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The NDP almost got through the Stampede Parade without being forced to duck a fiscal cow pie. Not quite, though.

The Dominion Bond Rating Service chose Friday morning to downgrade the outlook on Alberta’s long-term debt from stable to negative.

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The agency also said last year’s 2016-17 deficit was not $10.8 billion, as the government claims, but $12.8 billion.

While the parade was still on, Finance Minister Joe Ceci fired out a press release noting that DBRS at least held the province’s basic credit rating at AA, or high.

Ceci also listed a string of positives, from jobs growth to falling unemployment and rising exports.

That much was accurate, but he entirely neglected to mention the change in long-term status from stable to negative. Nor did he deal with the higher deficit number.

Ceci declined to be interviewed Friday. His statement would speak for itself, an aide said.

It’s always puzzled me why politicians do that — endlessly parrot their talking points without admitting why they’re talking in the first place. It eats away at credibility.