Alberta
Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan urges Albertans to consider the Free Alberta Strategy
This article submitted by Red Deer South UCP MLA Jason Stephan
The Threat to Alberta by the Ottawa Liberal-NDP Axis
We live in perilous times. We must honestly confront the realities of our current circumstances. Canada is spending itself into oblivion, threatening to take Alberta down with it, adopting policies of economic self-destruction, undermining the capacity of Alberta businesses and families to provide for themselves and others.
We need to protect ourselves. Alberta businesses and families should not be subject to unprincipled Federal politicians, who have demonstrated that they will not hesitate to attack the livelihoods of Alberta individuals and families to further their political ambitions for power.
What Canada was, is less important than what Canada is, and what it is becoming. Alberta may need to act quickly and abandon this sinking ship while it is still able to.
The Liberal-NDP Axis is unveiling a reckless budget, accelerating towards fiscal destruction; on the same day, Rob Anderson, Danielle Smith, and I will be in a townhall sharing the Free Alberta Strategy.
This Strategy is a series of initiatives Alberta can implement today, without needing permission from Ottawa.
The less Alberta needs Ottawa, the more leverage Alberta has. But Ottawa will resist efforts to need them less. It reduces their power.
It is vital to have a Premier that is trusted by Albertans to defend our interests. But most Albertans do not trust the current Premier.
This Premier’s leadership, and his unprecedented efforts to full out campaign and control the results of his own job review have become a circus, a distraction, and a liability to the province and the party.
Kenney’s board would have never cancelled the biggest in person political party event in Alberta history if he was going to win the vote. They would have moved heaven and earth, adapted and celebrated, an unprecedented success in voter turnout to the event. He was going to lose.
Moving fundamental goalposts on a vote, after deadlines to participate, destroys trust and integrity of process. It provides opportunities to cheat.
Many do not trust the new process has not, or will not, be rigged. A result that is not seen as legitimate will divide.
If this Premier is not fair, or seen as fair, where his moral authority to demand Ottawa to be fair?
How can this Premier hold Ottawa accountable, if he is, or seen as, failing to accept accountability for himself?
Conservative principles are more important and more popular than this leader. If this leader believes what he says, that Alberta cannot risk another NDP government, then why is it in the best interests of our party and our province to go into an election seeking to win in spite of the leader? Isn’t that too much risk?
Trust is earned as one’s actions are consistent with one’s words.
The majority of Albertans want to see this Premier resign. Yet, this Premier labelled those who agree with him as “mainstream”; while those who disagree with him as extremists, lunatics, or threats undermining stability. The Premier is doing what he condemned the Prime Minister for doing. He is acting like Trudeau.
Trudeau sees this, and is emboldened by it, his Liberal-NDP Axis cementing his power up to 2025, with increased opportunity to plunder and attack Alberta businesses and families for political gain.
We must prepare. Our requirement for fairness is not one founded on anger, it is founded on principle.
We need to great self-reliance, to free ourselves from hostile interference, and insulate ourselves and our children from the looming trillion dollar plus fiscal train wreck. The Free Alberta Strategy describes some of these opportunities at www.freealbertastrategy.com.
Alberta is a land of opportunity; it is a land of freedom and prosperity. We must be vigilant to keep it that way.
From the Fraser Institute
By Tegan Hill
If the Smith government reversed the 2015 personal income tax rate increases and instituted a flat 8 per cent tax rate, it would help restore Alberta’s position as one of the lowest tax jurisdictions in North America
Over the past decade, Alberta has gone from one of the most competitive tax jurisdictions in North America to one of the least competitive. And while the Smith government has promised to create a new 8 per cent tax bracket on personal income below $60,000, it simply isn’t enough to restore Alberta’s tax competitiveness. Instead, the government should institute a flat 8 per cent personal and business income tax rate.
Back in 2014, Alberta had a single 10 per cent personal and business income tax rate. As a result, it had the lowest top combined (federal and provincial/state) personal income tax rate and business income tax rate in North America. This was a powerful advantage that made Alberta an attractive place to start a business, work and invest.
