Quote:
Originally Posted by polak
The global economy was fine while the PC's squandered every last penny of Alberta's 15 years of prosperity. But yeah, vote for them. They clearly know what they're doing.  |
This is a narrative I'd like to explore further.
How did the PC's "squander" the last 15 years of prosperity?
I think it's necessary to understand what the PC's chose to do with that money - they gave it to the people in the form of no PST, lowest income taxes in canada, lowest corporate taxes, low provincial debt. That whole "Alberta Advantage" thing.
Now, let's assume 15 years ago, the PC's decided that they're going to sock away all of their oil revenue into the Heritage fund, and instead raised every single tax to Ontario or BC levels. Is that the kind of government that you would be talking about that wouldn't have squandered prosperity?
I'd argue that the Conservatives did exactly what they were elected to do. They kept money in Albertans' pockets, and pushed businesses to hire more people at higher wages. The fact that we've been paying our bills with oil revenues was a conscious decision that is reflected both in the lackluster size of the Heritage fund, and the high incomes and low taxes of Albertans compared with the rest of Canada.
TLDR: I don't agree that the oil revenues were squandered, and I believe that Prentice was 100% correct when he told Albertans to "look in the mirror."
But let's be real, the public wants those OTHER guys ("rich" or "corporations") to pay more taxes, and want to share none of the burden.