Noting that more revenue doesn’t automatically translate to better service, the NDP government should examine how to reduce expenses rather than rely on tax increases, says Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken.
The rookie Wildrose MLA said it was a very “interesting week” at the Alberta Legislature, starting off with the Speech from the Throne June 15 and the introduction of three major bills throughout the week.
“It was a learning experience,” said van Dijken, who was elected to his first term in the May 5 provincial election.
Bill 1, if passed, will ban all donations by either corporations or unions to political parties effective June 15, 2015.
Bill 2 implements a two per cent increase to corporate taxes and a new personal income tax structure wherein Albertans who earn more than $125,000 will now pay up to 15 per cent in income tax.
Finally, Bill 3 introduced an interim budget that will see the province spend $15.4 billion between July 1 and Nov. 30, approximately $624 million more than originally projected by the PC government.
The Wildrose Party has concerns with all three of the bills put forward this week, said van Dijken.
He said the Wildrose have campaigned for corporations and unions to be restricted from donating to political parties for years.
However, they have a concern that the legislation will come into effect right in the middle of what’s considered the writ period for this election campaign.
He said there are campaigns out there right now collecting money; to change horses midstream “puts the whole bill in jeopardy,” said van Dijken.
He said they encouraged them to extend the date the bill becomes effective past July 5, which will decrease the possibility of any potential legal challenges to the bill.
His party also has also have concerns around the potential for unions and corporations to make “in-kind” donations instead of financial contributions, said van Dijken.
“We think that it can be tidied up some more. We see that they’re pushing this one through and they’re not willing to budge the timeline on this and do the due diligence necessary,” he said.
By contrast, van Dijken said the NDP government refuses to do the due diligence on the budget, noting that Albertans will not see a full budget until two-thirds through the fiscal year.
The Wildrose are also concerned with the increase in funding during a financially difficult time, he said.
“Nobody has taken a serious look at how we can do things better, on how we deliver. That is a huge concern for us. We feel that we are over-spending in our administration of services,” he said.
“Without really getting to the nuts and the bolts of how we can do that better, do we need to all of a sudden put this province into a huge deficit position and take on more debt?”
Although the increase in spending would seemingly be covered by the increase of corporate taxes and income tax changes, van Dijken said increasing revenue is not simply a matter of raising taxes.
“We worry at the Wildrose that by increasing corporate tax, we are opening the door for investment leaving Alberta, and with that, jobs leaving Alberta,” he said, noting that would also threaten revenue.
Businesses invest off the ability to bring in a rate of return after expenses, including taxes. They may leave even if the corporate tax rate is comparable to other provinces, because most of their activities are in, say, southern Saskatchewan.
In general, the province shouldn’t be looking at raising taxes until they take a serious look at spending, he said, adding that Alberta spends roughly $8 billion more than B.C.
“Are we getting that much better service out of that? Can we please take a look at spending and try to get our spending under control? We don’t believe this is necessarily a revenue problem,” he said.
