Despite the NDP’s first provincial budget containing the province’s biggest deficit in almost two decades, at $6.1 billion, and the projection of four-consecutive deficits that will total $18 billion, it’s not all doom and gloom, says area MLA Colin Piquette.
With the major deficit on the horizon, the NDP will not make cutbacks, but will instead borrow money to finance infrastructure projects for schools, roads and hospitals for this year, said Piquette. The government has a 15 per cent increase projected for capital spending over the next five years in an effort to get people back to work while the economy recovers.
“The old way of doing things when times were bad was you’d make them worse by laying people off and instead of working on stimulating the economy, you’re actually making things worse for the economy,” said Piquette, MLA for Athabasca-Sturgeon-Redwater.
“I don’t think I need to tell you the shape of some of our rural hospitals and our rural schools. There’s this real infrastructure deficit and it’s come to the point of blocking development or slowing it down. By moving forward with these projects, we’re directly creating jobs, which is really badly needed, but we’re also improving the economy for more diversification and more employment.
“We’ll take a few years to balance the budget and take advantage of the opportunity of having lots of labour and people looking for work and cheaper prices.
“Not everybody agrees. There’s always disagreements with these types of issues but I think the majority of people and economists would agree with what we’re doing.”
The government has created some new revenue measures that began on Oct. 28, with alcohol taxes going up by five per cent and cartons of cigarettes rising by $5. These increases are estimated to generate $35 million in additional revenue this year and $83 million in 2016-2017.
“Presumably, if you don’t like the cost you can always drink a little bit less and that’s a social goal and that’s the same concept that we go behind with the tobacco taxes.”
Personal income tax will be on the rise for the more wealthy individuals starting in 2016, as the government looks to squash the flat 10 per cent tax rate. Those who make $125,000 to $150,000 per year will have a 1.5 per cent increase up to 12 per cent.
Those who make $300,000 or more per year will have a tax rate of 15 per cent. The changes are to generate an estimated $906 million in 2016-2017.
“Even the Harper Conservatives wouldn’t touch the flat tax by a 10 foot pole,” said Piquette.
“It’s really not unreasonable for the people that have benefited most and have the most resources to pay a little bit more and help provide essential services.
“We do have a real revenue problem in this province and you got to hunt where the ducks are in that sense,” he added.
“It’s a fundamental concept of taxation being related to your ability to pay.
“This is a positive step long over due. If we had a progressive tax income system in the past we might not have found ourselves in such difficult times.”
