More Taxes are not the Answer

Oftentimes when politicians start talking public policy people’s eyes glaze over - and for good reason. Voters are generally too busy dealing with more important things like work, recreation, volunteer activities and trying to raise a family.

So in the interests of helping each of you get back to the things you actually enjoy doing (policy wonks aside), I am pleased to announce the Wildrose policy on taxes can be summarized in just 4 words:

No Tax Increases Period.

I thought this would be a breath of fresh air from the Redford PC’s stand on tax policy which has jumped from a new provincial sales tax, to higher income tax rates, to new monthly health premiums, to the latest Redford musing, higher ‘sin’ taxes on alcohol and cigarettes (and who knows, maybe junk food and pop?).

The PCs haven’t said which tax or taxes they plan on going with (and probably don’t plan to until after the next election should they cling to power), but one thing is crystal clear; the Redford PCs want to balance the budget while continuing their highest-in-the-nation spending – and the only way to do that (in their left leaning minds) is to raise taxes.

This represents a major difference between the Wildrose and PC parties.

The PCs continue to claim that Alberta has a revenue problem, and that the way to solve it and balance the budget is to raise taxes (or in Stelmach’s case, royalties on oil and gas). 

The Wildrose believes the PC Government has a spending addiction and that the only way to balance the budget moving forward is to cut billions in wasteful spending and corporate handouts (i.e. the $2 billion Carbon Capture Fund & $300 million new MLA offices), keep spending increases on important services and infrastructure to the rate of inflation plus population growth, and importantly, keep taxes low for individuals and job creating businesses.

So which do we have in Alberta – a revenue problem or spending problem? Well, here are a few facts to ponder:

• Over the past 10 years, the Alberta Government has spent more (per person) than any province in Canada; yes, that includes the Charest and McGuinty Liberals as well as the Manitoba and Saskatchewan NDP (of course Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party has thankfully straightened that province out over the last few years).
• Despite a near record amount of royalty and land sale revenues from oil and gas (approaching $10 billion this year), Alberta will post a $3 billion accounting deficit and a $6 billion cash shortfall this year. To put things in perspective, the Canadian provincial record for resource revenues collected in a single year by a province other than Alberta was British Columbia’s $4.5 billion in 2006.
• Our children’s Heritage Fund (created with surplus revenues from oil and gas) is now worth less today (when adjusted for inflation) that it was when Lougheed first created it in 1976. Every cent of interest has been spent by the PCs since that time.
• Alberta’s ‘Rainy Day’ Sustainability Fund which was nearly $17 billion just 3 years ago is on pace to expire by the end of 2013-14.
• The PC Government’s repeated attempts to blame these deficits on the recent global recession and lower natural gas prices does not hold up.  The global recession ended in mid 2009, and steady GDP and employment growth have followed.  Due to our massive oil reserves and high oil prices at roughly $100 per barrel, Alberta has not been affected nearly as much by the recession as other jurisdictions.

Yet despite the above facts, the Redford PCs continue to claim Alberta has a revenue problem. I am still waiting to hear some facts that support this.

Premier Redford keeps saying that during their closed doors budget consultations, many Albertans told them they wanted and understood the need for higher taxes to balance the budget.

Well, I’ve knocked on about 25% of Airdrie homes over the past 2 months. Guess what percentage of people have told me higher taxes are acceptable to them? 0%…which is exactly how much higher your taxes will go up under a Wildrose government.