In the heat of various economic wildfires raging in Alberta, some have suggested the province is a potential hotbed of separatism. Albexit, some call it. Getting out of Canada, they say, may be the only solution for a province whose resource core is being throttled by the federal government and given the finger by the provinces. A new Angus Reid poll found that 50 per cent of Albertans would support secession from the rest of Canada.
At a media event in the lobby of a vacant floor of a Calgary office tower, Kenney announced his party’s plan to cut the corporate tax rate from 12 to eight per cent. “This will make Alberta once again a magnet for job-creating investment, with the lowest taxes on employers in Canada,” Kenney said. According to Kenney, cutting Alberta’s corporate tax rate to eight per cent, the lowest among all provinces, will deliver more jobs and economic growth without damaging the province’s revenue stream. Based on economic modelling by University of Calgary economist Bev Dalby, the tax cut will lead to the creation of 55,000 jobs and a $12.7-billion increase in the provincial GDP. At the end of four years, when the tax rate hits eight per cent, total government revenues will rise to $68.
If Kenney’s UCP does form the next government of Alberta, talk of separation could subside. Instead, the demands will be coming from outside the province to join Alberta and get other provincial and federal policies and tax rates in line with Alberta. The provincial corporate tax rate in British Columbia jumped to 12 per cent in 2018 and it climbs as high as 16 per cent in the Atlantic provinces.
Are you freaking kidding me? My frustration w/ this paper and that man, the whole damned party, when we have told you everything and we know you know. What? We keep giving you the information. So what? Tell me. Make me understand, because I'm not sure what else needs to be said.
At best it will be a tiny ripple in a very large pond.