CALGARY -- The opportunity for Albertans to have their say on the provincial budget is wrapping up Friday.

Public consultations began in mid-January to garner people’s feedback on the 2020 budget.

The Budget Consultation online survey asks three questions about how residents feel about spending and saving priorities, and the economy.

The questions include:

  • What spending priorities do you think government should focus on?
  • Where do you think government could find savings?
  • How should government support job creation and economic growth?

Two telephone town hall meeting were also held at the end of January that offered people an opportunity to ask questions directly to Finance Minister Travis Toews.

The UCP government’s first budget in 2019 showed the provincial debt had reached $62.7 billion and outlined plans for a 2.8 per cent spending reduction over a four-year period.

The government said it was trying to reduce the deficit with a combination of cuts, restrained spending, red tape reduction and a projected $7.5 billion increase in revenue by the end of 2022-23.

The budget wasn’t without controversy with many groups pushing back on changes to funding for post-secondary education and public service.

The province says more than 4,000 people weighed in online and roughly 35,000 people participated in telephone town halls for the 2019 budget and they’d like to see similar results for 2020.

You can take the survey here.