Growing debt and falling oil prices impact Alberta NDP popularity

Premier Rachel Notley spoke at the annual Premier's Stampede pancake breakfast.

Alberta’s growing debt, unstable oil prices and a downgrade in the province’s credit rating are all dragging down the NDP’s popularity.

Rachel Notley hosted the annual Premier’s Stampede Breakfast on Monday and was looking forward to some friendly faces as the NDP government faces falling popularity in the province.

A poll by Metro shows that about 66 per cent of Albertans disapprove of how the NDP have managed the economy and more than 50 per cent said the NDP have had a negative influence on their lives.

In addition, the credit rating agency DBRS downgraded the long-term outlook for Alberta from stable to negative last week. The rating now stands at AA, though the agency warns that could be downgraded within a year.

The agency cites the NDP’s inability to tackle its growing debt and its hope that a surge in oil prices will solve the problem rather than raising taxes. Meantime, the price of oil took another tumble last week.

“We have set a course, we have factored in the possibility of lower prices and so we are still operating within terms that we are quite comfortable with right now, understanding that we have laid out a responsible and careful plan,” Notley said in defense of her government.

Alberta is currently just over $33 billion in debt and is forecasting a $10.3 billion dollar deficit by the end of this year. The NDP have promised a balanced budget by 2024.

After the breakfast, the premier was set for an afternoon tour of the Stampede grounds.