Alberta Must be More Competitive

The PC Government's first bill for 2010 is Bill 1 – the Competitiveness Act (kind of sad we need a law to force us to be more competitive...but I digress). Here was my response given in the Legislature:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is good to see this Premier and his government are finally willing to pay, at the very least, lip service to this important fact. I'm glad to see a growing Wildrose Alliance movement has had the intended effect.

During the 1990s Alberta established itself as one of the best places in the world to do business. We limited government spending growth. We paid off debt. We lowered taxes and provided tax incentives to attract new businesses and industries to our great province. The people of our province proudly referred to this as the Alberta advantage. Although Alberta still possesses some of these same features, our edge has slipped dramatically over the last decade.

Our tax advantage, for example, both in regard to personal and business income taxes has decreased dramatically. For example, B.C. now has lower income taxes for any person making under $118,000. We haven't lowered business taxes for years, and many provinces are quickly catching up to us, with plans to surpass us soon. If we allow them to, Albertans will lose jobs to other jurisdictions – it's as simple as that.

Similarly, because of this government's (new royalty framework) tens of billions of dollars in energy investment and the tens of thousands of jobs created there from have fled to neighboring provinces.

Furthermore, provincial government spending has been growing out of control for some time at more than double the rate of inflation plus population growth...the government now finds itself in the position of both taking on massive amounts of debt (a planned $6 billion by 2012) while facing the prospect of cutting the promised programs that Albertans have come to rely on. It is my view that if we continue on our present course, we will leave ourselves and our children with an Alberta disadvantage. As non renewable resource revenues decrease, taxes will increase; health, education, and other important social services will be cut; and opportunities will disappear.

Finally, there is the issue of over-regulation and red tape. The regulatory burden on Alberta businesses, our engine of job creation, is astounding. Several independent assessments rank Alberta dead last nationally in this area. It costs business billions of dollars in compliance costs (and) delays billions (more) in investment. This government has done nothing to address this issue to this point.

Bill 1 could be – and I emphasize could be – a first small step in the right direction. If this is simply lip service or a tool for appointing a new do-nothing committee or agency, then this bill will be a failure. If, however, this bill is used to mimic what has been done by other jurisdictions to become more competitive, then it is worth the support of this House, in my view.

The Wildrose Alliance is always looking for pioneers in our own province and in other jurisdictions who have found innovative ways to improve. I will focus on one example today, that of our good neighbor, British Columbia.

In 2001 the BC Government promised to reduce regulation by one-third, or 33 per cent. (Regulation reduction)targets were set out in the annual three-year business plans for each ministry. The minister responsible for the initiative reported monthly to cabinet on the government's progress, and quarterly progress reports were published publicly. To date there's been a 42 per cent reduction in the regulatory burden, so roughly 239,000 regulations now exist in B.C. compared to 384,000 when they started.

Mr. Speaker, it is my view the current government in Alberta has done a very poor job of making us competitive since the current Premier took office. (However), it's never too late to do the right thing. I will be supporting this bill with the caveat that this had better be more than just lip service. We have a good example to follow in B.C. on reducing red tape, so let's do it. The Wildrose has been offering solutions to make us more competitive in the energy sector as well as offering ideas to maintain the Alberta Advantage through better fiscal management and savings, so let's do it.

In short, it's time to stop talking about being competitive and start being competitive.

Rob Anderson

MLA Airdrie-Chestermere