Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[puffnstuff]

https://globalnews.ca/news/11555952/...bers-concerns/

Alberta’s privacy watchdog is raising concerns about a new government bill that would add health-care numbers to driver’s licences and other forms of identification.
Information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says it would increase the risk of fraud as the numbers could be obtained outside of health-care settings.

McLeod said she had warned the government to abandon its plan because of the increased risk of fraud, and because the Alberta government body responsible for driver’s licences, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, isn’t subject to privacy laws.

LaGrange said part of the reason it was moving ahead was because the changes would tamp down on fraud, though she acknowledged it could also create fraud risk.


Still waiting on this govt to do anything good... Day 1,149

[calf]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I guess they've found other ways to get income form Albertans...



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...rise-9.7000404


Are they auditing everyone after the fact to see if the qualify? If so, this is the biggest waste of time and money to prevent people accessing preventative care any government could imagine to come up with. It should be free and accessible. Idiots. Everyone who voted in an anti-vaxer as premier is an idiot. Yes, you too.

I hate the UCP and this whole Covid vaccine thing as much as anyone - but this story sounds like a clerical error than a malicous government act. The nurse who went through everything very well could have checked the wrong box resulting in the invoice, and by talking to AHS, the charge would reasonably be reversed. My son has a genetic health condition that's not on the list, but given he has a condition, they were able to mark him down as getting the vaccine for free.

The whole process was ridiculous though. We used to be able to book everyone online and either go to a pharmacy or public health. Because we have kids we:
a) Had to call 811 (1 hr+ wait on election day, which was another 1.5hr wait thanks to those jokers - good thing UCP policies created so much uncertainty in my line of work that I got laid off and had the time to wait and get angry)
b) Book the kids appointment together, then my wife and I separately
c) There was no way to get the kids and adults vaccinated the same day/same time, even when we showed up and saw it wasn't busy at all. Other families were trying to do the same.

[Weitz]

Doesn’t BC already have this?

Edit: the health number on the drivers license.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

https://globalnews.ca/news/11555952/...bers-concerns/

Alberta’s privacy watchdog is raising concerns about a new government bill that would add health-care numbers to driver’s licences and other forms of identification.
Information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says it would increase the risk of fraud as the numbers could be obtained outside of health-care settings.

McLeod said she had warned the government to abandon its plan because of the increased risk of fraud, and because the Alberta government body responsible for driver’s licences, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, isn’t subject to privacy laws.

LaGrange said part of the reason it was moving ahead was because the changes would tamp down on fraud, though she acknowledged it could also create fraud risk.


Still waiting on this govt to do anything good... Day 1,149

I thought many people loved the BC driver's licenses particularly because it serves as a single card for ID, driving and accessing public services like health care.

[indes]

Has anyone done a deep dive into Atrum Coal? Am I crazy in thinking the entire corporation is just a UCP grift? It doesn't looks like they've done anything except the Alberta land buys and settlements. The Chairman listed on their Q3 reports has a hotmail account (is listed as living in Calgary) and they have no other holdings, no debt, no other prospective mining locations.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Socialism is not a dirty word anymore. The dumbdumbs found out about communism and now just call everything they do not like "communist".

I would avoid a PST as well. It is not a good tool from a populist stance because it puts too much burden on people who cannot afford it and people who can afford it won't even notice the change. Adding a PST just punishes people who are already struggling to afford things, especially if they are on a fixed income. Trying to soften the blow of a PST by pre-refunding low income people just make the system unnecessarily complex when it is obvious that your desired outcome is to tax people who are making more money without crippling the people who cannot afford to pay more.

What Alberta needs to do is increase the corporate tax back up to the national average which would net the province $5+B per year (based on the amount we lost after Smith and Kenney each cut corporate taxes), which would then soften the roller coaster that we are seeing with the budget because the taxes are constant. Then increase the taxes on the richest tax brackets and on capital gains that are over 7 figures or whatever it takes to close the loopholes that the richest people use to avoid paying taxes.

If you want to get crazy with it then crack open the royalty rate formula and increase the % of royalties that Alberta gets for our resources. It seems fair considering the oil companies are recording record profits and are reducing their Alberta workforce (and more importantly, reducing their workforce to barrel ratio). If less and less Albertans are benefiting from working for these companies then charging them more for royalties makes sense as a way to balance out the formula and ensure Alberta is still getting it's fair cut (dust off the 'think like an owner').

