Article content

Alberta’s fiscal challenges are greater than the Progressive Conservatives portrayed it to be and the NDP budget will have to be adjusted accordingly, Premier Rachel Notley said Wednesday.

“There is no question that as we get briefed we are starting to find the challenges are a bit bigger than what may have been featured in the Prentice government’s campaign. And as you know, our plan is built off of their plan,” Notley told reporters as cabinet met in Calgary.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Alberta fiscal woes worse than PCs indicated, says Notley Back to video

“So we’re now looking at the fact that maybe their plan was not as fulsome as Albertans might have expected.”

While Notley didn’t provide specifics, outgoing Tory premier Jim Prentice had forecast a $5-billion deficit this year — the largest deficit in Alberta history.

The NDP fiscal plan, released during last month’s election campaign, predicted a $5.4-billion deficit and no surplus until 2018-19.

Both parties forecast several years of deficits to address a $7-billion revenue shortfall resulting from the collapse of crude oil prices last fall.