Alberta
Police disrupt major liquor distribution network
New release submitted by The Edmonton Police Service
The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) has charged 10 people in relation to a major liquor distribution network investigation.
In late 2020, the EPS Focused Intervention & Apprehension Team (FIAT) initiated an investigation in response to the growing trend of liquor theft. During the investigation, a large market for stolen liquor was uncovered, along with a coordinated distribution network that was supplying the liquor to legitimate local businesses. Alongside the liquor theft, investigators also determined the individuals involved were trafficking illegal drugs and unmarked cigarettes and were in the possession of stolen property. Over the course of several months, search warrants were executed at multiple residences and businesses across the city. This resulted in the seizure of:
- Approximately $130,000 of liquor
- 350,000 unmarked cigarettes (approximate value of $35,000)
- 730 fentanyl pills (approximate street value of $73,000)
- 1.49 kg of cocaine (approximate street value of $185,000)
- 270 Xanax pills (approximate street value of $5,400)
Photos of some of the seized items are included below
Police have since arrested and charged 10 people and are looking to arrest and charge four additional individuals. These individuals include business owners and those involved with the distribution network, and they are facing a combined total of 40 charges, including conspire to possess property obtained from crime for the purpose of trafficking over $5,000, traffic in a controlled substance, conspire to sell/distribute unstamped tobacco products, attempt to possess property obtained by crime for the purpose of trafficking over $5,000, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
To date, the following ten individuals have been arrested and charged:
- Steven Dahrouge, 39
- Julien Roussel, 65
- James Cermak, 41
- Cara Yaremchuk, 34
- Michael Gennaro, 51
- John Berg, 67
- Harkamal Singh Kahlon, 45
- James Burns, 42,
- Thomas Areekadan, 57
- Raj Sony Jalarajan, 46
Alberta
Alberta government should eliminate corporate welfare to generate benefits for Albertans
From the Fraser Institute
By Spencer Gudewill and Tegan Hill
Last November, Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government will give up to $1.8 billion in subsidies to Dow Chemicals, which plans to expand a petrochemical project northeast of Edmonton. In other words, $1.8 billion in corporate welfare.
And this is just one example of corporate welfare paid for by Albertans.
According to a recent study published by the Fraser Institute, from 2007 to 2021, the latest year of available data, the Alberta government spent $31.0 billion (inflation-adjusted) on subsidies (a.k.a. corporate welfare) to select firms and businesses, purportedly to help Albertans. And this number excludes other forms of government handouts such as loan guarantees, direct investment and regulatory or tax privileges for particular firms and industries. So the total cost of corporate welfare in Alberta is likely much higher.
Why should Albertans care?
First off, there’s little evidence that corporate welfare generates widespread economic growth or jobs. In fact, evidence suggests the contrary—that subsidies result in a net loss to the economy by shifting resources to less productive sectors or locations (what economists call the “substitution effect”) and/or by keeping businesses alive that are otherwise economically unviable (i.e. “zombie companies”). This misallocation of resources leads to a less efficient, less productive and less prosperous Alberta.
And there are other costs to corporate welfare.
For example, between 2007 and 2019 (the latest year of pre-COVID data), every year on average the Alberta government spent 35 cents (out of every dollar of business income tax revenue it collected) on corporate welfare. Given that workers bear the burden of more than half of any business income tax indirectly through lower wages, if the government reduced business income taxes rather than spend money on corporate welfare, workers could benefit.
Moreover, Premier Smith failed in last month’s provincial budget to provide promised personal income tax relief and create a lower tax bracket for incomes below $60,000 to provide $760 in annual savings for Albertans (on average). But in 2019, after adjusting for inflation, the Alberta government spent $2.4 billion on corporate welfare—equivalent to $1,034 per tax filer. Clearly, instead of subsidizing select businesses, the Smith government could have kept its promise to lower personal income taxes.
Finally, there’s the Heritage Fund, which the Alberta government created almost 50 years ago to save a share of the province’s resource wealth for the future.
In her 2024 budget, Premier Smith earmarked $2.0 billion for the Heritage Fund this fiscal year—almost the exact amount spent on corporate welfare each year (on average) between 2007 and 2019. Put another way, the Alberta government could save twice as much in the Heritage Fund in 2024/25 if it ended corporate welfare, which would help Premier Smith keep her promise to build up the Heritage Fund to between $250 billion and $400 billion by 2050.
By eliminating corporate welfare, the Smith government can create fiscal room to reduce personal and business income taxes, or save more in the Heritage Fund. Any of these options will benefit Albertans far more than wasteful billion-dollar subsidies to favoured firms.
Authors:
Alberta
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