Alberta is the only province with no PST, saving its people billions of dollars per year
Here's the good news: the majority of United Conservative Party leadership candidates have pledged not to impose a Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or raise taxes on Albertans. Six UCP leadership candidates signed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Pledge, which reads: "I will never impose a Provincial Sales Tax and I will not raise taxes." All of…
It also goes without saying that Smith has her detractors. Is their criticism fair or nothing more than political gamesmanship?
On Oct. 6, United Conservative Party of Alberta members will choose a new party leader and provincial premier to replace Jason Kenney. The race has largely come down to three individuals – former Wildrose Party leader/UCP MLA Brian Jean, former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith and former UCP minister of Finance/Treasury Board president Travis Toews.…
The government must follow through on its promise to re-index the tax system to inflation
It’s been three years since the Alberta government implemented a “temporary” pause to the indexation of non-refundable income tax credits and tax bracket thresholds – a policy that has resulted in nearly $647 million in additional taxes being paid by Albertans between 2020 and 2022, according to a recent report by the University of Calgary’s…
Will cost each Albertan between $105 and $331, depending on income, by the end of the year
As Alberta Premier Jason Kenney gets ready to step away from the premier’s office, he should go out the way he came in: sticking up for taxpayers. To do that, Kenney needs to wash away the unsightly blemish on his tax-fighting record: bracket creep. Kenney started his career roughly three decades ago as the Canadian…
And help Albertans cope with the scary roller coaster that is the economy
Albertans received the pleasant news that their deficit-plagued provincial government might bank a surplus for their concluding fiscal year and could very well experience the same this year. The reason for this happy state of financial affairs is the elevated price levels of oil and natural gas – coming just as a resurgence in the…
Looking to Ontario for clues on how to turn its fortunes around fraught with uncertainties
Imagine a provincial premier who is wildly unpopular with voters. An election is still some time away, but pundits are already speculating the incumbent conservative party could suffer a bloodbath. As the conservative government lunges from one fumble to the next, their leader just can’t stop putting his foot in his mouth. The NDP opposition…
Conservative activists set impossible standards for politicians and abandon them when they're not met
For more than three decades, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been one of the leading political figures in Canada’s conservative movement. The 53-year-old headed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation in the 1990s and has been a strong advocate for low taxes, limited government and fiscal responsibility ever since. He served as a Reform Party, Canadian Alliance…
Focus on sustainable solutions rather than on short-term ones with strings-attached
The Alberta government stopped collecting its fuel tax at the beginning of April in an effort to provide “real relief” to Albertans impacted by rising fuel and inflationary costs. The tax cut saves motorists up to 13 cents per litre on gasoline and diesel but reduces the provincial revenues by approximately $1.3 billion (nearly three per…
Alberta needs to seize this opportunity; as history has shown, it may not last
Under the backdrop of rising provincial oil revenues, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s speech to the Alberta Municipal Leaders caucus in March and the debate around it mark the start of what will be the dominating discussion in provincial politics from now until the election. The question is, what do we do with this new revenue?…
If you’ve had to drive your kids to hockey, go grocery shopping or commute to work, you’ve likely cursed every time you saw the price at the pump. Gas prices have now reached a high of over $1.50 per litre. That’s the highest level since Statistics Canada started tracking this data in 1990. Higher gas…
Here's the good news: the majority of United Conservative Party leadership candidates have pledged not to impose a Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or raise taxes on Albertans. Six UCP leadership candidates signed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Pledge, which reads: "I will never impose a Provincial Sales Tax and I will not raise taxes." All of…
