Alberta
Hospitality Association grateful, but desperate for clarity on provincial health restrictions
News release from the AHA (Alberta Hospitality Association)
ALBERTA HOSPITALITY ASSOCIATION OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO THE ALBERTA GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
While the announcements made by the Alberta Government today were a move in the right direction it still leaves the hospitality industry in a precarious position with many within the industry feeling unclear and frustrated.
We have already received a high volume of inquiries to our association from operators voicing feedback from customers because of the lack of clear communication in today’s press conference. It is evident that the general public and the media do not fully understand how businesses in the hospitality industry have been, and will continue to be, impacted until all restrictions are lifted.
The hospitality industry wants an understanding as to why REP would be lifted before other restrictions such as table capacity, curfew and approved socializing and events throughout our operations. Removal of REP without loosening additional restrictions will continue to see operators enduring huge losses daily.
There is no data to support, or deny, that the curfew had any influence on the spread of covid with this current variant as there was no testing or contact tracing in the province. Moving forward with no testing or tracing AHA wants assurance that the hospitality industry will not continue to be targeted.
For several months AHA along with key stakeholders in the hospitality industry have requested meetings with the Alberta Government to discuss the dire status of our sector, insight of a plan moving forward and support to help ensure businesses can stop hemorrhaging money and retain the hard working staff that have now been put through five targeted closures.
To move forward confidently with the second level of restrictions lifting and avoid another closure or reinforced restrictions we ask for:
● A clear understanding of what the actual metrics and benchmarks the government requires to move into phase 2.
● Clarity about which additional restrictions will be lifted in phase 2 specific to the hospitality industry as the government website currently does not provide any information.
● A clear plan of provincial support for the hospitality industry which was unfairly targeted with closures during the fifth wave of restrictions.
The AHA is once again requesting a hospitality specific round table with decision makers within government which include Premier Kenney, Doug Schweitzer (Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation), and Jason Copping (Minister of Health), along with our key stakeholders to discuss the current reopening plan, the effects the industry has faced over the last two years, and how we can legitimately move forward successfully.
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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