Taxation & Royalties

Many of the problems facing Alberta today have been created by politicians who have sold us the snake oil myths of “Trickle Down Economics,” especially the notion that low royalties and tax cuts for profitable corporations and the wealthy will create jobs, economic growth and shared prosperity.

The truth is that this approach has simply created poverty for our public services, even in the midst of plenty for a handful of corporations.

In an increasingly uncertain world, we can no longer afford to allow the wealth generated by our economy to be hoarded by a wealthy few or to allow it to flood out of our province in inappropriate amounts to the bank accounts of well-heeled foreign investors.

We need pooled resources to face the challenges posed by the affordability crisis, climate change, technology shifts and a hostile government on our southern border.

More than ever, that means we need the wealthy to pay their fair share.

So how do we implement revenue reforms to help finance economic diversification, promote resilience in a changing world and support quality public services?

It’s time to:

• Increase royalties. Royalties are not taxes. They are the price that companies pay to the owners of our resources (all Albertans) for the privilege of developing those assets. We need to stop selling ourselves short and start setting our royalty rates something closer to the international average.
• Increase taxes on corporate profits. Despite rhetoric claiming that cutting taxes on corporate profits would lead to more investment, Alberta has actually seen declining rates of business investment compared to other provinces like BC. Clearly, corporate tax cuts don’t create jobs or boost economic activity. The only thing they do is rob the treasury of money that could fund things like education, health care and infrastructure. We should increase our rate of tax on corporate profits to the national average.
• Work with Ottawa to institute a wealth tax on the top 1% (those with wealth over $6.3 million). We propose a moderate wealth tax with three brackets: 1% on net wealth over $10 million; 2% over $50 million; and 3% over $100 million. These wealth taxes would generate billions of dollars each year that could be used to help fund the needs and priorities of the other 99 percent of Canadians.

Our prosperity and security depend on foundational investments in things like education, health care and infrastructure. Our economic future also depends on investment in things like affordability measures, diversification and climate resilience. 

The prerequisite for all of this is revenue reform. Giving our wealth away to the wealthy isn’t working. We need to make them pay their fair share!