Stelmach=Chavez

Post a $4.7-billion deficit and, well, it’s as clear as day—you’re socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Such was the level of discourse focused on Premier Ed Stelmach the morning after his Finance Minister, Iris Evans, dropped her budget Tuesday. Not only is this deficit the first for Alberta in 15 years, it’s larger than the province has ever seen before. "They have done so much damage to their credibility with this budget," political scientist Faron Ellis, of Lethbridge College, told the Calgary Herald. "I can see this leading to at least some serious interest from a number of Albertans, financially backed by the Calgary oilpatch, seeking to start a new political party."

Calgary Herald