I had this exact conversation with my son this week as he and his wife visited from the west.
Alberta, Ottawa set to clash over rent supplement cost, Dec. 27
This story reports another impasse over money between Alberta and Ottawa. Yet it fails to explain the full story as to why Alberta is so low on cash.
Alberta has been a tax haven for decades, and still has no provincial sales tax like almost all of the rest of Canada pays. For Ontario, the provincial sales tax is 8 per cent; for Alberta, it is 0. The revenue going to provincial coffers from this are huge in Ontario; zilch in Alberta.
So what does Alberta Premier Jason Kenney do? He expects federal funds to cover for the lack of Alberta provincial funds. He never mentions sales tax. That means taxpayers in other provinces, who pay provincial sales tax as well as other taxes, are expected to maintain the Alberta tax haven.
Why isn’t this fact included in every story about Alberta seeking federal money? Canadians would then better understand how Kenney is pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.
Allan Fox, Toronto
.. I only predicted 'four bitter years' for Albertans..
ReplyDeleteDid not look further down the road.. nor did I predict the impact upon the rest of Canada. Its so dismal.. they might as well have found a Trump clone.. But then Kenney is a classic Harper School disciple.. perhaps Harper's most glib and toxic human 'political legacy' for Canadians.. .. After all, who even comes close ? Christy Clark ? Peter McKay ? Doug Ford ? And just look at the malignant partisan Harper baggage retinue.. the Matt Wolf's.. Lorne Gunter, Pierre Poilievre, Denise Batters, Ken Boessenkool, Lorrie Goldstein, Stephen Lecce, Tom Flanagans, Paul Godfrey, Arthur Hamilton, Jenni Byrne et al
No doubt that Alberta's feelings of resentment and the expectation of something for nothing will be ruthlessly stoked by politicos for their own advantage in the days, weeks and years to come, Sal.
DeleteIt's called the "Alberta Advantage" in Wildrose country. Jim Prentice wanted to bring Alberta into the era of realism but Rachel put paid to that nonsense. From shunning a sales tax to allowing the energy giants to have their way with the province leaving Albertans at the mercy of world markets that whipsaw the place with a "boom and bust" economy it's a formula for perpetual ruin. Then these reckless hooligans claim the right to BC's coast, saying it's as much theirs as ours. They do it because Ottawa never tires of kissing their ass.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder how much puckering up Justin will do, Mound. He lacks the courage and integrity to make them responsible for their own feckless shortsightedness.
Delete.. the underlying reality.. the magical unicorn 'advantage' is all revealed by Bitumen & diluted Bitumen reality & foreign ownership (profits) of 'all that wealth in the ground' (Justin Trudeau) aka the mystical 'energy superpower' dogma of Stephen Harper
ReplyDeleteFor the intrepid, Andrew Leach at U of A is a remarkable source of fact rather than political 'oil' fictions out of Alberta or Ottawa. Its also useful to remember that fully 96 % of 'Canada's vast oil reserves' are Bitumen in the tar sands - oil sands - Bitumen sands - oil patch (take your pick of names)
Next, we never hear of an actual Asian buyer.. You know.. 'if only we had more pipelines' - 'Alberta oil is unfairly discounted' .. the whole 'landlocked' crime of the century. Odd that Alberta and Ottawa seem fixated on 'tidewater' .. not pipeline into Montana.. and on to Washington State, California or Texas gulf coast refineries ie those who are the principal buyers.. and tend to sell the refined products back to Canada.
What of the reality that 'tidewater' is actually Burnaby, BC ? Last I looked so called supertankers exit headed for the Salish Sea only half full, in order to scrape over the Second Narrows and at high tide only. I believe a couple of ships at most went to Korean buyers.. so where are all the other eager but anonymous customers who will pay a premium because of a magical pipeline miracle ? Loaves and fishes ? Put hamburger in one end of a pipeline then pump into a supertanker.. and at the other end it pops out as sirloin steak ? What ? Miraculous ! The business case is where ?
So this is the underlying basis of a 'nation divided' ?? Or 'nation building' ? And a reason for RCMP snipers and potentially Canada's Armed Forces.. 'using all the violence you want' as tactical strategy.. seeming without alerting Provincial Premiers, the Prime Minister and the AWOL 'leader' of the Official Opposition ? Pardon me ??
In matters of oil commerce, Sal, it appears that the 'national interest' trumps all other considerations. I guess it makes a good talking point, eh?
Delete