They’re not doing their part, or so we’ve been told.
So just how much money has flowed out of Alberta to Ottawa? A lot. Between 2000 and 2014, on a net basis, Alberta’s individual and corporate taxpayers shipped an estimated $200 billion-plus to the federal government. That’s what left the province, less what the feds reinvested here.
Add to that the $100 Billion stolen via the National Energy Program. Plus interest. In the last 40 years, it’s closer to a Trillion.
That article is from Feb 20.
Do the math for the entire western Canada. These totals should be brought forward to each legislature and discussed by MLA’s. If the politicians are to cowardly to confront Ottawa about the theft going on then western citizens should be able to vote on provincial bills that reduce the amounts sent.
No doubt Red Rachel wishes it was more. The way the Dippers behave, there’s no such thing as being too poor in Alberta.
Gosh, how dare the Federal Government levy taxes on individuals and corporations anywhere in Canada!
The nerve of those scoundrels in Ottawa!
Gosh, how dare the Federal Government levy taxes on individuals and corporations anywhere in Canada!
The nerve of those scoundrels in Ottawa!
Everything will be fine … just as soon as all those DIRTY fossil fuel energy workers are re-trained to make cold calls selling solar panels to dim-witted Canadians. They will even get to sit in a nice warm boiler room, while they work the phones. Cheap, clean, green, energy ! Canada’s economic future ! We too, can be kewl like all those Europeans !
Is there some logical reason that non renewable resource revenue is included in the western Canada equalization formula but renewable energy revenue isn’t included in quebec’s equalization formula?
That’s on top of all the other taxes. That’s just the federal government stealing from some provinces to give to other provinces. That’s money that should have been used in the provinces that made the money, for schools and roads and hospitals and bridges and so forth. Instead, Quebecers get free day care. That’s the mindset that led Ralph Klein to say “let the Eastern Bastards freeze in the dark”.
The whole Green garbage that has filled idiots’ heads with nonsense the last 20 years is basically “Don’t you dare make a profit! but gimme the profit anyhow!”
Stan and Ed, you are of course mixing up inputs with outputs.
The input is this: the Federal Government doesn’t collect tax revenues from provinces; it collects them from all individuals and corporations in Canada regardless of their location. It should seem patently obvious that if individuals and corporations in one part of Canada are creating greater wealth then more revenues will be collected from them.
The output is this: the Federal Government gets to use those revenues to fund its programmes. What those programmes are and what regions of the country will benefit from them (or not) is up to the Federal Government. You don’t like it? Then vote the Federal Government out of power and replace it with one more to your liking.
Hey, try to look on the bright side: if Alberta’s economy continues to tank, you’ll be able to get money from Ottawa too!
And Ottawa is going to get that money from???
Can you say Zimbabwe Mon?
The only brightside of Alberta’s current situation is that this will kill equalization.
Everything East of Saskatchewan is taking from the programme,Alberta can no longer give.
Feds will print more money,generously giving citizens massive debt and a 40 cent dollar.
Soon enough your groceries will take a wheelbarrow of New Canadian Dollars to buy.
Enjoy.
You are mistaken. This is after individuals pay their taxes. Then the feds take ten billion from Alberta, out of the money Alberta taxpayers paid in income taxes and provincial tobacco taxes and all the other taxes to the Province of Alberta, and give ten billion to Quebec. It’s straight out of Provincial tax revenue, not federal. Every damn year, for decades. It’s called the Transfer Program.
Without it, the rest of the country would have had to move to where the jobs are. Quebecers would have had to pay for their own day care. And Alberta would have had 100 seats in Parliament and twelve million people by now.
“It’s straight out of Provincial tax revenue, not federal.”
I’m sorry, but you are quite simply wrong. For the last time: equalization payments to provinces come out of Federal Government revenues, revenues the Federal Government collects not from provinces but from individuals and corporations.
The Federal Government has absolutely no power to expropriate the revenues of a provincial government.
“And Ottawa is going to get that money from???”
From revenues collected throughout Canada, where else?
Of course, any general decline in wealth across Canada will mean a reduction in revenues.
In that situation, the Federal Government will have to make some difficult decisions about its expenditures, won’t it?
For the last time? Promise?
Tell ya what, how about we stop subsidizing losers and end the whole damn transfer program altogether? Then the Provinces would have to make some difficult decisions about expenditures, wouldn’t they? Alberta would have an extra ten billion dollars a year, because it’s their own damn money, and Quebec would have ten billion less every year, because they couldn’t steal it from Alberta.
And now they CAN’T steal it from Alberta, because the other provinces (except Saskatchewan) have fought so hard against Albertans being able to get world prices for their oil that they’ve killed the golden goose. It’s straight-up theft and it has to stop.
“Less what the feds re-invested here” is a substantial amount of money in EI, Old Age Pension, federal infrastructure money, child tax credits, public service and armed forces payrolls, military and civilian PS pensions, tax breaks and corporate welfare, airports, an on and on.
That would be BC and Saskatchewan then.
How long do you figure that might fly?
Sorry you are wrong.
The feds will print and borrow, devaluing every canadians wealth.