Quote:
Originally Posted by MBates
Just over 13 years ago, I was invited by Premier Redford as a representative of the justice system to her 'Economic Summit' to confront the 'unprecedented' (except for all the other times before) budget problems then facing Alberta due to volatile world oil prices and difficulties getting our oil out to more diverse markets.
My biggest takeaway from the experience was that there was near universal agreement among all economic advisers that the least regressive tax measure for the economy that could be implemented in a fair way so as to drastically increase revenues and not harm lower income Albertans would be a sales tax.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/alber...-tax-1.1348407
It is not to say all were advocating for one (though many openly were), but nobody could or would venture any good argument against a plan of introducing a PST together with a corresponding large reduction in income tax (potentially as simple as increasing the basic personal exemption before the obligation to pay income tax even kicks in).
Unfortunately, because many Albertans believe the opposite of reality as noted in the bolded sentence above, every single politician took an immediate and rock-solid definitive position that no way, no how, would we ever consider a PST.
At some point, Albertans have to take responsibility for what Albertans have done to Albertans. For all the hero fantasies factions of this province want to wrap themselves in, our province has scored a huge pile of 'own goals', and we still refuse to just turn around and at least face the other net before winding up for another booming slapshot...and then bragging about how great we are. |
That's the biggest problem today. Economists, tax specialists, business specialists. There's unanimous agreement on how the best way to tax economies are. That debate ended decades ago. But trying to convince the average laymen is impossible.
You will never convince everyone that corporate taxes are useless, borderline detrimental. You will never convince them that a pst is the best way to extract money from corporations. A health premium or paying a doctor appointment fee is un Canadian. Or that land taxes will help the housing and transit issues.
They see that extra line item on their receipts and they lose their minds. Jacking up the basic personal exemption and dropping income taxes with a charismatic leader is about the only way you'll sell it