EDMONTON - The Government of Alberta released their first quarter financial report with ideologically-driven talking points that they must curtail spending, while continuing to ignore the actual issue facing Alberta’s economy: revenue.
“The government’s own numbers show that Alberta’s tax system falls far short of every other tax system in the country when it comes to raising revenue.” said Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta, “If we adopted the tax system of any other province, we would raise a minimum of $11 billion more annually. That would be enough to protect our public services from cuts and actually allow us to make much-needed improvements in areas like health care and education.”
French warned that the update will be used to justify cuts to public services in their upcoming budget.
“Much like the appointment of the Blue Ribbon Panel and its limited mandate, the government is spinning this report to give them their predetermined conclusion -- that front-line services need to be cut,” said French, “They refuse to acknowledge the problems with our tax system and have made our revenue problem even worse by cutting the corporate tax rate. It clearly shows that their intent is to cut the public services all Albertans rely on to keep us healthy and educate our children.”
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