Alberta Politics Thread v2

[Lubicon]

Bit of a gear grinder to me but I would hardly call that a Northwest Alberta riding, I really wish the media would take some time to look at a map. I'd consider that western Alberta, it is by no means a northern riding.

[you&me]

Thanks for the responses... Interesting...

It seems like many of the NDP MLAs were low-achievers. I was wondering if the decision by many to not run again was because they felt the pension was seen as a bit of a lotto win...

[Slava]

Originally Posted by crazy_eoj

The government pension kicks in after 6 years or two terms I believe...

However lots of these NDP MLA's will likely be landing into management positions with various union groups across the provice.

No, there's no provincial pension for MLAs anymore and the transition allowances were cut way back. This is one of the things that Alison Redford did (which was absolutely necessary), and I think led to her downfall. Between that and hammering a lot of the OBC with things like the allowances for committees that weren't meeting, I think that angered a lot of them and the knives were out.

Anyway, they get some RRSPs now, but it's not the days of yore when they were getting an amazing pension and then hundreds of thousands in "transition allowances" as well.

Federally they need to serve 6 years to get the MP pension, and while I'm sure it's generous, I don't know the specifics.

[_Q_]

Kenney promises to cut corporate tax to 8% over four years

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...x-cut-platform

The proposed UCP cuts would lower the corporate tax rate to eight per cent, reducing the rate one point per year over four years.

Kenney said the cuts would allow for the creation of “55,000 jobs, and grow Alberta’s economy by $13 billion.”

Since nothing else seems to be working, is this what's finally needed to diversify the economy?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Kenney promises to cut corporate tax to 8% over four years

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...x-cut-platform



Since nothing else seems to be working, is this what's finally needed to diversify the economy?

I do love that conservatives in one breath will state how unrealistic and naive socialism is, and in the next they'll go right back to the old trickle-down economics well.

[crazy_eoj]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I do love that conservatives in one breath will state how unrealistic and naive socialism is, and in the next they'll go right back to the old trickle-down economics well.

Agreed. Things are better off in Alberta now than they ever were.

Meanwhile, in the real world:

The impact of tax cut on economic growth: Evidence from the Canadian Provinces. National Tax Journal, September 2012

Economist Jack Mintz estimates that the UCP tax cut plan for job creators will create 55,000 new jobs over four years, and that is a conservative estimate that does not include further, positive growth impacts.

[Red Slinger]

I have no issue with corporate tax cuts as long as it's balanced by a rise in the personal income tax of high earners.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by you&me

The cynic in me is curious - what does the pension for an MLA look like after one term?

I have a client who was an MLA. There is a matching RRSP contribution. When he lost an election we transferred it. It’s a relatively modest contribution. That was a few years ago and I don’t know if it’s still the same.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Since nothing else seems to be working, is this what's finally needed to diversify the economy?

What's needed to diversify the economy is for oil to stop pushing everything else. (So it might be something that happens soon!) Here's the thing though: such a diversified economy is less lucrative than a specialized one.

[Slava]

Stephen Mandel has been cleared to run in the upcoming election. He was facing a ban because he failed to file his paperwork on time from his leadership campaign. I think that’s fine. I do think his comment that the courts saw this as “needless red tape” is a little concerning though because I want to see disclosure and transparency on these issues.

[Jacks]

So we've gone from judges interpreting the law to deciding whether or not they like a law?

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I do love that conservatives in one breath will state how unrealistic and naive socialism is, and in the next they'll go right back to the old trickle-down economics well.

*hur durr something something conservatives durrr*

I do love when people from BC only jump in the AB thread to drop a drive by when something is posted that is anti NDP. And contribute nothing else. But don’t worry the likes will come and you can hide behind anti trickle down.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Jacks

So we've gone from judges interpreting the law to deciding whether or not they like a law?

I’m not sure whether the courts made that comment or whether that was Mandel saying that after the decision. I think it was the latter, which is slightly concerning.

[PostandIn]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

I have no issue with corporate tax cuts as long as it's balanced by a rise in the capital gains taxes of high earners.

Fixed.

[Dion]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1102704223509073921

[Ozy_Flame]

I thought this was funny:

UCP leader Jason Kenney tweet backfires as #BetterOffWithRachel trends

Alberta opposition United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney tweeted that query on Friday, following up with, “For so many Alberta families the answer is clearly ‘no’. We can’t afford not to take bold action to bring jobs and investment back to Alberta.”

The tweet prompted more than 600 replies as of Monday morning. Instead of agreements and vitriol, the overwhelming response was from people saying they were, in fact, better off — which led to the Canada-wide top trending hashtag #BetterOffWithRachel.

Of course, many responses came from fellow politicians and politically-minded Albertans. But with an estimated 4,700 tweets sent in the last day as of Monday morning, according to Trendsmap, there were also comments from regular citizens.

It was trending across Alberta and caught on nationally a bit I believe.

Additionally, a poll started Drew Barnes on Twitter today of "who would win in Medicine Hat" had the NDP at 63% and the UCP at 32% before ol' Drew took it down.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1102674061732134913

Some of these UCP clowns live up to their billing, but the UCP Communications Manager(s) should really have a better strategy when it comes to Twitter posts.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Weitz

*hur durr something something conservatives durrr*

I do love when people from BC only jump in the AB thread to drop a drive by when something is posted that is anti NDP. And contribute nothing else. But don’t worry the likes will come and you can hide behind anti trickle down.

Aww, you struggling with reading comprehension again, champ? What exactly in the post I replied to said anything about the NDP.

[Mr.Coffee]

I’m less concerned about taxes than I am about things that matter to industry like speeding up regulatory system reviews because you’re viciously understaffed. How about it doesn’t take 25 years to do anything.

Perhaps a bigger reason than taxes could be the timelines for things to get done. Bureaucracy and red tape has gotten ridiculous. And there’s some of it that is out of provincial hands too, for sure, but you could create jobs by hiring a lot of people for key regulatory positions that maintain regulatory standards and increase review speeds.

If it’s a training issue- work on that. But I just don’t get the sense that corporate taxes are a real issue here. Could be I guess but not in my experience. Probably good he plans to keep personal income taxes where they are. He should also introduce a PST- now is the time to do it particularly if he’s going to scrap the Carbon tax.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I’m less concerned about taxes than I am about things that matter to industry like speeding up regulatory system reviews because you’re viciously understaffed. How about it doesn’t take 25 years to do anything.

Perhaps a bigger reason than taxes could be the timelines for things to get done. Bureaucracy and red tape has gotten ridiculous. And there’s some of it that is out of provincial hands too, for sure, but you could create jobs by hiring a lot of people for key regulatory positions that maintain regulatory standards and increase review speeds.

If it’s a training issue- work on that. But I just don’t get the sense that corporate taxes are a real issue here. Could be I guess but not in my experience. Probably good he plans to keep personal income taxes where they are. He should also introduce a PST- now is the time to do it particularly if he’s going to scrap the Carbon tax.

Yeah, at least in Canada, I don't see the. current corporate tax rate as making Alberta uncompetitive (I get that there is an American component to compete with). It just seems like a bizarre place to cut revenue that you'd need to regain through less popular measures.

It's not an egregious proposal if income tax rates go up to compensate, but I have a hard time seeing the UCP proposing that.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Dion

https://twitter.com/user/status/1102704223509073921

That’s an interesting tweet, it manages to combine pushing trickle down economics, a logo that says “Ralph vs Rachel” and a graph which shows zero data relating to one of those two individuals.