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Though they are hardly ever page-turners, provincial budgets are still largely a mystery until the appointed day when the government allows us to see what they have in store for the coming year.

Until the embargo lifts, we can only speculate whether the latest sequel will be a feel-good story, farce or fiction, or some combination of all of them.

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Of course, embargos won’t stop interested parties from trying to give away the plot ahead of time. And on Monday that’s exactly what happened, as both the NDP opposition and a municipal leader offered their insights as to what the 2020-2021 budget will hold for Alberta’s cities, towns and counties when it is officially unveiled Thursday.

Spoiler alert: According to the critics, expect to see something out of the true crime genre. Offensive language may not be suitable for younger audiences.

Viewer discretion is advised.

I’ll get to those details in a moment, but in this case a little backstory is instructive.