Rural Values are Alberta Values Part 2: Waste not, want not

One of the most common concerns I hear from folks is that our governments are getting away from the core values that once made our province and our country strong.

This is of great concern to me, because we didn’t come by our values the easy way. They are a reflection of the struggles we have faced and the lessons we have learned over three, four, and five generations. We have faced harsh winters, drought, floods, and prairie fires, not to mention two World Wars and a Great Depression. Our legacy is the values that we learned from our parents and teach our children.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson we have learned is simply this: Waste not, want not.

Every taxpayer dollar wasted by government is a dollar that is no longer available for core government services like health care, education, and infrastructure.

Every dollar wasted on servicing our debt, is a dollar that must be taken from taxpayers, removed from our economy, where it was at better use creating the jobs expanding the industries that keep Alberta strong.

If you’re looking for waste, a good place to start is within Alberta’s public agencies. Such agencies deliver services, administer public funds, and regulate a number of key sectors. They also manage and administer almost 50 per cent of the province’s budget, not to mention $200 billion in loans and investments.

Alberta has about 270 public agencies. Of them, 120 operate under the Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act, with the other 150 comprised primarily of labour and industry associations.

By far, the largest is Alberta Health Services. Recognizing that Alberta spends more per capita on health than any other province (other than Newfoundland) the UCP government ordered a Performance Review of AHS, with the final report issued in December of 2019. The report provided dozens of recommendations and 72 potential “saving opportunities,” worth at the very least $1.25 billion.

Clearly, there are opportunities to trim the fat at Alberta’s largest public agency, but what about the other 269? Are there opportunities for saving with any of them? How do you know without taking a look?

On this front, Alberta should look to the state of Texas and it’s Sunset Commission. Texas agencies are automatically abolished unless the Legislature passes a bill to renew the agency’s mandate. Prior to this renewal, typically every 12 years, the Sunset Commission evaluates the agency and issues recommendations to eliminate defunct programs, waste and duplication or services.

Since 1977, the Texas Sunset Commission has conducted more than 550 reviews, saving about $1 billion, and returning $19 for every $1 spent. Changes enacted through Sunset reviews have abolished 41 agencies, consolidated another 51, and the Texas Legislature typically approves about 80 per cent of the Sunset Commission's recommendations.

Like Alberta, Texas also has an auditor capable of reviewing government departments. However the Sunset Commission’s reviews, unlike the auditor’s, begin with asking a more fundamental question: is the agency in question still needed? To answer this question, the Sunset Commission has the staff and resources to conduct both investigations and public hearings.

In Alberta, our Auditor General simply does not have the resources to conduct such regular reviews. And, to be honest, most of Alberta’s recent governments including both the UCP and NDP have treated the Auditor as a political inconvenience.

Albertans, however, know better. They understand that runaway growth in the size and scope of government is unsustainable. They see the frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars, and they demand better. The cost of government waste may be calculated in dollars, but is felt in longer surgery wait times, larger class sizes, and job-killing tax increases.

Or, as our grandparents taught us: Waste not, want not.

Some of the more elitist elements within our governments tend to look down on such values, and dismiss them as rural remnants of a bygone era. This is incredibly short sighted. These values aren’t just rural values or conservative values, they’re foundational Albertan values.

To get our province back on track we need to get back to what works for us.

- Rural Values are Alberta Values is a series of opinion columns by Drew Barnes, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat.