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 wealth,” reads the government’s Blueprint for Jobs. “Government’s best role is to offer a predictable and competitive environment that allows the private sector to thrive.”
That sounds good, but some UCP politicians are starting to waiver.
“We will be focusing on various industry sectors that we know have a great future in the province,” said Finance Minister Travis Toews while foreshadowing the government’s economic recovery plan that will be released later this month. “We also believe that we can be very competitive and we have a bright future in the tech sector, in the tourism industry and petrochemical manufacturing.”
It sounds like Toews is getting the same corporate welfare itch that plagued the New Democrats.
“Let’s reframe the headline: Jason Kenney brings back NDP economic diversification strategy,” former premier Rachel Notley said in response to Toews’ statements.
The NDP government announced billions of tax dollars for petrochemical firms, rail car companies, upgraders, tech companies and renewable energy companies. A leaked briefing note obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation shows that the NDP’s own finance experts warned its petrochemical subsidies lacked economic merit, would blow a hole in the government’s budget and encourage more businesses to seek handouts. Yet these are the same petrochemical subsidies the UCP is now considering.
With the benefit of hindsight, Albertans know that the NDP’s economic plan didn’t work.
For decades, Alberta taxpayers have been burned by politicians picking winners and losers in business, and Kenney knows this. During his time with the CTF, Kenney pushed for legislation that would outlaw corporate welfare after discovering that about two dozen “Alberta government business boondoggles” burned taxpayers for $2.3 billion in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Kenney and his UCP must not take more tax dollars out of the economy to give to hand-picked businesses that either wouldn’t put their own money on the line to build a project or don’t need the subsidy. There are other ways Kenney’s government can help the recovery.
As businesses reopen, Kenney should begin by following the advice of former premier Ralph Klein and get government “out of the business of being in business.”
Kenney should also continue to focus on broad competitive measures, such as aggressively cutting red tape and continuing to lower the business tax. Kenney can bolster these measures by providing income tax relief and keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in small businesses by setting the small business rate to zero.
Finally, Kenney must make it his mission to address the elephant in the room: Ottawa. There’s not much Alberta can do if the feds continue to tighten the regulatory noose around our economy while handing more of our tax dollars to other provinces. That means Kenney must continue to fight the carbon tax, the discriminatory tanker ban, the no-more-pipelines legislation, increase Alberta’s autonomy and hold the promised referendum on equalization.
Past attempts to tax, spend and meddle Alberta’s ways out of a downturn haven’t worked before. This time around Kenney should help Alberta’s recovery by cutting red tape, lowering taxes and pushing back against Ottawa.
Franco Terrazzano is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
