An expedited regulatory process, consultations with First Nations communities and an expansion of several tax incentives highlight the NDP’s plan to attract jobs and investment to Alberta should they form government next year.
Investment
Alberta NDP announce plan to drive jobs, investment
Opposition Leader Rachel Notley announced the NDP’s Competitiveness, Jobs and Investment Strategy for Alberta in Calgary on Wednesday, with revoking Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta sovereignty act being a priority.
Those tax incentives include reinstating the Alberta Investor Tax Credit and the Interactive Digital Media Tax. Notley said her government will also create a “future tax credit” aimed at luring large capital projects to Alberta in “emerging industrial sectors.”
Notley is also planning to expand the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program by 30 per cent and consult with Indigenous communities on how to grow the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation. The fifth part of the plan would see a sped-up regulatory process for proponents who have a good record when it comes to protecting workers, paying taxes and following environmental compliance, among other criteria.
The presentation of the plan comes a day before Notley is scheduled to present a keynote speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on Thursday afternoon.
Calls for Smith to apologize for comments on sovereignty, Indian Act
Notley also called for Smith to apologize for comments she made in the legislature this week comparing the way Alberta is treated by Ottawa to the treatment First Nations communities endured under the Federal Indian Act.
“The way I have described it to the chiefs I have spoken with is that they have fought a battle over the last number of years to get sovereignty respected and to extract themselves from the paternalistic Indian Act. We get treated the exact same way by Ottawa,” Smith said in the legislature on Tuesday.
“To suggest that Albertans have been subjected to a genocide at the hands of the federal government is not only ridiculous, but it is deeply diminishing to the real-life experiences of Indigenous people across our country,” said Notley. “Danielle Smith must immediately stand and apologize for the insensitivity and the outrageousness of those comments.”
Smith said in the legislature Wednesday she did not intend to compare First Nations’ fight against oppression to the relationship between the province and Ottawa. She apologized if that is how her statements were received.
“My intention was to demonstrate that the process that our First Nations have gone through to develop sovereignty over their own affairs and extract themselves from the Indian Act is the process that we are following in going through and asserting our rights under the Constitution,” said Smith.
Economy
S&P/TSX composite down more than 200 points, U.S. stock markets also fall
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Economy
S&P/TSX composite up more than 150 points, U.S. stock markets also higher
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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