blog | Apr 05, 2019
The “path to balance” has become a major platform plank for all parties in this election. Parkland Institute Executive Director Ricardo Acuña looks at the key differences and potential impacts of the path to balance proposals, and assesses their credibility and feasibility.
blog | Apr 01, 2019
United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney has presented his plans for dealing with wait times for surgery in Alberta, including allowing private clinics to bid for publicly-funded procedures. Ricardo Acuña looks at the evidence and history to show that we've already been there and done that.
blog | Dec 06, 2018
Parkland Institute executive director Ricardo Acuña asks seven questions about the Alberta government's plan to mandate production cuts in response to the oil price differential.
blog | Mar 15, 2018
For more than a decade Parkland Institute has been recommending a value-added strategy for Alberta. Executive Director Ricardo Acuña looks at how the Notley government's Energy Diversification Act measures up.
blog | Feb 09, 2018
Do claims by the Alberta government that the Trans Mountain pipeline would generate $18.5 billion for “roads, schools, and hospitals,” 15,000 jobs during construction, and 37,000 jobs per year stand up to scrutiny?
blog | Jan 30, 2017
One year after the Notley government announced its new royalty framework, Parkland Institute's Ricardo Acuña looks at whether the changes have accomplished the stated goals.
blog | Feb 01, 2016
The anti-climactic nature of Alberta's new royalty framework should not be taken to mean that it is without significance or that it will be without impact going forward. This blog provides a brief overview of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the new royalty framework.
blog | Apr 27, 2015
One of the most frequently cited numbers during this election is the claim that Alberta's economy will shed 9,000 jobs for every 1% increase in the corporate tax. But does this claim, made by economist Jack Mintz and repeated by both the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives, really hold up to scrutiny?
media | Feb 23, 2015
It’s curious how the proponents of the “cut first and ask questions later” approach to provincial budgeting continue trying to spread the myth Ralph Klein’s cuts in the 1990s were necessary, and that somehow Alberta and Albertans are better off because of them. It’s as if they believe that singing the same refrains over and over will make them true. But the reality is that these claims are as false today as they were back in 1993.
media | Mar 05, 2014
Do you have $5 million burning a hole in your pocket? If so, have we got a deal for you. The Government of Alberta will soon be allowing you to invest that money in the misery and poverty of fellow Albertans, and pay you a 10 to 20 per cent rate of return to do so.
