The mayors message?

[cowman]

The Calgary mayor, Dave Braconniere, sent out a flyer to every household in Calgary, pointing out the taxation situation in Calgary.
The feds get 66% of all taxes, the province 29% and the city 5%! Now I realize the feds transfer money back to the provinces and the provinces transfer money back to the municipalities. Unfortunately, at least in Albertas case, the feds keep a very large chunk of the 66% to spend on Quebec and the Maritimes!
In the past, the feds cut back to the provinces and the provinces in turn cut back their spending to the municipalities. In reality who keeps up most of the infrastructure? I realize the province does a lot but the municipalities do a very large portion?
Maybe it is time we let the municipalities have a bigger slice of the pie?
It is my firm belief that the closer the government is to the people, the better government is? My municipality is more responsive government and are focussed on the needs of the population living within the county. They are not running around spending the taxes on silly things like legalizing gays,dope, Quebec advertizing firms! Or trying to make us speak French, or spending our money propping up businesses in Quebec and keeping the Maritimes on the dole!
In fact when you come right down to it our municipal government is actually doing the things government should be doing...keeping up the infrastructure and creating a situation where commerce can flourish!

[ivbinconned]

Let the revolution begin!

[Horse]

Cowman do you have any figures on how much money leaves this province in the form of profits from the energy sector.
I know some comes back to investors in the province but I am sure there is a lot that dont and that is not counting all the 6 figure salrys.

[cowman]

No I don't have any figures of how much money leaves the province or the country in the form of energy dollars. I would suspect it is substantial as there are a lot of big American companies up here? I also suspect major dollars leave the Alberta packing industry as they too are mostly American owned? I will note the major hog packer in Alberta is Quebec owned so I suppose the dollars flow to Quebec?
The point is probably a lot of dollars go south from just about every industry in Canada? The Americans own one hell of a lot of businesses up here?
Who ever develops the oil and gas, the fact is the people of Alberta own it! Now we may not be getting a fair value for it, but whose fault is that? I would suggest it is the government not the company buying it? And I would also suggest the federal government gets just as much tax dollars out of a barrel of oil as the companies? The only difference is the companies invest, take risks, provide jobs, and put money into land owners pockets, while the federal government is nothing more than a parasite.

[madcow]

cowman, we don't have any legalized gay dope dealers ,advertising in french here in the Maritimes. And the 'dole' you contribute so much to doesn't add up to much in my pocket.Could you send the che'q'ue directly please. I agree that local governments are more in tune with local needs and issues,Ottawa is as foreign here as it is out there.Kindly stop painting the Maritimes with your central,more specifically, Ottawa parasite brush.Harper did the same thing ,but take a look ,the far east is blue,not red or NDP-dyed.You may be right about money leaving Alberta.(You almost admitted that U.S. owned and controlled industry is a big problem),a lot goes south, some may go east,but very little of it 'shows' up here.The last few years we've become more like a 3rd world country rather than part of one of the best countries in the world to live in.( or so it feels on my farm ) Have you ever been to the Maritimes ? Come on down and get a feel first for what you are so critical of.......We're all in this together !!!!!

[ivbinconned]

Madcow just because you can not see it doesn't mean it isn,t so.

When there is a transfer of wealth from one government to another it is hard for the individual to feel it or see it!

This is what happens when there is a transfer of wealth from government to government instead of person to person...with the constitutionally entrenched equalization system today (inter-provincial socalisim)a family in Alberta with an income of $30,000 to $40,000 contribute about $3,150; a Newfoundland family with income of more than $100,000.00 gets a benefit of $1200.00!!
This is taking from the truck diver in Alberta and giving to the Doctor in the East.
This is taking from the guy that fixes your car in a Alberta and giving it to a lawyer in P.E.I.

Our federal system has ****d and plundered the east and brought it to its knees. This example may well be all the motivation Alberta needs to get out before it happens to them, and you madcow, should applaud their effort.

