The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce office is pictured on September 3, 2019 - Photo by Colton McKee

By Charles Lefebvre

Mackinnon Report

Chamber responds to MacKinnon Report into province’s finances

Sep 3, 2019 | 4:37 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce says the recently released MacKinnon Report has shined a light on the work needed to balance Alberta’s books.

The Blue Ribbon Panel, headed up by former Saskatchewan Finance Minister Janice MacKinnon, released its report Tuesday morning into the state of Alberta’s finances.

“Our main findings should be of concern to all Albertans, ” said MacKinnon during a news conference. “We found that, without bold change, Albertans face a future of rising deficits and debt, with more and more tax dollars going to interest, rather than programs.”

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The report says Alberta has the highest level of spending per capita in Canada, and says if the province matched the spending levels of Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, they would have a $3.7 billion surplus.

The report has made multiple recommendations, including reviews of health care and education, two areas which typically make up the majority of the province’s budget. The full report, with recommendations, can be read here.

Tracy Noullett, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, says the report highlighted several of the issues the chamber has advocated for, such as a return to balanced budgets and getting fair value for Alberta’s exports.

“I think the report highlighted some of the things we’ve known for a long time,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “Ultimately, we’re not getting the value for the money we’re putting into our resources. They’re saying our spending was more in line with the rest of the country, we would be getting more value for our money.”

The report included a recommendation for enhancing the province’s competitiveness for business, noting the province should work with industry and stakeholders “to set a compelling vision for Alberta’s economic future combined with a deliberate strategy to foster an economy that creates jobs and wealth while rebuilding Alberta’s reputation as the best and most responsible place to do business,” the report reads.

Noullett says the chamber is hoping the province follows through with recommendations in the report to improve the business climate in Alberta.

“We like the idea that we are going to eventually get to a balanced budget, and we want to see a lot of the panel’s recommendations come to fruition,” she said. “Just relying more on those public private partnerships, engaging private industry where that make sense, and we’re going to make sure the results we’re getting back and the outcome we’re getting more in line with Albertans’ expectations.”

Finance Minister Travis Toews says the recommendations from the panel will be used to help the Ministry craft the upcoming provincial budget.

“We recognize the expertise and experience that this panel has, so we’ll be putting a lot of stock into these recommendations, there’s no doubt about it,” Toews told reporters during Tuesday morning’s news conference. “Obviously, we have been working on our own budget deliberations at the same time. We’re going to now be pulling both of those processes together and look forward to delivering a budget this fall.”

Although the budget will be tabled this fall, Toews did not reveal a date for when it will take place.