'We have to be prudent': Kenney warns municipalities that high oil prices won't prompt big spending

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told municipal leaders Thursday that spending was not a priority for his government even as provincial coffers swell due to high oil prices.

The premier spoke at the Alberta Municipalities spring leaders caucus in Edmonton, saying oil revenues can fall as quickly as they have risen in recent weeks and encouraged Albertans to “get off the roller-coaster.”

“It would be terribly imprudent of us to assume that we are going to see these high and sustained energy prices for years to come,” said Kenney, acknowledging that many of the municipal leaders he was addressing had “very long” shopping lists.

“Let’s not start spending at a rate of revenues that we do not have and are unreliable.”

The province returned a $500 million surplus in its latest budget with further surpluses of $900 million and $700 million projected for the following two years.

“As Albertans we have to be prudent,” Kenney said, noting oil prices dipped by US $15 “in two hours” yesterday.

Before this year, the Alberta government hadn’t balanced its books since 2014-15.

Kenney said he hoped to put “a significant share” of future surpluses into the province’s Heritage Savings Trust Fund or to pay down the provincial debt which is nearing $100 billion, according to the most recent budget .

“[It] is an obligation to stabilise for the long-term of our fiscal and economic future.”