Alberta
Danielle Smith vows Alberta won’t be ‘transitioning away’ from oil, natural gas
From LifeSiteNews
‘Energy security and affordability are comparable with sustainability. Alberta is actively reducing emissions through technology, not taxes’
Alberta is refusing to phase out oil and gas, despite the regulations proposed by Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s government.
On November 20, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the province will focus on reducing emissions but will not eliminate the gas and oil sector, as effectively demanded by the Trudeau government.
Energy security and affordability are comparable with sustainability. Alberta is actively reducing emissions through technology, not taxes.
But, we will not be transitioning away from oil and natural gas. pic.twitter.com/H6k9czBOjN
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) November 20, 2023
“Energy security and affordability are comparable with sustainability. Alberta is actively reducing emissions through technology, not taxes,” she wrote.
“But, we will not be transitioning away from oil and natural gas,” Smith declared.
Also on November 20, Smith blasted Alberta’s leader of the provincial opposition, the New Democratic Party’s Rachel Notley, for pushing for energy regulations and the carbon tax on Albertans.
“I think Albertans wish the member of the opposite would stand up for Albertans for a change rather than take marching orders from the federal NDP leader,” she said, referring to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh who has sided with the Liberal government in favor of the carbon tax and energy regulations.
“If they had just agreed to eliminate the carbon tax, it would reduce inflation 16%, which means we wouldn’t have to see an increase in interest rates, which means people could afford to buy a house as well,” she continued, referring to information from the Bank of Canada.
“Maybe she should stand up for Albertans for a change,” Smith declared.
WATCH: Danielle Smith destroys Jagmeet Singh, Rachel Notley, and rips apart the evil deal the two have, that is stabbing Albertans in the back. W Danielle.pic.twitter.com/xHTFm81O5M
— Keean Bexte (@TheRealKeean) November 21, 2023
Smith’s statements come in response to Trudeau attempting to force a net zero emissions goal on provinces across Canada, regardless of the negative effects it will have on Canadians’ lives.
Trudeau has also refused to extend the carbon tax exemption to all forms of home heating, instead only exempting the forms of heating used in the Liberal-held Atlantic provinces.
Smith has repeatedly refused to submit to the Liberal government’s demands, warning that Canadians could freeze in the winter if the new “clean emissions” regulations are enforced.
Smith’s warnings are not unfounded. Alberta’s electric grid operator, Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), warned that Trudeau’s 2035 net-zero power grid goal will mean instability for the western province and are “not feasible.”
In September, Smith announced that she is preparing to use her province’s Sovereignty Act to fight the energy regulations.
The draft version of the federal government’s Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) states that there will be billions of higher costs associated with a so-called “green” power transition, especially in the resource-rich provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, which use natural gas and coal to fuel power plants.
In May, Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault declared that violating environmental regulations banning the use of coal and gas-fired power after 2035 may even result in criminal sanctions, a statement that only increased the tension between the federal government and the provinces opposed to the proposed policies.
The Trudeau government also recently threatened to withhold billions of taxpayer money to provinces that will continue to use resources such as natural gas, oil and coal to generate electricity beyond 2035.
In addition to Smith, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has likewise promised to fight back against the new regulations, saying recently that “Trudeau’s net-zero electricity regulations are unaffordable, unrealistic and unconstitutional.”
“They will drive electricity rates through the roof and leave Saskatchewan with an unreliable power supply. Our government will not let the federal government do that to the Saskatchewan people,” he charged.
The Trudeau government’s current environmental goals – in lockstep with the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” – include phasing out coal-fired power plants, reducing fertilizer usage, and curbing natural gas use over the coming decades.
The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization with which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.
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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