Alberta premier announces $2.4-billion affordability package

Most Alberta families will get $600 for each child and senior citizen as part of a new affordability package coming from the provincial government.

In a televised address Tuesday evening, Premier Danielle Smith also said the government will re-index social support programs to inflation in January. They include assured income for the severely handicapped (AISH), persons with developmental disabilities (PDD) and income support.

It's part of a $2.4-billion affordability package Smith says will help all Albertans.

"We can't solve this inflation crisis on our own, but due to our strong fiscal position and balanced budget, we can offer substantial relief so Albertans and their families are better able to manage through the storm," Smith said in her first televised address since becoming premier on Oct. 11.

High oil and gas prices and increased tax revenue are expected to leave Alberta with a $13-billion surplus at the end of this fiscal year, according to first-quarter estimates. The government will release its second-quarter fiscal update this Thursday.

In her address, Smith said her government will introduce an Inflation Relief Act in the legislature after it reconvenes next week. She said the steps her government is taking include:

University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe said the cash benefits to seniors and families with children will have the biggest benefit for the lowest-income Albertans who have been hit hardest by inflation.

He said families with a couple of children could see their higher costs of buying basic necessities almost offset by the benefits. 

There are many ways the province could get the money to families, but a likely mechanism is via direct deposit from the Canada Revenue Agency, he said.

Smith likely chose the fuel tax as a cost reduction target because its one of the most visible expenses to the general public, Tombe said.

And the total $2.4-billion price tag doesn't raise fiscal concerns for a government with a far more sizeable surplus, he said.

In her speech, Smith also reiterated her pledge to quickly address crises in Alberta's health-care system.

Last week, the premier dismissed the Alberta Health Services' board of directors and appointed Dr. John Cowell as an administrator to oversee the organization.

Smith said the solution isn't to "throw billions more into the system," but target the most urgent problems, which she says are wait times for ambulances, emergency rooms and for surgeries. Her hope is to use more private surgical centres and lesser-used rural hospitals to give Albertans more timely access to procedures.