Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
Why do you want to harm the economy more by reducing the income of albertans that still have jobs? According to you, if Alberta had the same taxes as the next lowest jurisdiction in Canada there would be no deficit?
In a consumer economy in a recession the government shouldn't be putting their thumb on the scale to turn 150 000 job losses into 170 000.
That doesn't make any sense. I mean, this is basically the exact same argument as those opposed to a royalty review.
Cutting public sector salaries will make Alberta's economics WORSE, not better.
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I'm not in favour of laying off public sector employees. But salary freezes, and in some cases roll-backs, are probably necessary. Compensation for most of those jobs in Alberta is excellent, and among the highest in North America. There's a lot of leeway before we'd see people stop going to teachers college or studying to be nurses.
We're batted this around before. I'm a proponent of strong public services. But I've long believed the biggest threat to the sustainability of public services in Canada is labour costs and pension liabilities that are storing up a fiscal crisis in the future that can only be addressed by catastrophic cuts or privatization.