Excellant post on ASRG website.
"Where Do We Go From Here?
On April 23rd Alberta returned the Progressive Conservative Party to power. Despite scandals that would make a banana state dictator blush, Alberta returned the fox to the henhouse!
Premier Redford made some pretty lavish spending promises over the course of the election? If she actually intends to fill them (unlikely) how will she do it?
Natural gas prices are at record lows and unlikely to recover for many years. The USA is awash in oil and gas from domestic production. Bitumen continues to face steep discounts and pipeline construction faces increased opposition. Exploration land sales are sluggish.
All these factors point to a stagnating (or decreasing) revenue source for the province…..so where will the money come from?
Taxes will have to go up……..it is the only solution under a Redford government! The promises made to the public sector unions and the teachers are sacred……they are the new Progressive Conservatives.
The first tax increase will be an increase in the education portion of property taxes. I suspect this will be quickly followed by higher taxes on booze and smokes, increased traffic fees, increased registration fees, and probably increased taxes on utility fees and gas taxes.
The flat tax might escape for another year and a sales tax may be put off for a further year?
I would speculate there will be a move to “vest” (read that as steal) freehold mineral rights, or at least tax them into oblivion! In the public interest…..don’t you know?
In addition expect a “discussion on managing water”? With the proper “discussion”, orchestrated by professional facilitators, WE will come to the conclusion that Albertans need a water market and seeing how the government owns all the water…….well you get the picture? Yep, evertime you take a bath, have a drink, water the garden, the old meter will be running! Who knows how many $ billions that will bring in?
Get ready to pay a lot more for living in the Redford utopia called Alberta!
ASRG
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"Where Do We Go From Here?
On April 23rd Alberta returned the Progressive Conservative Party to power. Despite scandals that would make a banana state dictator blush, Alberta returned the fox to the henhouse!
Premier Redford made some pretty lavish spending promises over the course of the election? If she actually intends to fill them (unlikely) how will she do it?
Natural gas prices are at record lows and unlikely to recover for many years. The USA is awash in oil and gas from domestic production. Bitumen continues to face steep discounts and pipeline construction faces increased opposition. Exploration land sales are sluggish.
All these factors point to a stagnating (or decreasing) revenue source for the province…..so where will the money come from?
Taxes will have to go up……..it is the only solution under a Redford government! The promises made to the public sector unions and the teachers are sacred……they are the new Progressive Conservatives.
The first tax increase will be an increase in the education portion of property taxes. I suspect this will be quickly followed by higher taxes on booze and smokes, increased traffic fees, increased registration fees, and probably increased taxes on utility fees and gas taxes.
The flat tax might escape for another year and a sales tax may be put off for a further year?
I would speculate there will be a move to “vest” (read that as steal) freehold mineral rights, or at least tax them into oblivion! In the public interest…..don’t you know?
In addition expect a “discussion on managing water”? With the proper “discussion”, orchestrated by professional facilitators, WE will come to the conclusion that Albertans need a water market and seeing how the government owns all the water…….well you get the picture? Yep, evertime you take a bath, have a drink, water the garden, the old meter will be running! Who knows how many $ billions that will bring in?
Get ready to pay a lot more for living in the Redford utopia called Alberta!
ASRG
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