Alberta Politics & Government Thread 4.0

[surferguy]

Is there any money in this budget for the train to Banff?
I thought I heard people on the radio speculating there was meant to be.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Is there any money in this budget for the train to Banff?
I thought I heard people on the radio speculating there was meant to be.

Private investors are supposed to be paying for that. Think the province/city would be in charge of connecting Airport to Downtown if it happens.

Seems like it pops up every couple of years. No one is going to build it.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Is there any money in this budget for the train to Banff?
I thought I heard people on the radio speculating there was meant to be.

There is a million dollars for each of the next three years(but the 3 year total is 4, so probably 1.333 million) for "YYC rail connection study" but that's all I see.


And on, I don't see anything in the budget that indicate the province is contributing to Calgary water infrastructure projects(specifically). I assume it would be in this section:





https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3c46...ry-2026-29.pdf


And if you want something to be really pissed off about, check out our coal phase out liabilities. The columns are by year,2025-2029.





https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/3393...29.pdf#page=69


Yes, they expect by 2029 their mistakes will have cost us $1.75 billion. Thrown away. Any Conservative complaining of NDP fiscal mismanagement from here forward should put their head directly in a vat of oil, and gargle until silent.

[Geraldsh]

If I understood our esteemed finance minister the ONLY way to generate more revenue is build another pipeline. Nothing else will work, just one more pipeline is all we need.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by DJones

Private investors are supposed to be paying for that. Think the province/city would be in charge of connecting Airport to Downtown if it happens.

Seems like it pops up every couple of years. No one is going to build it.

"Private investors" have been begging for public money for this for years. It's not viable with private money. Surferguy is right to ask if there are signs the province is going to hand money bags over for it.

[TheIronMaiden]

Alberta needs a sales tax...

[DJones]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

"Private investors" have been begging for public money for this for years. It's not viable with private money. Surferguy is right to ask if there are signs the province is going to hand money bags over for it.

Ya and they never will. Airport to Downtown connection would somehow cost like 5 billion. That likely won't be built for decades and would likely be quite popular.

Subsidizing a train to Banff on top of that is never going to happen.

[Fuzz]

Anyone have any idea why the legislative assembly costs go up so much? Then down in the last year? Is there a big renovation project going on, or are these "people" costs only?

[puffnstuff]

The worlds largest cabinet have anything to do with it?

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://bsky.app/profile/jeromyyyc.b.../3mfty6qn4wc2j


Thanks, Notley.


This is great fodder for the NDP in Calgary. The mighty tax busters of the UCP showing who they care about most. Time for Calgary to kick these wankers out, if we can just get a few more geologists and doctors on board.

This was one of the discussion topics at beer league hockey last night. It was stunning to hear how many of the guys on my team think it is actually the City of Calgary raising property taxes. Which I suppose they kind of are but it's the Provincial portion that is going up. And they are blaming it all on Gondek and Nenshi.

[DJones]

Likely referendums and elections.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

This was one of the discussion topics at beer league hockey last night. It was stunning to hear how many of the guys on my team think it is actually the City of Calgary raising property taxes. Which I suppose they kind of are but it's the Provincial portion that is going up. And they are blaming it all on Gondek and Nenshi.

Same thing happened last year. Calgary actually did a very good job showing where the increases are coming from but most people don't have time for an infographic haha

For the average family they still came ahead with the corresponding income tax drop. Guessing the province was happy with people not understanding what was happening and they loved the increase from rich people/corporations.

I expect that's the path they take for increases for a bit until a PST conversation occurs. Especially if rents keep trending down.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Alberta needs a sales tax...

Or better yet, first do normal levels of income and corporate tax

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

This was one of the discussion topics at beer league hockey last night. It was stunning to hear how many of the guys on my team think it is actually the City of Calgary raising property taxes. Which I suppose they kind of are but it's the Provincial portion that is going up. And they are blaming it all on Gondek and Nenshi.

No, they aren't. Municipalities are responsible for collecting it. They are not raising it. They don't have a choice. This wishy-washy language only boosts the success of the UCP's strategy here. Don't do their job for them.


This is 100% the province raising property taxes disproportionately on Calgarians, and all the excess taxes are going to the province, not the city. That is clear.

[Otto-matic]

Arent we glad we blew 100 M on turkish tylenol just to dispose of it

[Johnny Makarov]

Whats up with Nenshi? Can they unleash him yet? I miss pissed off condescending Spenshi!

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Alberta needs a sales tax...

Alberta needs a sales tax, but they then need to adjust income tax rates so poor people don't get bent over double. (or something. I'm not that smart)
You just can't add a PST and make no other adjustments in taxation.

Well, the UCP can do it but no responsible government that cares about the vulnerable would just add a PST and call it a day.

[IliketoPuck]

You add the PST, and give rebates to those under a certain income threshold on a quarterly basis. Keep it simple.

[DJones]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

Alberta needs a sales tax, but they then need to adjust income tax rates so poor people don't get bent over double. (or something. I'm not that smart)
You just can't add a PST and make no other adjustments in taxation.

Well, the UCP can do it but no responsible government that cares about the vulnerable would just add a PST and call it a day.

No one raises taxes on poor people. It's not worth the effort. If you make 60k, you pay 5% income taxes to Alberta. There's nothing to cut, a PST would be no different.
Exempt food, utilities, and housing/rent. A rebate wouldn't even be necessary. Maybe if you tax utilities and insurance they get a refund.

The whole point of a PST is to tax corporations more on their activities.

[Fuzz]

Yup, cutting income tax for low earners doesn't have a lot of effect, better for them to get prebates.