Last week, Premier Danielle Smith told Albertans what to expect in the next provincial budget, which her government will table on Thursday — essentially, that Alberta “simply cannot continue to rely” on volatile resource revenue, and that the government must restore the Alberta Heritage Fund.

Indeed, Alberta remains heavily reliant on volatile natural resource revenue, which includes oil and gas royalties, to maintain budget balance. In fact, if rather than being at historically high levels, resource revenue was at its average over the past two decades, the government’s $5.5-billion projected surplus in 2023-24 would immediately flip to a $4.8-billion deficit — and the government would run substantial deficits in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

The pattern of successive Alberta governments has been well documented. During times of relatively high resource revenue, the government increases spending, which becomes unsustainable (without........

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