As far as I know, Alberta’s anti-deficit law, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, has no accountability enforcement mechanism, so I was surprised to learn that British Columbia’s Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act does:
…cabinet ministers and Premier will still lose 10 per cent of their ministerial salaries, the penalty prescribed by the balanced-budget law. For the Premier, that’s roughly $9,000 of his salary next year, while his cabinet ministers will pay a penalty of about $5,000. (Globe & Mail)
Both Alberta and BC are set to run deficit budgets (although Alberta will be running a ‘technical deficit’ while dipping into the province’s Sustainability Fund).
I should also note that I have a hard time believing Alberta’s anti-deficit laws are much more than legislated political spin (and even more so if there is no accountability mechanism).
