Alberta
Police take half million dollars worth of meth, cocaine, cannabis, fentanyl off the street in multiple-community bust
News release from the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT)
ALERT drug bust spanned multiple communities
Half a million dollars’ worth of drugs was seized after ALERT searched multiple homes in Edmonton and Wainright, Atla. Three vehicles and more than $50,000 cash were also seized as offence related property.
ALERT Edmonton’s organized crime team charged two suspects on June 6, 2022, and earlier this year had executed search warrants at two homes in Edmonton, and one in Wainright, Alta.
The investigation began in November 2021 and came in relation to Grande Prairie-based drug trafficking network from a previous RCMP investigation.
“ALERT is always looking to expand the scope of investigations and move up the food chain. We rely on criminal intelligence from our partner agencies to collaboratively dismantle these types of multi-jurisdictional drug networks,” said Acting Inspector Blayne Eliuk, ALERT Edmonton.
The drugs seized have an estimated street value in excess of $500,000 and includes:
- One shotgun;
- 10 handgun converter switches;
- 1,011 grams of methamphetamine;
- 3,882 grams of cocaine;
- 14,730 grams of a cocaine buffing agent;
- 2,022 grams of cannabis;
- 51 grams of fentanyl;
- 28 cases of contraband tobacco products;
- Thee vehicles;
- $55,032 cash.
The converter switches are a prohibited device used to transform Glock handguns into a prohibited firearm.
The vehicles and cash were seized as offence related property and will be considered for civil forfeiture. One of the vehicles was a 2021 Cadillac Escalade, worth an estimated $130,000.
John McKee, a 39-year-old man from Edmonton, is charged with drug trafficking, possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, and possession of a prohibited device.
Nathan Newman, a 28-year-old man from Wainright, is charged with drug trafficking, possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of a prohibited device, careless use of a firearm, and tobacco distribution.
Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is always anonymous.
ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.
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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