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The Ontario NDP were in no position to increase spending, but their buddies in the government unions were in no mood to accept pay freezes.

When a settlement couldn’t be found at the negotiating table, the NDP passed austerity legislation cynically named the “Social Contract.” The law compelled public-sector workers to take roughly one unpaid day off a month – “Rae Days.”

Because these measures led to a weakening of union support for the NDP, they also helped oust the Rae government in the 1995 Ontario election.

Are we going to see something similar in Alberta?

When bringing in his second quarter fiscal update on Tuesday, Alberta NDP Finance Minister Joe Ceci kept saying how much better Alberta’s economy is now versus two years ago when his party took over.

“Alberta is back in the saddle,” Ceci proclaimed cheerfully.

And some things have improved, thankfully. (Although the leading economic indicator that defeats governments – unemployment – remains stubbornly high.)

For the past two weeks or so, though, Premier Rachel Notley and her government have been sending out signals that (finally) they realize they have hit a spending ceiling and can increase neither spending nor borrowing.

Which is why Ceci also said over and over on Tuesday that he sure hoped the public-sector unions would get into the spirit of recovery and not ask for any wage hikes for the next few years.

Heh, heh, he added nervously. Surely the way the NDs have refused to cut any public-sector jobs during the recession should count for something. Come on, guys. Help a pal out in his time of re-election.