Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci warns spending promises in peril

Alberta's finance minister says low oil prices mayforce him to hit the brakes on millions of dollars in initiativespromised by the NDP government, such as child-care benefits, schoolfee reductions, student hiring and environmental retrofits.

Joe Ceci said in a year-end interview that some or all of a dozenprograms set to begin in the 2016-17 fiscal year may be delayed.

"We've addressed a lot of (our commitments). We've done a lot ofthem," Ceci told The Canadian Press. "The ones that haven't beenstarted, they could potentially be delayed or reduced."

The specifics haven't been ironed out.

"I can't point you to any one (program) here in terms ofcommitments, but I can tell you I'm comfortable recommending (tocabinet) slower phase-in and lower phase-in for some of thesethings," said Ceci.

Ceci and his staff are crunching numbers for the next budget, tobe presented in February or March.

The revenue scenario remains daunting because of a continueddecline in oil prices, the wellspring of Alberta's economy. Theprice for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate has dropped to under$40 US a barrel from a high 18 months ago of more than $100 US.

The last budget, presented in October, had forecast a$6.1-billion deficit.

In that budget, the NDP promised funding to beginin 2016-17 in12 areas. The big-ticket item was $147 million for a child-carebenefit to go to low-income families on a per child basis, up to atotal of $2,750 a year.

The government also promised $75 million for more child-carespaces and to increase affordability.

Cecimight also defer $30 million earmarked to improve home carefor seniors, $40 million for long-term care and $20 million for aprogram to provide school lunches for children in need.

Education promises in the budget included $45 million to reducethe cost of school fees and $44 million to provide additionalclassroom supports.

Premier Rachel Notley's personal pledge to restore a summerstudent hiring program could also be affected. The province was setto put up $10 million a year to help businesses, municipalities andcommunity organizations hire students to give them workexperience.

On the environment side, the province budgeted $5 million to workwith banks to provide interest-free loans to help families and smallbusinesses make energy-efficient retrofits. Another $5 million wasto beef up environmental monitoring and environment.

The Foundation for the Arts was promised $5 million, and $8million was pledged to enhance bus service to rural communities.

Ceci said no reductions are planned in the capital budget. Newinfrastructure is necessary, he said, and construction has the addedbenefit of creating jobs in difficult times.

The borrowing plan took a hit last week when credit-rating giantStandard and Poor's knocked Alberta's rating down a notch to AA-plusfrom AAA.

The current capital plan supports $34 billion in spending overfive years on roads, schools, hospitals, community centres and otherprojects.

Debt for infrastructure is expected to surpass $47 billion by2020.