{"id":894567,"date":"2026-03-26T05:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/danielle-smith-hopes-to-balance-alberta-budget-even-with-moderate-oil-prices\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:27:11","slug":"danielle-smith-hopes-to-balance-alberta-budget-even-with-moderate-oil-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/26\/danielle-smith-hopes-to-balance-alberta-budget-even-with-moderate-oil-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Danielle Smith hopes to balance Alberta budget even with moderate oil prices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Tuesday her long-term goal is to be able to balance the province\u2019s books even with moderate oil prices.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In about 10 years, she said, she\u2019d like Alberta to bring spending in line with revenues that US$60-per-barrel oil would bring to provincial coffers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where we have be. But then when you have years where you have a surprise surge and you realize a surplus, then that gives you an opportunity to support particular projects,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The latest Alberta budget<\/a>, tabled last month, projected a $9.4-billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year based in part on the projected price of the North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate averaging US$60.50 per barrel.<\/p>\n

Global oil prices<\/a> have since surged with the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, at times seeing the WTI peak well above US$100 per barrel.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith made the comment while addressing the Rural Municipalities of Alberta conference in Edmonton. She heard concerns from local elected officials on everything from health care access, to rising infrastructure and policing costs and unpaid oil and gas well taxes.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Get\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n

Get weekly money news<\/h2>\n

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

A councillor from central Alberta told the premier that \u201ca lot of\u201d bridges could be washed out in his region, with more snow than expected this year.<\/p>\n

Smith said his wish list of increased grants for the strategic transportation infrastructure program was \u201cnot possible,\u201d with the province\u2019s budget woes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to find a way on our end to cut wasteful spending, deliver programs differently, streamline on the spending, so that we can bring our revenues and expenditures into alignment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Smith said she would prefer to spend unforeseen windfalls on one-time capital costs like infrastructure projects, but it\u2019s too early to expect any yet.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

She added that she hopes the conflict in the Middle East will be resolved quickly.<\/p>\n

The Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping artery at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a quarter of the world\u2019s oil passes through, has been effectively closed for weeks \u2014 driving up the price of oil and other commodities.<\/p>\n

\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s conference, Smith also heard that ambulances are too few and far between, hospitals often don\u2019t have capacity, and rural communities need help.<\/p>\n

One local leader recounted a harrowing story of his mother experiencing signs of a stroke, but an ambulance wasn\u2019t available and at least one hospital had to turn her away before she finally got treatment.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith pointed blame at the centralized structure of the former provincial health agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese kinds of stories are exactly the reason we had to dismantle Alberta Health Services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As part of a massive health-care system restructuring, Smith\u2019s United Conservative Party government has replaced AHS with four new governing agencies, overseen by four health ministries.<\/p>\n

AHS has been relegated to a hospital operator, and a new entity is in charge of emergency medical services.<\/p>\n

\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Smith said ambulance service is a \u201ca real problem all over the province,\u201d but the government is trying to tailor emergency response resources to each locality.<\/p>\n

Opposition NDP emergency services critic David Shepherd later told reporters in the legislature that Smith has been in power for more than four years, so her trying to deflect blame is \u201ca joke.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/blockquote>\n
\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Globalnews Digital
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Tuesday her long-term goal is to be able to balance the province\u2019s books even with moderate oil prices. In about 10 years, she said, she\u2019d like Alberta to bring spending in line with revenues that US$60-per-barrel oil would bring to provincial coffers. \u201cThat\u2019s where we have be. But then when<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":894568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24058,952],"tags":[20200,6990],"class_list":["post-894567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-danielle","category-smith","tag-danielle","tag-smith"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}