CALGARY, AB - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is slamming Conservative Party of Canada Leader Erin O’Toole for his proposal to implement a carbon tax, which would break his pledge to repeal carbon taxes. “It’s outrageous that O’Toole is now planning to hammer Canadians with higher fuel bills through his very own carbon tax,” said Franco Terrazzano, the CTF’s Alberta Director. “When he was running for leader, O’Toole pledged to taxpayers that he would fight carbon taxes. If he goes through [Read more]
Column: Keystone XL cancellation a wake up call for Alberta
President Joe Biden’s decision to pull the plug on the Keystone XL pipeline is another punch to the gut for Alberta’s economy, but it’s also a good wake up call and provides us with some crucial lessons. The first lesson is straight forward: we need politicians to let businesses build pipelines in Canada. Yanking Keystone XL’s presidential permit wouldn’t have felt like such a blow if we were able to build Northern Gateway and Energy East, or if our political system hadn’t chased away [Read more]
Column: Trudeau’s second carbon tax coming at worst possible time
Whenever Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to solve a problem, his solution can’t be to hit families and businesses struggling to get by with even more costs. Yet, that’s exactly the approach Trudeau is taking with his second carbon tax. As Postmedia columnist John Ivison reported, the Trudeau government is getting ready to introduce a second carbon tax through a regulatory regime called the clean fuel standard, which will “require all supplies of fossil fuel to reduce carbon content.” If [Read more]
Column: Municipal governments are making economy worse, not better
Alberta’s economy won’t start to fire on all cylinders unless municipal councillors are willing to start playing ball and cut taxes. A key pillar of the province’s economic recovery plan is the reduction of the business tax to eight per cent. Premier Jason Kenney has also made it clear that raising taxes right now would be like shooting a hole in a rowboat then deciding to cross the Pacific. “I cannot imagine a dumber thing to do in the midst of a time of economic fragility, an oil price [Read more]
Column: The government can help the economy, but not by picking business winners and losers
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 most robust economies are built on the effort, investment and ambition of citizens and businesses that are prepared to take risks to create [Read more]
Alberta pipeline spending shows need to fix Canada’s regulatory system: Taxpayers Federation
CALGARY, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is highlighting the need to fix Canada's regulatory system so job creators can build pipelines without relying on taxpayers. “Politicians needs to get their act together so we can get big projects built and taxpayers aren’t put on the hook for pipelines,” said Franco Terrazzano, Alberta Director for the CTF. “That means in Canada we need to repeal damaging legislation such as Bill C-69 and Bill C-48. “Taxpayers are always concerned about [Read more]
Column: Business tax cut is the right way to get Albertans back to work
Good things happen when politicians let entrepreneurs keep more of their money to reinvest in growing their business and increasing job opportunities. Albertans are starting to see positive signs from Premier Jason Kenney’s smart decision to lower business taxes. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers recently announced that it expects investment in the oil and natural gas industry to increase by about $2 billion this year. This is expected to create or sustain more than 8,000 jobs [Read more]
Column: AFL boss advocacy erodes public purse
Premier Jason Kenney needs to get Alberta taxpayers out of the $70-billion debt hole so he needs to cut government labour costs that have ballooned by more than $3 billion during the downturn. Union bosses will oppose cuts, but their own advocacy against revenue-generating pipelines and in support of wasteful corporate welfare spending has made the need for cuts even greater. The Alberta Federation of Labour has consistently fought pipeline development, including the Trans Mountain project [Read more]
Column: Alberta government union leadership has lost touch with reality
Leaders at the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees have completely lost touch with reality. A document obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation shows the AUPE leadership started pushing the government for a 7.85 per cent wage increase early this year. The demand is so ridiculous you must see the AUPE’s document just to believe it. Given the current challenges in Alberta, any worker outside of government would likely be laughed out of the room with that kind of demand. But maybe [Read more]
Column: Alberta’s business tax cut is part of the solution, not the problem
Alberta is dealing with two big problems: we need to get people back to work and we need our provincial government to stop overcharging Albertans by $10 billion a year. There’s plenty of evidence from our own backyard that shows Alberta’s business tax cut will be part of the solution, not the problem. In 2001, the Alberta government began reducing its business tax rate from 15.5 per cent to 10 per cent in 2006. Alberta’s average yearly real GDP growth rate between 2001 and 2014 was higher [Read more]