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Originally Posted by burn_this_city
Alberta during the worst economic conditions in 30 years will still send approximately $8B more to the Federal government this year than we receive back in services.
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I think it's important to note that it isn't Alberta sending money to the federal government, but Albertans. And not all Albertans, but those with high incomes. Just as all Canadians with high incomes contribute more to the federal coffers than average Canadians do. It's really just a matter of progressive income taxes hitting Albertans, in aggregate, more than other the taxpayers of other provinces.
Still, it is frustrating when other Canadians don't want to recognize how much Albertans contribute to the general welfare (just as most don't want to recognize how much high-earning Canadians contribute to the general welfare).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling
I remember seeing a presentation by Todd Hirsch of ATB. He talked about the reciprocal side of transfer payments that a lot of Albertan's forget or never think of. There were no real numbers or statistical analysis to support/refute what would be fair or not. But he did explain that over the past few decades Alberta has benefited from Net inter provincial migration. These migrating individuals and families all were educated elsewhere at the cost of tax payers and governments at which point they came to Alberta as a highly educated young workforce. Once here they have primarily been a net benefit to the Alberta economy yet were "developed" elsewhere at a cost to another province/government.
Was interesting.
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If we asked New Brunswickers if they'd rather keep the top-up in federal funding, or have all those educated workers and young families back, we might be surprised by the answer.
In a way, transfer payments are successful, young Canadians sending money back home to their older and less successful family and friends. And we see a similar transfer here in Alberta, where young and high-earning urban Albertans subsidize the aging, rural parts of the province. Oddly, you never hear conservative politicians in this province squawking about that transfer of wealth.