Premier Danielle Smith received 91.5% support from members of the United Conservative Party (UCP) in this weekend’s leadership vote, which means she will continue as head of the UCP and premier of Alberta. Clearly there’s confidence in her leadership — but what will she do with it?

In Alberta, government spending is too high. When today’s relatively high resource revenue (e.g. oil and gas royalties) declines, the government may fall back into deficit. In fact, Smith recently warned that her government may incur a budget deficit this fiscal year due largely to lower-than-expected oil prices. When the government runs a deficit, it racks up debt, which Albertans must........

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