This is an election year. After being scorched immensely in the 2009-10 budget when they over-estimated potash revenues by $1.8 billion, Finance Department officials erred on the side of caution when preparing revenue forecasts for the 2010-11 budget. With oil currently hovering around the $100 a barrel mark, and the potash market strong, expect Finance Minister Ken Krawetz  (pictured) to have plenty of good news to report in his budget address at the legislature this afternoon.

We’ve got our hands on an advance copy of the budget, but are precluded by law from revealing any of its contents until after the Minister’s address. But once the embargo is lifted we’ll do our best to provide you with some analysis both on-line and in our April 7 issue.