Saturday, February 1
22Apr By Bob AscahNo Comments
Politics

Election 2019- Analysis (Part 1)

Highlights (Revised 25 April 2019) UCP dominant in rural Alberta, CalgarySecondary parties lose seatsKenney's vision relies on strong business backingRegulatory reform will have its challenges Alberta Government Logo Overview of Results Elections Alberta results to 19 April at 17 :14:34 shows 7,326 of 7,326 polls reporting. Political PartyVotes-SeatsPercentAlberta Party170,872 - 09.1%Alberta Independence Party13,481- 00.7%Liberal Party of Alberta18,457 -01.0%New Democratic Party615,428 -2432.7%Freedom Conservative Party9,856 -00.5%United Conservative Party1,030,560 - 6354.8%Alberta Advantage Party5,619- 00.3%Green Party of Alberta7,687-0 0.4% Source: https://results.elections.ab.ca/wtResultsPGE.htm Last Updated: April 19, 2019 - 17:14:34 The UCP received a ...
Read More
17Apr By Bob AscahNo Comments
Uncategorized

Presentation to Edmonton IPACU- 17 April 2019

Below is a presentation given to the Institute of Public Administration of Canada's noon hour learning sessions. The presentation and speaking notes address, at a high level, basic elements of public finance administration and policy in Alberta.
Read More
16Apr By Bob AscahNo Comments
Uncategorized

Election 2019: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Over the past three weeks, the two main parties and two smaller parties have released their full policy platforms or position statements. The following is a high level look at some of the policy proposals by highlighting good, bad, and "ugly" proposals. Animosity between 2 major parties Premier Rachel Notley It goes without saying that much of the campaign has featured personality politics with Rachel Notley spending an inordinate amount of time questioning Jason Kenney's character. At the time of writing, this tactic has not appeared to have improved her party's chances of retaining office. One of the most evident features of this attack is that it has demonstrated significant weaknesses in her party's capacity to articulate visionary policies. The Good The Alberta...
Read More
Journey to Obsession -A Sales Tax for Alberta (Part 2)
31Mar By Bob AscahNo Comments
Uncategorized

Journey to Obsession -A Sales Tax for Alberta (Part 2)

The following is a draft of the preface for the unnamed as yet book title about a sales tax for Alberta- hopefully forthcoming in the summer of 2019. The following is a personal set of experiences related to the sales tax discussion that is not included in the forthcoming book. It’s the story of my interest, then obsession, about the rationale for Alberta adopting a sales tax.. NDP in office Then fast forward to the unexpected NDP victory on 5 May 2015.  Premier Notley’s government focused initially on steadying the listing fiscal ship by engaging David Dodge, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada.  Dodge provided a rationale for even higher infrastructure spending.  The government also deliberately sought to stabilize the public service by pledging to maintain ad...
Read More
Journey to obsession: a sales tax for Alberta (Part 1)
29Mar By Bob AscahNo Comments
Budget, Government Finances, Politics

Journey to obsession: a sales tax for Alberta (Part 1)

The following is a draft of the preface for the unnamed as yet book title about a sales tax for Alberta- hopefully forthcoming in the summer of 2019. The following is a personal set of experiences related to the sales tax discussion that is not included in the book. It's the story of my interest, then obsession, about the rationale for Alberta adopting a sales tax.. One of my initiatives at the Institute for Public Economics (UofA) when I became Director was to initiate a policy analysis publication.  The first endeavour, (of three), was a paper by Dr. Ergete Ferede of MacEwan University. The paper, entitled “The Response of Tax Bases to the Business Cycle: The Case for Alberta,” looked at the volatility of certain tax sources, including a PST. I vividly remember the following fro...
Read More
27Mar By Bob AscahNo Comments
Politics

Election 2019- Week One Recap

It was a challenging week for UCP leader Jason Kenney. Kenney has battled questions about his knowledge of alleged arrangements made between members of his staff and those staffers supporting the run of Jeff Callaway. This has been especially trying for Kenney who continued to roll out major platform pledges. In addition, two UCP candidates have resigned due to past social media posts. jason KenneySource: Facebook Meanwhile, Premier Rachel Notley used the fraught UCP leadership fight as a cudgel to attack Kenney's credibility and trust-worthiness to hold office. Ms. Notley is the NDP's greatest asset and election literature relegates the NDP's logo and font to miniscule dimensions compared to her name or the constituency candidate's name. The incumbent is running against the chall...
Read More
Alberta’s Fiscal Dilemma
25Mar By Bob AscahNo Comments
Budget, Politics

Alberta’s Fiscal Dilemma

Excerpt from forthcoming book of essays about an Alberta sales tax. Legislature Building Alberta’s fiscal dilemma, which has vexed provincial politicians since 1905, is the public’s expectation that governments will provide a high level of services and maintain low taxes.  Services in the early years were basic education, roads, railways, telephones, relief, public buildings, and irrigation canals. Today government services include health care and a variety of programs for corporations such as small business, farmers, oil and gas investment incentives, and special-needs Albertans.  Other functions critical to the modern state involve regulation of marketplace behaviour, electricity markets, food, the environment, financial services, labour relations, and building public infrastructur...
Read More
22Mar By Bob AscahNo Comments
Budget, Government Finances

An Alberta Sales Tax?Really!

The presentation below from my presentation on 20 March 2019 to the Gyro Club of Edmonton. The presentation summarizes many of the arguments in a book I am editing which hopefully will be available this summer. The PowerPoint presentation and speaking notes examine the problem of the provincial government's fiscal dependence on non-renewable resource revenue and economic dominance of the energy sector. The presentation also highlights difficulties which started in the early 1980s when the provincial government decided to take a short-term view and suspend payments of resource revenue into the Heritage Fund. At this time, all investment income accruing to the Fund went to government program spending. The words "sales tax" will not be uttered voluntarily by the two main political lead...
Read More
28Feb By Bob AscahNo Comments
Budget

Third Quarter Fiscal Update

Originally posted 28 February 2019 Highlights Deficit falls as bitumen royalties strengthenSpending remains on trackInvestment income drops somewhatATB projected profit falls by 35 per centFinancing requirements grow for pre-borrowing Buzz that inclusion of “Path to Balance” means no budgetEconomic growth expected to weaken in 2019 Context This Update is the final update before the provincial election is called. In the Press Conference accompanying the release, the Finance Minister was pressed on whether there "would be a budget." He admitted that decision rested with the Premier but there would be a 2019 budget. In an unusual departure from normal updates, the 17-page insert could be construed as a mini-budget. Source: CBC.ca (more…)
Read More