It hasn’t been very fashionable to say this over the past 20 or 30 years but the reality is that neither our province nor our nation could function without government and the vital services it provides.

Broadly speaking, governments are the vehicles through which we pool our resources to meet public needs. They also play a central role in building the foundations of a strong economy and a healthy society.

Critics of the public sector like to suggest that tax dollars are wasted dollars. But the reality is that, for most individuals, families and even businesses, tax-funded services are the best deal going.

Without public Medicare, how many Canadians could afford high-quality care for themselves and their loved ones?

Without public schools, colleges and universities, how many people could afford to fulfill their potential and achieve their dreams?

And without well-trained workers, top quality infrastructure and low-cost health care (all provided courtesy of the public sector)how many small and medium-sized businesses could thrive?

The good news is that generations of Canadian voters and political leaders have understood the value of using the public sector to deliver services that benefit society but which individuals could not afford on their own.

The bad news is that 20 years of bad decisions on tax and royalty policy by successive Conservative governments has left our province’s vital public services extremely vulnerable to under-funding.

As our provincial government begins to contemplate yet another austerity budget, Albertans need to change the direction of public debate.

Instead of buying the Conservative line that we have a spending problem (which we don’t), we need to point out that what we really have is a revenue problem.

And instead of saying “the cupboard is bare, so we need to cut," what Albertans should really be asking is “why is the cupboard bare in the first place?”

The bottom line is that if we want our province to be all it can be, we need to protect out vital public services. But we can’t do that without fixing our broken revenue system.