Alberta
Notley should tell federal NDP to vote to take carbon taxes off home heating
From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Author: Kris Sims
The Canadian Taxpayer Federation is calling on Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley to urge her federal counterparts to vote in favour of cancelling the carbon tax on all home heating fuels.
“Notley needs to pick up the orange phone and call her federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and tell him to vote in favour of suspending the carbon tax on all home heating fuels,” said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta Director. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax on home heating will cost Albertans more than $300 this winter and they deserve to get the same relief that folks in Atlantic Canada are getting.”
A motion to give all forms of heating fuel the same carbon tax break will be voted on in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is suspending his carbon tax on furnace oil for the next three years.
About three per cent of Canadian homes use furnace oil to heat their homes, with almost all of them located in Atlantic Canada.
Most Albertans use natural gas to heat their homes and Trudeau is refusing to give them the same carbon tax relief as those who heat with furnace oil.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has called for the federal carbon tax to be scrapped entirely. At the very least, she’s calling on Ottawa to remove the carbon tax for all forms of heating fuel.
Alberta NDP leader Notley has said Trudeau’s suspension should apply to all home heating fuels.
“Over the next three years, Albertans will pay about $1,100 extra for their home heating thanks to the carbon tax, and it’s outrageously unfair for Trudeau to ignore them,” said Sims. “The NDP holds the balance of power in Ottawa and Notley needs to convince her federal leader stand up to the PM and demand equal relief for Albertans this winter.”
Alberta
Fortis et Liber: Alberta’s Future in the Canadian Federation
From the C2C Journal
By Barry Cooper, professor of political science, University of Calgary
Canada’s western lands, wrote one prominent academic, became provinces “in the Roman sense” – acquired possessions that, once vanquished, were there to be exploited. Laurentian Canada regarded the hinterlands as existing primarily to serve the interests of the heartland. And the current holders of office in Ottawa often behave as if the Constitution’s federal-provincial distribution of powers is at best advisory, if it needs to be acknowledged at all. Reviewing this history, Barry Cooper places Alberta’s widely criticized Sovereignty Act in the context of the Prairie provinces’ long struggle for due constitutional recognition and the political equality of their citizens. Canada is a federation, notes Cooper. Provinces do have rights. Constitutions do mean something. And when they are no longer working, they can be changed.
Alberta
30 million contraband cigarettes valued at $25 million dollars seized in Alberta
New release from Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC)
Record setting contraband tobacco seizures result from AGLC investigations
Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) recently concluded several investigations which netted two of the largest contraband tobacco seizures in Alberta history. The combined total of the contraband tobacco seized was 154,800 cartons of contraband cigarettes (30.7 million individual cigarettes). These seizures are a result of the work conducted by AGLC’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit with the assistance of provincial law enforcement agencies.
- In a January 2024 investigation, approximately 43,500 cartons (8.7 million individual cigarettes) were seized. This equates to $7 million in retail value with a provincial tax avoidance of $2.4 million. This included the seizure of 15,000 grams of contraband shisha.
- In April of 2024, 60 wrapped pallets were seized from a warehouse setting netting a total of 111,300 cartons of contraband cigarettes (22 million individual cigarettes) which equates to over $18 million in retail value with a provincial tax avoidance of $6.6 million.
- Criminal Charges are pending in both cases.
“These are significant contraband tobacco investigations involving individuals that are part of organized networks whose proceeds defraud Albertans millions of dollars in tax revenue. AGLC will continue to work with our partners to investigate and disrupt the individuals and organizations involved in these illegal activities as part our commitment to a strong contraband tobacco enforcement program in Alberta.”
- Gary Peck, Vice President, Regulatory Services, AGLC
“Contraband tobacco hurts law abiding businesses that follow the rules, and it costs Albertans millions each year from lost tax revenue. Our government is committed to keeping illegal tobacco off the streets and ensuring that the sale of tobacco products comply with the law.”
- Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction
Over the last nine months, AGLC’s Tobacco Enforcement unit has seized an estimated 35 million contraband cigarettes and 115,000 grams of contraband shisha from across the province. The total potential lost tax revenue is estimated to be more than $10.1 million.
Contraband tobacco:
- is any tobacco product that does not comply with federal and provincial laws related to importation, marking, manufacturing, stamping and payment of duties and taxes;
- comes from four main sources: illegal manufacturers, counterfeits, tax-exempt diversions and resale of stolen legal tobacco; and
- can be recognized by the absence of a red (Alberta) or peach/light tan (Canada) stamp bearing the “DUTY PAID CANADA DROIT ACQUITTÉ” on packages of cigarettes and cigars or pouches of tobacco.
In addition to lost revenues that may otherwise benefit Albertans, illegally manufactured products also pose public health and safety risks as they lack regulatory controls and inspections oversight.
Albertans who suspect illegal tobacco production, packaging and/or trafficking are encouraged to contact AGLC’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit at 1-800-577-2522 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Under a Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, AGLC enforces the Tobacco Tax Act and conducts criminal investigations related to the possession, distribution and trafficking of contraband tobacco products. In 2022-23, provincial revenue from tobacco taxes was approximately $522 million.
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