Alberta
Just 3 active COVID-19 cases in Red Deer. Central Alberta flattening the curve. COVID-19 update
Information from covid19stats.alberta.ca
Of course we know this could change in a heartbeat, but it’s time to celebrate the good job Central Albertans have done. Through successful distancing, thorough hand-washing, and other measures, Central Albertans are managing to hold the number of COVID cases flat.
For several days the total number of cases has remained in the mid 70’s. That means as people are recovering from COVID-19 the number of “active” cases is plummeting.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Central Alberta is holding at 77.
Most of Central Alberta’s cases are in Red Deer and the surrounding Red Deer County but only 4 of these cases are “active”.
The only fatality so far in Central Alberta was a woman in her 80’s from Camrose. 61 Central Albertans have recovered meaning there are just 16 active cases. Again, 10 of those active cases are in Red Deer. Here’s the Central Alberta breakdown.
- Red Deer City – 32 cases – 3 Active – 29 Recovered
- Red Deer County – 12 cases – 2 Active – 10 Recovered
- Wetaskiwin City – 7 cases – All Recovered
- Mountain View County – 5 cases – All Recovered
- Settler County – 4 cases – 3 Active – 1 Recovered
- Lacombe County – 3 cases – All Recovered
- Ponoka County 2 cases – 1 Active – 1 Recovered
- Lacombe City – 2 cases – 2 Recovered
- Camrose City – 2 cases – 1 Recovered – 1 Death (Woman in her 80’s)
- Beaver County – 2 cases – 2 Recovered
- Camrose County – 1 case – Recovered
- Windburn County – 1 case – Recovered
- Vermilion River County – 1 case – Recovered
- Kneehill County – 1 case – Recovered
- Clearwater County – 1 Case – Recovered
- MD of Wainwright – 1 Case – Active
The graph below shows the good fortune of the Central Alberta zone thus far. The rate of cases per 100,000 people is almost half that of the second lowest region.
The following graph shows the number and ages of Albertans who have been hospitalized, who have spend time in Intensive Care, and also the number and age of those who have died. Just 3 people under 60 years old have died to this point in time.
Here are the total numbers for the province.
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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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