EfolfoilY

Whv downturn looks"different fOr6 A"[;;*"*); I, (/,, latI, (rtr?r/ f ,,,;:;,:;;

'j ' I ih-; hdii;6;ttd of tiving that I barrel. HoweveL the first major

cARy MAsoN I .qfu"iti"r triue enjoyeath-e.past I intusion of dollars wiJl go to

fr;;;d;i,i;indmait.com IiTrg"..."$tt*gltb,it"ot Iffiff*X,Sl,"'".ffitqf,:l,Tli| -ffi;U'aiil;ier

loe ceci con- | rertzattitn admits there is much

this budget may be historic in I rounds Alberta's energy future'

il;;;;-th;iit *il rot*.t I He posited that meaningfll;il;;; tlenpoti or wnen-ns- | castr ivitt not start trickling back

i;i;;Jti";-il'th" provittce were I into,the oil and gas industryial realities in the province were I into-the oil ancl gas rndustry

rJita"**i"ttv alteied; when I until-c'llde goes beyord'$5o.a

rFhroughout ttre economic I rt-"iiiLi'ili.irTo iir"-g"""1ational I uncertaintv about how much

l. crisis that Alberta it "'ii," | ;;t*" oitt'it '"t"tti-on,

pu1, I !Y:11:::,]T1.1:tY*I1,"^ --^,#":rr, ;rT;t"i::h:r'fr5ir"v | ;iiti; otr'"it"ae"ts tabled dur- | senerated given that the enersv

has tried valiantly to reassure a I i'.e an extraJiil-a-rv,n$;*1n I ':q*g li=.i*y-"ilJll9fi""ff";fri# ;ii.';hi# ;k;v. l qiit{i.;;;;;:{'.41+.lt'* l ry1,tn::,1lTT*1i.9?1?'}:worrleo puDrc arr w'r us u^dr' I v'vrrlvu' ""iiil?"iii"iti-irt"t

I ire undergoing a major transfor-itrii a d-ownturn in the oil I the gloom l.^-o ".,{,hrnninpqq I mation. The massive influx of#i;#; ;;-"titi"g tn!-ptou- | poitit"a to $ope and happiness I mation' The massive rntlux or

ti["li;i il;ffi;;i i;;fil | bn trre .,""rit""l- rtoti;o", thir I electric cars expected to hit the

and survived _ a"a *il'aeli". I one coua,not. rt did not even I nql"l:::t_.11f ^?:1i,*i?,t;ano survrveu - 'rrr' wru dts'.'r' '-ii "itt"o*i"ag"d I years alone will significantly

But the budget Ms. Notley's I try' Instead'

NDP government tablei'fiis' I ;;l'li$'ih; ;i'"';a- ilf^!',lon- | iffect 3:l'i"f*1 n' reccq,il3Jut|,i,i,1ii':,:i:iJ:ilff #.o"- I ;"itri*.;;evious ohes. nnd I wrren this recent oil recession

cern from that same prruji.l'eo, I i"ro"i trtitfor Gu root tit " "i

ttt" I hit, r7 major projects in the oil

if the number, "na

gr#'r'' '"' I ;t#il:;o o"" q"it" t "o*t. I sands region were cancelled' Mr'

found in its pages ,oggJiion" I l;ii;tiil raognLed bv I tertzaklan savs not a single one

thing, it is that this it "ii illi. i r"t"t r"ti'"itiit'^t[-*:1ry",^, I lt-*:yrto be revived elen if oi]

;llT:?;:#fttil"?g"".iil'ih" | ;;;;";iii*itt' ARC Finaiiciar . I rebounds.

province has raced. ':"':" "'" | il";{!,{11:a";i^*::t3l1}9 I .^,1li""1il13?"tl?::ifiif#o"l.ovrnce nas raceo. r d'u vrr! **---- ----- | ilibe ciose to $Oir_bilion, orff;;;;t;ever again be I respected voices on 11"1cl^Tit-- I I^"^- ,r,Lra rarrornmcnt h:qAlDe*a r'ay 'sv.r dErdr uv I rLervvlv*

,io"itra". r" a"iecent I trigtrer. The government hastfte supeictriiged turbo that has I ters in the p

nowered our national d,iily I tt;;;"tt, he acknow-ledged the I admitted it will not attempt to

i."r-;;'[ ifi",i'"'i"llai. m fact, I alarming ir*.*itv tttii-r* I put a legislative cap on the total

Albertathis timeamount of the liabilities that.* U" amassed. It would beoointless. The future is just tooiloudv. Mr. Ceci talks aboutretuniing to balance in zoz4'But that is eight Years away'

Who knows what the econolmcpicture maY look like bY then?he might is well have said

20?o.- Ciu.tt the dimension of this

decline, how could any govern-

ment that is borrowing to PaY

operating exPenses, that is

iiuti"g fudgits that are in the..d velr after Year, give raises tonovernment workers? Alberta-nublic

sector emPloYees haveLnioved an incredible run atop

th6 ialarY heaP in this country'It is now about to end in sPec-

tacular fashion. Who knows*tt"" "*t"t

and teachers and a

host of other governmentemployees will see wage in-creases agaln.-

Ms. Notlev has talked aboutthe need to change the boom-ana-Uust dYnamiCs inherent inIhe provinie's commoditY-based.iotio-v, and Yet the budget;ontain;d Precious little that

if anything was apparent, it was

that ihe strategy to revive theJ.otto*y dePends on one thing:a recovery in oil Prices. It-is

sugqests legitimate Plans are

un?lr way to diversifY. In fact,suggests legitimate

Plan A. Pian B and Plan C.

Not that anYone else couNot tirat anyone else couldhive tabled i document signif-icantlv better or smarter, or thatoffered a qrander, more Perma-

".nt sotuiion to all that ails thisorovince. In the circumstances'iv1s. Notlev and her governmentaia aUouf all theY could. Slash-

i"n tft" public sector wouldhive bein a disaster, an unnec-eisarv bloodbath that wouldhave-done relativelY little toalter the reality of things'

Alberta is fortunate it has rela-tivelv little debt and so couldabsorb some of the Punishmentt-his recession is delivering bY

borrowing money. It is not an

option itlarill continue to have'

i6oking ahead, the choices fortft" pio:vi"." onlY get more dffi-cu1t.

ffi foilow me on.Twitter:@garymasonglobe