Alberta budget

[fjlip]

So what does Norway spent the billions on? Must have fantastic infrastructure, free post secondary education, high paying jobs, maybe 32 hr work week? AB had low taxes, just the opposite, and still enough were not happy. All get corrupted and complacent.

[cottonpicken]

It is size and scope of government. Unfounded liabilities. Their protections didnt work the government is brain dead. They are the people who you graduated with metaphorically.

[dmlfarmer]

Hamloc: I will argue that Canadians are already paying nearly as much in tax as Norwegians. Easy to make Norway sound bad when you inflate their rates and don't compare Canadian rates. Here is a tax comparison from Wikipedia:

Canada
corporate: 26.5%
max. individual: 0% to 50% Surcharge taxes ((Varies) (15%-29% federal 5%-21% provincial $0–$900CDN Health Premium Surcharge Taxes
payroll taxes: 9.9%, split equally between the employee and the employer up to a maximum of $2425.50 each (CPP) 1.88% up to a maximum of $930.60, with the employer contributing 1.4 times that amount, 2.632%, up to a maximum of $1,302.84 (Employment Insurance EI) varied % of Income Tax (CIP))
Sales tax: 5% (federal GST) with exemptions for small-businesses 0%-10% (PST)
plus all other taxes (gas, excise, etc)

Norway
corporate: 27%
Personal: 47.2% (includes 8.2% pension contribution)
payroll: 0%-14.1%
sales tax: 25% or 15% (food and drink in shops) or 8% (transportation, cinema, hotel rooms)

Now compare the services both countries offer citizens for the taxes collected!

[dmlfarmer]

Norway personal income rate should have read 0% to 47.2%. Like Canada lowest income bracket does not pay any personal income tax.

[stonepicker]

I think i'll buy shares in norway's statoil (nyse-STO )

[stonepicker]

I don't agree DML, as far as tax rates- in norway they are 42% of GDP, in canada tax is 31% of GDP. cost of living in norway is much higher also- consumer prices are 49% higher,rent is 49.5% higher, restaurant meals are 85% higher, groc. are 30% higher. Things are pretty darn good in canada! It's not always greener on the other side! Also norway purchasing power is 5% lower than canada. We have one of the highest standards of living in the world but you wouldn"t know it by reading whinerville.

[dmlfarmer]

stonepicker:
you ignore that the GDP in Canada is 5 times higher than Norway.
Yes costs are higher, but at the same time we have unemployment at nearly 7% vs 3.4% in Norway. You don't compare wages only costs!
You fail to mention that Norway has one of the highest national savings rates in the world (15th) at 37.5% vs Canada (71th) at 21.2%. You ignore that public debt in Canada is now 97.6% of GDP (20highest country in world) vs only 29.6% in Norway (179th in world).
Most shocking in 2014 Norway had a current account balance of 50 billion USD. (10th best in world) Compare that to Canada with a 2014 current account balance of -50.8 USD and a ranking of 190 out of 193 countries.

Fact is we are not paying enough in taxes or income generation to pay the bills our governments are racking up. Instead we are racking up debt for our children.

[stonepicker]

dml, it's a percentage of GDP, it doesn't matter that ours is 5 times higher. But i do agree that canada is spending more than the gov. is taking in and that has to stop. But can any gov. in a democracy actually cut programs and waste, prov. or federal ? There's so much waste in gov., we don't need to raise taxes we need to cut spending. Why in WPG. if you have to go to emergency you will be waiting there 6-8 hrs. ? On a regular basis. ( some hospitals more ) The health care system is so inefficient it"s not funny! I guess i'm ranting and raving now. What canada and the usa need is a wise dictator that can make hard decisions and implement them.

[fjlip]

So how is health care in Norway? And pensions? How about infrastructure? Remember, it's only the population of AB, NOT Canada with plus 50 billion $$, can we buy shares in Norway?

[stonepicker]

Actually norway has a pretty hefty debt. too. rounding it off it's over 117 billion US. dollars ( 5 million people ) take it times 6 ( canada's pop. 30 million ) = over 700 billion. Canada doesn't look quite so bad anymore. Big difference is norway's heritage fund! ( 800 billion i think )