I do not hate the Americans as horse does but I do wish that Canadians could buy back their interests here.

Perhaps if we could dump the Librano$ and get a government that would see see how a low dollar has brought about the sell off of our industries over the past 30 years and would take steps to push our dollar higher that could happen.

[Horse]

Cowman I dont understand why it is good to be ****d be the oil industry but bad to be ****d by the packers or its ok to be ****d by the provincial gov but not the feds.
Mabey that has something to do with who is filling your pocket??
I always figured a $ gone is a doller gone.

[cowman]

Well Horse you may be very right with that assumption...I have never tried to hide the fact that I make my bread and butter in the oil patch! Never really planned it that way...just sort of fell into it. I guess I could have made a decent living solely farming, but greedy thing that I am, I couldn't resist the big money...and besides I enjoy the business!
I am not defending the provincial Tories! I do believe they are basically incompetent and have been for the last 30 odd years! However bad they might have managed our resources I am pretty sure in my own mind that the Liberals or NDP would have done a lot worse?
I do not resent the American businesses up here making money. If it wasn't for them who would do it? I benifit from having them here and so do you! In fact every Albertan(and every Canadian) benifit in a big way from the American businesses operating here! In case you haven't realized it we are a fairly rich society here in Alberta? Despite the fact we have an incompetent provincial government and prop up the rest of the country!
It is also a fact if the road tax, collected by Ottawa, was spent on the darned roads we wouldn't have infrastructure problems? Our road tax goes to Ottawa to be spent who the hell knows where? Build a monstrosity of a bridge to PEI, while the Edmonton to Fort Mac road remains a nightmare! Does this make sense?

[madcow]

If memory serves correctly the monstrosity of a bridge that streamlined agricultural trade ( as well as all other ) speed between PEI and the rest of the Atlantic region.At a cost to users equal to the cost of the ferries ,without the waiting time,ice jams and traffic backlogs etc.,( although storms can still close the bridge).It was a joint business venture with a fair amount of U.S. dollars in it,not entirely Alberta royalty $$$.It seems at times that you think every dollar IN canada can be traced back to it's beginning of being wrongfully squeezed from Alta oil royalties.The rest of the country really does actually produce a dollar of it's own every now and then.I even make one....once in a while !;-)

[madcow]

good points madcow. I think we in Alberta sometimes do tend to think that we provide more than we actually do for the rest of Canada. The fact is that most of us are fed up with the government in Ottawa for so many reasons but we tend to focus on the lack of balance between what Alberta pays out and receives. There is a huge cost to Albertans for the resource industry we have here. Our infrastructure needs and maintenance are ever increasing and the costs are monumental. It must be remembered that our industries don't just provide employment for Albertans but for many other Canadians and folks from other countries as well. Our Provincial Government has committed to building a highway from Fort MacMurray to Saskatchewan that will see the travel time to the Tar Sands cut from 10 hours to 2 hours. I am suspecting that many of the folks working in that industry may choose to live in Sask., housing costs will be cheaper etc.

[cowman]

The point here is where did all our fuel taxes go? Sure never went into the Alberta roads...wasn't that the point of the federal road tax?
If you look at the export figures for all of Canada it is pretty evident what is getting the bills paid? Consider Canada like a family. We can give each other allowances all day and wash the car for a buck or mow the lawn for two bucks, but at the end of the day the money coming in is what really counts?
Now you tell me what is more important to that family...the salary that pays all the bills or the little chores around the house?
Fort Mac is a vital part of the oil business and it will play a more important role in the future. It only makes sense to spend the money needed to keep it operating? Sort of like the family thing? Do you buy new tires for the car so Dad can get to work...or do you buy a new lawn mower so junior can enjoy cutting the lawn faster?
Especially when the old mower worked good enough!
It seems in Canada, quite often it is the tail that wags the dog, instead of the other way around! Maybe that is why Albertans are getting sick of Canada?