Alberta budget to be unveiled on Oct. 27

Minister of Finance JoeCeciannounced Monday that the Alberta budget will be unveiledOct. 27.

Cecitold reporters during a news conference he heard from thousands ofAlbertansduring budget consultations over the last few months.

"There's no question that people are feeling the stress of the dropin global oil prices," he said.

CecisaidtheNDP'sfirst budget will outline a plan for jobs and economic growth, while stabilizing public services.

"Now is not the time to make things worse (with)knee-jerk reactions that would result in firing nurses and teachers during these tough economic times," he said.

"People were also clear they want to see a return to balanced budgets."

Ceci said previous governments relied too heavily on resourceroyalties to fund public programs andhe intends to changethat.

"It's been a challenge as ...the financeministerto look at other ways to fix that."

Cecihas alsosaid spending would be linked to a revised forecast for the price of oil, but thatAlbertanswon'tseemassive spending cuts.

As part of the consultations,Albertanshaduntil Sept. 14 to submit ideas (maximum 1,500 characters or about 250 words) to theAlberta budget website.

Cecialso heldtwo telephone town hallsin September. Hemet with businesses and other organizations on ways to diversify the economy while keeping public services in place.

"I heard great ideas about how to diversify our economy so we are less prone to the commodity rollercoaster," he said.