Unpacking Alberta's 2026 budget

Buckle up and keep your hands on the bar, Albertans! The province’s ride on the resource revenue roller coaster continues, and the latest $9.4 billion drop is enough to make a staunch fiscal conservative lose their lunch. The latest budget update projects three consecutive years of red ink and increased borrowing to fund critical public services, with no clear track back to balance.

This week on West of Centre, host Kathleen Petty has assembled three big brains to critique this latest dive loop in Alberta’s fiscal trajectory. Economist Trevor Tombe and political scientist Lisa Young from the University of Calgary join the CBC’s own writer and producer Jason Markusoff, a veteran of more than 20 provincial budgets.

Tombe breaks down why the province is now more reliant on resource revenue than it has been since Don Getty’s days. Young explains why this year’s fiscal roadmap feels more like an election budget. And Markusoff analyzes why Albertans may be more receptive to deficits than in years past…and he learns about plosives!

• Host: Kathleen Petty
• Guests: Lisa Young, Trevor Tombe, Jason Markusoff
• Producer: Diane Yanko