My presentation to Probus members on 20 February 2024 reiterated the main themes in A Sales Tax for Alberta- Why and How published by Athabasca University Press in 2022. The presentation is found below.
Presentation to central Edmonton ProbusMuch of the discussion acknowledged the why for a retail sales tax but most of the questions and comments focused on the how,
The major difficulty is political culture which is very hostile to taxes than in the rest of the country. Several members who had worked within the Alberta public sector argued that waste in governments should discourage taxpayers from further “feeding the beast.” It is a Catch 22- to make the political culture less fearful of paying taxes, government needs to become more efficient. To become more efficient typically means to hire private sector management consultants- often with ties to the ruling party- who might discover where the fat is, but cutting the fat is often opposed by vested interests- private lobby groups. the bureaucracy or the politicians themselves.
NDP Leadership race
It is highly doubtful that leadership candidates will unveil revenue policies if they in fact offer a fiscal policy platform. Alberta politicians are so allergic to even mentioning a sales tax except to reject it out of hand without doing the hard work of educating Albertans to the continuing peril of relying on highly volatile revenue source. Perhaps a canddate will recommend a complete review of Alberta’s fiscal policies or even a revenue review which former Finance Minister Toews had been pushing hard for.
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Sales Tax debate will be difficult for political parties to ignore