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For a while, the NDP tried to insist that indeed they did have a plan (the dog ate it, perhaps?). Shortly after last year’s budget was tabled, Finance Minister Joe Ceci declared outright to reporters that his government “has a clear plan to return (the budget) to balance.”

Clearly, that strategy has been abandoned, since Premier Rachel Notley is now telling us to expect to see a clear plan in the months ahead.

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Notley declared that one of her priorities for 2018 is “presenting a responsible, credible path to balance for 2023.”

This is good to know and something to look forward to. It’s a blight on this government’s record that they’ve been unwilling or unable to produce such a plan, but once we’re into analyzing the details of whatever Notley and Ceci release, the previous absence of a plan will seem like much more of a moot point.

Of course, this is the same bunch that campaigned in 2015 on a promise to balance the books by 2018, a commitment that looks rather hysterical in hindsight. It’s a reminder, though, to take their plans and projections with a grain of salt. But even an overly optimistic plan is better than nothing.

It will also put pressure on the United Conservative Party (UCP) to put out a detailed plan of its own. In fairness to the UCP, however, they’ve yet to hold a founding policy convention. That’s set to take place in May.

In the meantime, however, the NDP have helped fill the void of their own lack of a plan with some pretty apocalyptic predictions of the sort of deep cuts the UCP would have to embark upon to balance the budget on a shorter timetable.