This morning I made a presentation to the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Chamber and senior management of the Edmonton Chamber.
Below is the PowerPoint/PDF. Although the business community is still generally negative to a provincial sales tax, possibly harmonized with the federal GST, there appears to be a growing realization that non-renewable resource revenue will not be sufficient alone to balance Alberta’s structural deficits. 
In late October, the Chamber released Forging our Future which includes the following:
While government spending and support programs are critical right now,
we must not lose sight of the fiscal challenges on the horizon.
We recommend a review of the Canadian tax system and a review of
Alberta’s revenue sources, including consideration for a consumption tax.
The Report specifically recommends:
Appoint an independent panel of experts to review Alberta’s revenue
sources, including a review and recommendation on whether to implement a consumption tax in order to bring Alberta’s budget back to balance.
It appears the ground is slowly shifting on the sales tax question. In June of this year, CBC Calgary reported on a poll conducted between 25 May and 1 June by Trend Research under the direction of Janet Brown the respected Alberta pollster. The survey of 900 respondents randomly selected from Trend Research’s online panel of more than 30,000 Albertans and is representative of regional, age and gender proportions in Alberta. Specifically they found that support for a PST rose from 25 per cent (strongly agree and somewhat agree) in March 2018 to 40 per cent. Significantly, persons polled in 2018 who strongly disagreed with a PST fell from 57 per cent to 41 per cent. Still 57 per cent of Albertans somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed with bringing in a sales tax. The poll also found, not surprisingly, that NDP supporters were more likely to agree with the sales tax option as UCP supporters.
Additionally, there seems to be a growing recognition within government that a public review of the revenue structure of the Alberta government is required. In the Forging the Future document recognized that the oil and gas royalties, which have formed such a large source of revenue to the government, may not be coming back. Finance Minister Toews at his recent mid-year fiscal update press conference seemed to agree with the need for a review of the revenue side.
As I emphasized to the Edmonton Chamber, a PST or HST is not a panacea for Alberta’s fiscal woes, but should be explored as part of a revenue review. The longer the provincial cabinet leaves this issue to the side, the more borrowing costs will eat away at Alberta’s fiscal sustainability.
Presentation-to-Edmonton-Chamber
Bob, you comment that cost of administering PST would be very low. In fact, if HST it would be zero, as CRA could administer. And essentially zero to CRA as well. PIT is already administered by CRA, and that costs AB zero. AB administers its own CIT, which is an administrative cost with no benefit, as AB’s CIT parallel’s Canada’s CIT and could be done by CRA. At one time Lougheed thought Alberta needed its own CIT administration so it could have a different tax structure. That never happened, and this has been a deadweight loss ever since.
Also, you might point out ways to offset regressivity, as done through GST rebates for low income folks, and exemptions for essential items like foods, medical care.