At a Glance - March 12, 2024
Budget Projects $367M Surplus
The Alberta government has announced that it is projecting ending the 2024-25 fiscal year with a $367 million surplus.
Before the budget release, Finance Minister Nate Horner said that the province will not be spending the $5.2 billion surplus from the current fiscal year, ending March 31. Instead, $2 billion will be set aside to be added to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, while the rest will be used for debt repayment.
Despite the small surplus projected for 2024-25, the government will need to borrow $2.4 million to fulfill budgetary requirements.
ACFN Launches Suit Against AER
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has filed a lawsuit seeking punitive damages of $500 million against the province’s energy regulator and the government, alleging the agency acted in bad faith and is set up in a way that violates the Constitution.
The lawsuit stems from releases of process-affected water from Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine north of Fort McMurray. According to the lawsuit, while seepage from the site was reported to First Nations and communities in May 2022, they were not informed that the seepage contained toxic tailings until February 2023. The suit further alleges that Alberta’s regulatory regime routinely fails to consider the cumulative effects of multiple developments and explicitly prevents the regulator from considering First Nations constitutional issues.
Allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven, and no statement of defence has yet been filed.
Airdrie Receives Funding to Build Homes
The city of Airdrie has signed a deal with the federal government for $24.8 million to build more homes. According to Ottawa, the money will be used to fast-track the development of more than 900 homes over the next three years.
Airdrie has committed to seven initiatives, including encouraging more secondary suites by reducing parking restrictions, streamlining development approval processes, reducing development charges for downtown revitalization, and making some public lands available. The agreement will be fulfilled in instalments, with stipulations requiring Airdrie to continue encouraging development.
Record Oil Production Anticipated
According to analysts, Alberta’s energy sector is set for a record year in production. The announcement follows the province’s best January on record, which saw increased crude oil production with 3.81 million barrels a day. 2023 was also a record-setting year, with 1.4 billion barrels of oil produced.
Next month, the Trans Mountain (TMX) pipeline expansion is expected to begin filling up and triple the pipeline’s current capacity to 890,000 barrels per day. Experts say that the additional capacity will help stabilize the price of Western Canada Select (WCS) compared to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) after it fluctuated around three dollars a barrel in the past.
Education Funding News
During a budget announcement Wednesday, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said 1.2 billion will go toward addressing rising enrolment in schools province-wide.
Nicolaides said the money is expected to support 33,000 students for the 2024-25 school year. It will also be used to bolster the system and allow the hiring of 3,100 additional teachers and support staff over the next three years.
Despite the increase in funding, some educators and school officials remain cautious, given concerns about overcrowding as Alberta’s population is expected to continue to grow. The ATA has also expressed their belief that the budget will not be enough to address overcrowding. According to the ATA, they believe that K-12 schools are chronically underfunded and that there would need to be at least an additional 6,000 teachers to alleviate the issues facing the education system.