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Premier Jason Kenney’s message about the Oct. 24 budget is getting firmer and tougher.

The fiscal picture is worse than he thought, he said Friday, although not as bad as 1993 — yet.

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The Ralph Klein cuts of that era remain the signposts of deep, painful restraint in Alberta.

The late PC premier decreed a five per cent reduction to most public sector salaries, and nearly 20 per cent operating cuts in some departments.

Kenney said that if serious savings don’t start now, the much deeper slashing of the Klein era is only a few years down the road.

Photo by File / Postmedia

For now, the premier told reporters in Edmonton, “there will be some I think modest spending reductions. They will be orders of magnitude less than they were in 1993.”

But at the same time, he warned that projections for provincial revenue are much weaker than the UCP previously stated.

Kenney gave the message to a friendly crowd at the meeting of the Alberta Association of Urban Municipalities.