Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
Maybe you can tell me this though: if we can raise taxes and cover all of the spending requirements isn't that "living within our means"? Seems to me it is. Once upon a time I earned roughly 10% of what I do today, and in both cases I lived within my means on a personal level....
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We need to set REALISTIC goals as to what a 'spending requirement' is. Setting goals based only on spending is totally useless. That's exactly what the PC's have been doing for the past decade. Want better hospitals? Lets double spending. Want happier teachers? Lets double salaries and pay their pensions out. Economic slowdown? Let's quadruple infrastructure spending!
We should be bench marking our OUTCOMES and striving to find VALUE. There is no explanation why we cannot compete with similar provinces to deliver better health outcomes for less dollars. There is no explanation why it costs Alberta twice as much to build roads as it does in BC or Saskatchewan. Why does the Alberta government need three times as many managers to do the same job as private industry? How has the public service grown at double the rate of population but there has been no improvement in services or delivery?
Increasing spending has not solved ANY of the problems in Alberta. It's time to find some real solutions.