PUBLIC-ATTITUDES TOWARD BUDGET CUTS IN ALBERTA - BITING THE BULLET ORFEELING THE PAIN

This paper examines public responses to the Alberta government's defic it elimination strategy. Using data from the province-wide 1995 Albert a Survey (N=1240), we examine how individuals have been affected by, a nd are responding to, cutbacks and restructuring in health care, educa tion, and public sector employment. Public attitudes about government cost-cutting are contradictory. While most respondents support the gov ernment's deficit elimination strategy, they express considerable conc ern about its impact on public services. Experiencing cutbacks somewha t erodes the Klein government's electoral support, though not as much as the perception that cost cutting is undermining public services. Th e paper raises several key public policy issues regarding the individu al and social dimensions of deficit elimination, especially when this fiscal policy is linked to a broader ''new right'' agenda as is the ca se in Alberta.