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Conservative activists sound alarm over 'fiscally irresponsible' Alberta budget

Conservative and anti-tax activists gathered to rally the troops against the 'big spending' NDP government at a conference in Calgary Saturday.

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The campaign, Generation Screwed, spearheaded by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), attracted big name conservative activists and oil industry proponents such as Ezra Levant, John Carpay and Tom Flanagan.

Paige MacPherson, the Alberta director with the CTF, says the budget announced by the Alberta NDP in October will hurt young people.

"We just had the introduction of a carbon tax that is effectively a tax on everything that moves. It is really going to impact the daily lives of many Albertans," MacPherson said.

That, coupled with borrowing for operational spending, she said, is fiscally irresponsible and "it does place an additional burden on future generations. That's why I think events like this are so important right now."

The provincial budget announced last month includes a projected deficit on $6.1 billion with increased infrastructure spending and received its share of praise and criticism.

At the time, Finance Minister Joe Ceci said the budget reverses 30 years of Progressive Conservative mismanagement.

About 120 people attended the Saturday conference.