Alberta can go Keynesian with the current drop in oil revenues – meaning they can run a deficit now with no changes to spending or taxes and pay it off later when the revenues rebound.

I think a better, more prudent, solution is to introduce a provincial sales tax, harmonized with the GST. Taxes are repugnant; sales taxes are particularly painful because you are reminded of them all the time. A structural deficit is worse, and would probably lead to the same thing anyway, only under much worse conditions.

~Jim