Alberta
Statement from Premier Danielle Smith regarding Ethics Commissioner’s Report
From the United Conservative party
Ethics Commissioner Confirms CBC and NDP lies regarding Crown Prosecutor Contact; Premier to seek formal guidelines on future policy discussions with Justice Minister
(May 18, 2023) — Danielle Smith, Leader of the United Conservative Party of Alberta, issued the following statement:
“I was gratified to read the Ethics Commissioner’s findings confirming that neither I, nor anyone in my office, tried to or did contact any Crown Prosecutors regarding any COVID-19 prosecutions.
“This confirms that the CBC and NDP have repeatedly lied to Albertans for months with false accusations stating that my office and I had done so. Both the CBC and NDP should apologize and withdraw those false accusations immediately and publicly. They should also apologize to Alberta’s independent Crown Prosecutors and Civil Service for repeatedly questioning their integrity in addressing these matters.
“As to my discussions regarding COVID-related charges and violations with my Minister of Justice, Tyler Shandro: I have always stated I wanted to find a path of amnesty for those charged with non-violent COVID-related offences and violations during the pandemic.
“As I have explained before, I spoke with Minister Shandro, who is an experienced lawyer (I am not) as I was very interested in his advice on what could legally be done about this. He gave me his advice on the matter and, as the Commissioner has also confirmed, I accepted it. It went no further after that.
“In the Commissioner’s opinion, I had a discussion with Minister Shandro that was inappropriate regarding this subject.
“I invited the Commissioner to give me and future premiers the benefit of some guidance on how to advance sensitive policy issues similar to this with the Minister of Justice if she thought there was a more appropriate way.
“Although she has yet to offer a different approach or advice for me to consider in this regard, I will be seeking legal advice on creating specific formal guidelines as to when and how a Premier may speak with a Minister of Justice in the future about policy issues and other sensitive matters in order to respect all applicable rules and conventions. I will be asking the Ethics Commissioner to review those guidelines, once drafted, in order that her advice and input are incorporated.
“As to Mr. Pawlowski, a verdict in his case has been rendered by the Court and the matter is now closed.
“Given that various false and defamatory statements are now confirmed to have been made by the CBC and NDP in this matter against me and several individuals in my office, this matter remains the subject of potential civil litigation. I will confer with my counsel on what next steps are to be taken after the election.
“I look forward to spending the remainder of the campaign talking about issues that Albertans are focused on – namely the economy, jobs, affordability, public safety and healthcare.”
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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