• Higher tobacco taxes - a superb move, one that I whole heartedly endorse. I could stand to see them go a bit higher, but this is a fantastic start. I know Minister of Health Dave Hancock has some other great policy coming down the pipe to curb tobacco use in our society, so this measure will be a good step along side that.
• The creation of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation - an arms length crown corporation to manage $70 billion of assets and allow those assets to be invested more in Alberta and avoid political interference.
• Lots of funding to municipalities - cities and communities need more money, and it was the key promise that separated Ed from his competitors in the PC leadership race and it is good to see him make good on that promise.
• Ending poor budgeting - this budget is not going to produce a runaway unbudgeted surplus (or a runaway unbudgeted deficit) because its using realistic numbers. And it is a balanced budget, which Albertans are beginning to take for granted, but I'm still glad to see it.
• A unbudgeted surplus policy - if there is a windfall, we're know where we are putting it.
  
• Nearly half a billion for affordable housing - very few public policy issues in Alberta are as hot as this one, and at the core, everyone needs a home they can afford, and this will get us closer to dealing with the problem.
  

• K-12 education funding is lower than I thought it would be - I know Alberta's K-12 system is the best in the world, but in a province with 5% inflation, you need additional funds to get the job done.
  

• $18 billion of infrastructure - that's a lot. A whole big bunch of construction in an environment where everyone who builds buildings is already working overtime. But Alberta needs new infrastructure, there is no way around that.
  

Labels: alberta politics