Premier Rachel Notley is in Calgary today where she will give a “State of the Province” address as the province that continues to struggle with a slumping economy, a ballooning deficit and worrisome unemployment figures.
In her last State of the Province, delivered in Edmonton last November, Notley maintained her government wouldn’t respond to plunging oil prices with “knee-jerk and panicked cuts” and would focus on diversifying Alberta’s economy to stimulate job growth.
Notley will deliver her speech today at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in downtown Calgary at 12:30 p.m.
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Alberta is on track for a record $10.9-billion deficit this year, growing by $500 million in the first quarter after the Fort McMurray wildfires.
Earlier this month, BMO Capital Markets forecast the province’s economy would shrink by 2.3 per cent this year, before rebounding by the same amount next in 2017. The bank also projected employment would drop by 1.9 per cent this year and another 0.2 per cent in 2017.
The latest figures from Statistics Canada showed Alberta’s unemployment rate rose to 8.5 per cent in September.
While the province economy struggles to regain its footing, NDP popularity among Albertans has plunged, according to a new poll.
The survey from the Citizen Society Research Lab at Lethbridge College found the New Democrats trail badly behind the Tories and the Wildrose among decided voters. Further, nearly two-thirds of Albertans support a merger of PC and Wildrose parties before the next provincial election in 2019.
More to come…
