It’s time for the UCP to drop its newfound interest in picking winners and losers
It’s a sad day for taxpayers when their government that has “committed to being responsible stewards of taxpayers’ hard-earned money” starts bragging about its corporate welfare spending. Premier Jason Kenney should immediately scrap the new business subsidy programs his government just announced and go back to focusing on cutting taxes for everyone rather than picking…
The single biggest day-to-day expense for the Alberta government is labour costs
The single biggest day-to-day expense for the Alberta government is labour costs. And with taxpayers footing the bill, we deserve to know just how much we are paying for all government employees with six-figure salaries. While Alberta’s sunshine list discloses the salaries and benefits of bureaucrats making more than $111,000 per year and employees of…
The government of Premier Jason Kenney has decided to end a 44-year moratorium on open-pit coal mining in southern Alberta
Desperate times sometimes lead to catastrophic measures. In Alberta, the beleaguered provincial government is in a financial situation that could be characterized as desperate, suffering from the double-whammy of collapsed resource revenues and, of course, the massive spending required to address the social wildfire known as the COVID-19 pandemic. The desperate measure that the United…
With everyone’s attention riveted on COVID-19, it’s important to remember there are still unrelated bad policy ideas that could become legislation. The Alberta government recently convened an expert panel to examine what’s widely being called Alberta’s car insurance problem. As is usually the case in these types of matters, the problem seems to be largely…
By Jairo Yunis and Steven Globerman The Fraser Institute The Alberta government recently introduced Bill 22 (the Red Tape Reduction Implementation Act), delivering on a campaign promise to streamline regulations across the provincial government. While details aren’t yet clear, the bill proposes a whopping 14 legislative changes across six ministries. Proposed changes include removing residency…
Tying income tax relief with savings from bringing government compensation in line with costs in other provinces will help put Alberta back on its feet
For Alberta to get back on its feet, it’ll take thousands of little things like families going out for pizza and restaurants rehiring servers to bring out those pizzas. The best thing Alberta Premier Jason Kenney can do to help those families do those little things is to lighten their tax burdens. And the premier…
Struggling families and businesses can’t afford to pay big property tax bills to fund bloated municipal governments. Alberta municipalities need to reduce that burden by addressing the cost elephant in the room: labour. For many Albertans working outside of government, the last five years have been nothing short of a nightmare full of job losses,…
Referendums have been the source of high anxiety and popular uprisings in recent years. Whether they’re a truly democratic way to make vital decisions that best serve the public interest is a matter of great debate. However, there really should be no debate – nine times out of 10, they’re a bad idea. Alberta Premier…
Businesses need help, but it’s important to provide the right help the right way. Premier Jason Kenney’s economic strategy has so far revolved around three core principles: lowering taxes, cutting red tape and pushing back against Ottawa. Kenney should double down on these principles to help Alberta recover and stay away from corporate welfare. “The…
Welfare reform in the 1990s provides a starting point for reforming health care today
By Jake Fuss and Bacchus Barua The Fraser Institute On Wednesday, Alberta’s Fair Deal Panel issued its report detailing 25 policy recommendations to expand the province’s influence within the Canadian federation and enhance provincial autonomy. However, one crucial policy option was not discussed at length – the potential shift of health-care decision-making powers to the…
It’s a sad day for taxpayers when their government that has “committed to being responsible stewards of taxpayers’ hard-earned money” starts bragging about its corporate welfare spending. Premier Jason Kenney should immediately scrap the new business subsidy programs his government just announced and go back to focusing on cutting taxes for everyone rather than picking…
