FACT CHECK: AB tapped the debt markets 24 times between March 20 - April 30. Now up to 44 separate debt issuances since pandemic, borrowing $21.03 billion.
Does the Premier not know his Finance Ministry publishes this data? #ableg
If you want to see the trade date, settlement date, par amount, coupon rate, maturity date, etc., of every issuance it's right there on the Alberta Treasury Board and Finance - Investor Relations - website: alberta.ca/assets/documen…
Never going to suggest that it was "easy" to move those deals, or that Finance folks didn't have to hustle, or that we didn't have to pay higher spreads, but to suggest Alberta was truly frozen out doesn't comport with the facts.
The Twitter universe has let me know that CBC updated their story. Fact check worked! Thx for the retweets and likes, folks.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Scathing AG report directed at (former Minister of Finance) Travis Toews on COVID19 spend. For example, on the topic of $1.3 billion from Ottawa: "We could not trace funds... to see who spent the money and what was achieved" #AbLeg
On "Safe Return to Class" funding, also scathing: "we could not identify how much was spent on individual initiatives, nor were results reported." Not sure many parents will find that comforting after a disastrous school year.
Albertans really should read the Auditor General's report, but to summarize: Travis Toews/TBF didn't really track $4 billion in spending, and the gov has no idea what was achieved (good or bad) for those billions. #ableg
Th legal community (see below for example), the NDP, and citizens who all noted that Bill 10 was unconstitutional, but UCP MLAs voted to jam it through the legislature in 48 hours during the pandemic.
Then Premier Kenney realized the backlash, and noted Bill 10 when (way) too far. He created the Public Health Act Review Committee to fix his changes to the Act
AB Finance Min press conf, where he launched Budget 2021 consultations. First thought: Asked whether approach taken yesterday on AHS (see below) would apply to all ministries, he said yes. Hence, more jobs on the chopping block #ableg
Thought two: Finance Min continues to talk about the Triple Black Swann event hitting AB. Not sure that it was "impossible" to predict Saudi/Russia deal falling apart. It was by definition tenuous. #AbLeg
Thought three: Finance Min continues to say AB economy was really looking up heading into COBVID. This is patently false: 50,000 jobs lost in year of Kenney mandate, GDP declined by 0.6%, and (who can forget) deficit doubled to $12 billion #AbLeg