Finance minister fires back at Harper
Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci fired back Thursday after federal Conservative Leader Stephen Harper used an Edmonton campaign stop to slam the NDP provincial government for raising taxes and delaying its budget.
Ceci said that while he’s focused on preparing a budget for the fall session, slated to convene Oct. 26, he wanted to “clarify the record” after Harper’s comments.
“The previous ( Progressive Conservative) government left us in a rather substantial hole, so we’re doing things to govern and to put us back in fiscal order. That, I think, is the responsible thing to do,” Ceci told reporters at the legislature.
In a written statement earlier in the day, Ceci slagged the federal Conservative government’s record on national debt and noted Ottawa hasn’t balanced the budget since 2008.
“These kinds of results seem to be in their DNA,” he said.
During a speech on Wednesday to Conservative party faithful in Edmonton, Harper warned voters against taking an “NDP gamble” in the upcoming Oct. 19 federal election.
Though Harper acknowledged the New Democrats aren’t to blame for falling oil prices, he blasted Notley’s government for delaying its provincial budget until after the federal vote.
“We don’t know what surprises are in store, but we do know the NDP has already started raising taxes, because raising taxes is in the DNA of the NDP,” Harper told his supporters.
The war of words between the federal Conservatives and the Alberta New Democrats began last week when Harper called the May election results “a disaster” during a speech in Quebec.
Notley responded by calling it “unusual” for a prime minister to attack a premier during a federal race, but said Alberta voters “had enough of the Conservative government in this province and they decided to elect a new government.”