In response to the latest Alberta revenue crisis, Premier Jim Prentice has increasingly been beating the austerity drum. But is an austerity agenda the best way for the province to deal with the current fiscal crunch?

It has now been a couple of weeks since Alberta Premier Jim Prentice floated the idea of a provincial sales tax in a speech to the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) luncheon (a trial balloon which Albertans soon overwhelmingly deflated, according to a somewhat-questionable poll on the issue).