Basically all of those things are better to do than a PST. Hell, I would even advocate for removing the GST from household essentials as a way to ease the burden on people in the affordability crisis and find other ways to make that tax money back.

Royalties? Again? Is it not good enough that the last time the government did a royalty review it was determined that Albertans are not getting screwed. Some areas where things could be tweaked, or "modernized" as they put it, were actually implemented. The key points that came out of the last review were that Albertans received their fair share and that the government accepted the results of the review report by the commission.

Have things drastically changed in the last ten years that suggest we need to once again go through a royalty review and pursue increased revenue from royalties?

[Fuzz]

Is it such a bad idea to review a policy every decade or so to ensure it's meeting it's goals? That doesn't necessarily mean more royalties, but perhaps we should have a scheduled decade or whatever review so it isn't at all political, and it's expected.


https://economicdashboard.alberta.ca...il-production/


According to this, convectional oil has stayed flat and non-conventional increased from 10-17 million, so to me that shows a significant change in mix and may indicate we should take a look, no?

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I thought many people loved the BC driver's licenses particularly because it serves as a single card for ID, driving and accessing public services like health care.

I did a quick google, first story that came up and is a few years old, which is exactly what the Ab privacy commissioner is pointing out.
Who are these people you think love it?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...port-1.6687123

Millions of highly sensitive personal health records about people accessing health care in British Columbia have been left "disturbingly" vulnerable to leaks after the provincewide health authority failed to address security concerns in recent years, a new report has found.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C.#published a report Thursday saying the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) has known about the "troubling" level of exposure since it audited#its own system in#2019, but hasn't done enough to address the issue.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Royalties? Again? Is it not good enough that the last time the government did a royalty review it was determined that Albertans are not getting screwed. Some areas where things could be tweaked, or "modernized" as they put it, were actually implemented. The key points that came out of the last review were that Albertans received their fair share and that the government accepted the results of the review report by the commission.

Have things drastically changed in the last ten years that suggest we need to once again go through a royalty review and pursue increased revenue from royalties?

Yes, did you miss the whole layoffs thread? Like, the entire thing?

The number of jobs per thousand barrels per day is almost half of what it was 10 years ago. Between automation, AI, and just "doing more with less", the oil companies are extracting more profits and Alberta is getting less wages (and less income tax).

That means that even if oil production goes up 20%, we would only see a 10% increase in jobs, meaning less value to Alberta (and Canada).

It is not that complex of a concept - if we are not getting value from one area (jobs) then we should recover our value in another area (taxes, royalties, etc).

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Have things drastically changed in the last ten years that suggest we need to once again go through a royalty review and pursue increased revenue from royalties?

Seems like the kind of thing a royalty review could answer.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Slava

The GST is already removed from household essentials.

But overall, I’m so glad you’re not running the policy for the NDP, because I’m pretty sure that a bunch of those ideas would be politically suicidal, and I really want the UCP out ASAP.

I am likewise glad that you are not running the policy for NDP. You basically just want them to be a better conservative party.

I think it is pretty obvious that any government that replaces the UCP will be increasing taxes because the UCP have made them unreasonably low to pander to their corporate buddies.

With the degree to which the UCP has flooded the field with bad policies and grifts the NDP is not going to be able to come in as an incrementalist party and just do minor tweaks to repair the damage.

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Doesn’t BC already have this?

Edit: the health number on the drivers license.

Yes, for a few years now.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Yes, did you miss the whole layoffs thread? Like, the entire thing?

The number of jobs per thousand barrels per day is almost half of what it was 10 years ago. Between automation, AI, and just "doing more with less", the oil companies are extracting more profits and Alberta is getting less wages (and less income tax).

That means that even if oil production goes up 20%, we would only see a 10% increase in jobs, meaning less value to Alberta (and Canada).

It is not that complex of a concept - if we are not getting value from one area (jobs) then we should recover our value in another area (taxes, royalties, etc).

Welcome to the modern age of increased productivity. This will continue to grow over the coming years as our government is strongly focused on improving productivity in Canada and the PM is focused on growing our prosperity by building a modern, tech-enabled economy and making sure that industries take advantage of opportunities presented by AI.

Let's not forget that each of the last two royalty reviews have had an effect of reducing investment within the industry as it creates economic uncertainty for the businesses.