In 2015, however, the provincial NDP government replaced the single personal income tax rate of 10 percent with a five-bracket system including a top rate of 15 per cent, so today Alberta has the 10th-highest personal income tax rate in North America. The government also increased Alberta’s 10 per cent business income tax rate to 12 per cent (although in 2019 the Kenney government began reducing the rate to today’s 8 per cent).
If the Smith government reversed the 2015 personal income tax rate increases and instituted a flat 8 per cent tax rate, it would help restore Alberta’s position as one of the lowest tax jurisdictions in North America, all while saving Alberta taxpayers $1,573 (on average) annually.
And a truly integrated flat tax system would not only apply a uniform tax 8 per cent rate to all sources of income (including personal and business), it would eliminate tax credits, deductions and exemptions, which reduce the cost of investments in certain areas, increasing the relative cost of investment in others. As a result, resources may go to areas where they are not most productive, leading to a less efficient allocation of resources than if these tax incentives did not exist.
Put differently, tax incentives can artificially change the relative attractiveness of goods and services leading to sub-optimal allocation. A flat tax system would not only improve tax efficiency by reducing these tax-based economic distortions, it would also reduce administration costs (expenses incurred by governments due to tax collection and enforcement regulations) and compliance costs (expenses incurred by individuals and businesses to comply with tax regulations).
Finally, a flat tax system would also help avoid negative incentives that come with a progressive marginal tax system. Currently, Albertans are taxed at higher rates as their income increases, which can discourage additional work, savings and investment. A flat tax system would maintain “progressivity” as the proportion of taxes paid would still increase with income, but minimize the disincentive to work more and earn more (increasing savings and investment) because Albertans would face the same tax rate regardless of how their income increases. In sum, flat tax systems encourage stronger economic growth, higher tax revenues and a more robust economy.
To stimulate strong economic growth and leave more money in the pockets of Albertans, the Smith government should go beyond its current commitment to create a new tax bracket on income under $60,000 and institute a flat 8 per cent personal and business income tax rate.
Author:
Making utility bills more affordableAlberta’s government is taking action to protect Alberta’s ratepayers by introducing legislation to lower and stabilize local access fees. Affordability is a top priority for Alberta’s government, with the cost of utilities being a large focus. By introducing legislation to help reduce the cost of utility bills, the government is continuing to follow through on its commitment to make life more affordable for Albertans. This is in addition to the new short-term measures to prevent spikes in electricity prices and will help ensure long-term affordability for Albertans’ basic household expenses.
Local access fees are functioning as a regressive municipal tax that consumers pay on their utility bills. It is unacceptable for municipalities to be raking in hundreds of millions in surplus revenue off the backs of Alberta’s ratepayers and cause their utility bills to be unpredictable costs by tying their fees to a variable rate. Calgarians paid $240 in local access fees on average in 2023, compared to the $75 on average in Edmonton, thanks to Calgary’s formula relying on a variable rate. This led to $186 million more in fees being collected by the City of Calgary than expected.
To protect Alberta’s ratepayers, the Government of Alberta is introducing the Utilities Affordability Statutes Amendment Act, 2024. If passed, this legislation would promote long-term affordability and predictability for utility bills by prohibiting the use of variable rates when calculating municipalities’ local access fees. Variable rates are highly volatile, which results in wildly fluctuating electricity bills. When municipalities use this rate to calculate their local access fees, it results in higher bills for Albertans and less certainty in families’ budgets. These proposed changes would standardize how municipal fees are calculated across the province, and align with most municipalities’ current formulas.
If passed, the Utilities Affordability Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 would prevent municipalities from attempting to take advantage of Alberta’s ratepayers in the future. It would amend sections of the Electric Utilities Act and Gas Utilities Act to ensure that the Alberta Utilities Commission has stronger regulatory oversight on how these municipal fees are calculated and applied, ensuring Alberta ratepayer’s best interests are protected.
If passed, this legislation would also amend sections of the Alberta Utilities Commission Act, the Electric Utilities Act, Government Organizations Act and the Regulated Rate Option Stability Act to replace the terms “Regulated Rate Option”, “RRO”, and “Regulated Rate Provider” with “Rate of Last Resort” and “Rate of Last Resort Provider” as applicable. Quick facts
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