If money were the answer, the Alberta government would already have solved every health care problem.

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You’ll hear it from NDP and the nurses’ union, from the supporters of public health care, lefty think tanks and academics — the answer to what ails health care is more taxpayer money. If only governments would spend more — a lot more — on health care, all would be well.

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Too bad the facts don’t back up it up.

In 2008 — just 17 years ago — about 27 per cent of Alberta’s provincial budget was devoted to health expenditures. This year, about 39 per cent is.

Health care now eats up a much larger portion of the provincial budget, and the budget itself has grown larger. In other words, health care is consuming a much larger slice of a much larger pie.

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