[surferguy]

Oil royalty review: Whoa, easy there Tiger...

Green Investment: Not on our beautiful land...

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Welcome to the modern age of increased productivity. This will continue to grow over the coming years as our government is strongly focused on improving productivity in Canada and the PM is focused on growing our prosperity by building a modern, tech-enabled economy and making sure that industries take advantage of opportunities presented by AI.

Let's not forget that each of the last two royalty reviews have had an effect of reducing investment within the industry as it creates economic uncertainty for the businesses.

Oh ya, the "reducing investment" boogieman. The companies are already reducing their investment in Alberta by laying off thousands of Alberta workers. They are also already reducing their investment as a number of them have pulled out of the region (even without a royalty review).

They are not rewarding Alberta for pandering to them, so why keep doing it? Is it fear that you may be personally impacted if the province shows any kind of backbone to the oil industry? (It is only a matter of time before geologists are replaced by AI too.)

Anyway, the market has changed with the advancement of technology and that should be enough to justify a royalty review. However, as I said originally, I would NOT pull this lever first (but I would look at it before a PST).

Bringing up the corporate tax rates should be the first step:
- At the very least matching the other conservative provinces (Ontario/Saskatchewan) would be a couple of point increase and still be the "lowest in the country".
- Matching BC and Manitoba would go a step further to be in line with other NDP governments but still be average across the country.
- Anywhere between those numbers would be reasonable (10-12%).

I would start with matching Ontario/Sask rates and then see how much more is needed to undo all of the damage the UCP has done. You know, like a data driven decision instead of an emotional kneejerk reaction.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Oh ya, the "reducing investment" boogieman. The companies are already reducing their investment in Alberta by laying off thousands of Alberta workers. They are also already reducing their investment as a number of them have pulled out of the region (even without a royalty review).

They are not rewarding Alberta for pandering to them, so why keep doing it? Is it fear that you may be personally impacted if the province shows any kind of backbone to the oil industry? (It is only a matter of time before geologists are replaced by AI too.)

Anyway, the market has changed with the advancement of technology and that should be enough to justify a royalty review. However, as I said originally, I would NOT pull this lever first (but I would look at it before a PST).

Bringing up the corporate tax rates should be the first step:
- At the very least matching the other conservative provinces (Ontario/Saskatchewan) would be a couple of point increase and still be the "lowest in the country".
- Matching BC and Manitoba would go a step further to be in line with other NDP governments but still be average across the country.
- Anywhere between those numbers would be reasonable (10-12%).

I would start with matching Ontario/Sask rates and then see how much more is needed to undo all of the damage the UCP has done. You know, like a data driven decision instead of an emotional kneejerk reaction.

This is an excellent example of (l)iberals who think they're right and have no care actually to get elected. Reading this kind of thing is so hilariously naive. Do you remember the last election where the NDP announced their tax increase on the day of the debate, and it essentially cost them the election?

It's this kind of complete lack of awareness that sets us up for four more years of wondering why people could vote for the UCP, and how in the world we end up with a separatist-pandering government.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Slava

The GST is already removed from household essentials.

But overall, I’m so glad you’re not running the policy for the NDP, because I’m pretty sure that a bunch of those ideas would be politically suicidal, and I really want the UCP out ASAP.

You no longer have to run on a platform that you later enact. Trump set the precedent, but other governments have followed, most notably the UCP themselves.

Just say whatever you need to get elected and then raise the corporate rate and royalty rate once you are in. Follow it up with a couple of racy scandals, and maybe an open question about if highways should be slightly wider, and Bob's your uncle.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

I did a quick google, first story that came up and is a few years old, which is exactly what the Ab privacy commissioner is pointing out.
Who are these people you think love it?

I do. I love having everything on one card so I don't have to carry around a separate health card. And for people without a driver's license, it acts as a government-issued photo ID without having to make a point of getting a separate ID card.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...port-1.6687123

Millions of highly sensitive personal health records about people accessing health care in British Columbia have been left "disturbingly" vulnerable to leaks after the provincewide health authority failed to address security concerns in recent years, a new report has found.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C.#published a report Thursday saying the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) has known about the "troubling" level of exposure since it audited#its own system in#2019, but hasn't done enough to address the issue.

That has nothing to do with health numbers being on a driver's license. Having a separate health card wouldn't fix sloppy IT practices. And if anytone really feels strongly about it, you can get separate cards, but few people do.