If Alberta adopted the tax regime of the next lowest-taxed province - Saskatchewan - that would pretty much eliminate the deficit even at $50 oil. So still lowest-taxed province in Canada, just tied with one other province.
Too many people in this province are just here to make a buck for 2 or 10 or 15 years, and the move back to Manitoba or Nova Scotia. Unlike a lot of places in the world, you can't count on Alberta voters to have a shared interest in the future.
Lougheed warned us about where we were heading. He got it.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...mier-1.1049170
I don't expect oil executives in this province to care that in 20 years Calgary will be Winnipeg with mountains nearby. They'll be long gone to Arizona or Vancouver Island. But for too many Albertans today the horizon of the future ends at about 24 months, and the only thing that matters is the number on their paycheque.