build new  schools as classrooms  become overcrowded. About 250,000 public sector workers are still in collective bargaining talks with government  employers.
All this, while Finance Minister Nate Horner  warned of the  "real risk" of a deficit on the horizon, depending on whether oil  prices fall below budget  projections.
The government's projections do not take into account the  impact of future policies, including  the 25% tariffs threatened by  new US President Donald  Trump.
As the Alberta government  prepares its 2025 budget,  a billion-dollar regret lingers in Smith's  mind.
"We probably should have  included the tax cut in our first budget," Smith  said. That key election promise to save taxpayers hundreds of dollars a year  starting in 2023-24  could be  kept four years  later.
"We heard it was something that disappointed the people who supported  us," Smith said.
"It might be better for Albertans if  we implement it and then  find a way to  fund it." »
When she and Horner  pushed this promise, there was uncertainty  about oil and gas prices, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and population  growth.
"We pushed, but we heard loud and clear that people needed  this tax  break," he said.
As the  province's population  grows, income tax  revenues are also  up slightly, from $15.1 billion in  2023-2024 to a projected $16.5 billion in  2024-2025. Smith said  the year-over-year increase  was a  surprise.
She also  highlighted the fact that Saskatchewan Premier Scott  Moe has  taken steps to implement a personal  income tax cut promised  during the  last election campaign that  helped his Saskatchewan Party  win another majority  government.
"Scott Moe learned the lesson I learned, and he campaigned on tax  cuts," Smith  said.
Asked at what point  his pending promise  would become a broken  promise, Smith said  he was happy to see many long-term revenue  streams growing and  that tax cuts  were still on  his agenda.
"That gives the finance minister some  peace of mind. I asked him to look  for ways to  speed it up, so we'll  see at the end of February if  he succeeds."

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