We have witnessed heated election campaigns before, but seldom with the level of vociferous anger witnessed during our recent provincial election. Many voters are feeling betrayed by the country they love and discarded from the information highway. But when does reasonable anger end and irrational hatred begin? We witnessed both during this provincial election. Some have even related it to occurrences that appeared during WWII.
The Alberta Enterprise Group (AEG) congratulates Premier Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party on their election victory. AEG looks forward to sharing the priorities of our members and cooperating with the Alberta government to help make Alberta a better place to live and do business. We are committed to working with Premier Smith and the UCP government on issues of concern and relevance for our members and fellow Albertans.
Once again, the Senate has bailed on Canadians and proven themselves irrelevant by not stopping Bill C-11 in its tracks. Why are they even a body? What are their roles and who sets their expectations for delivery? I thought the Senate is considered the ‘second non-partisan look’, but at this point they appear fairly irrelevant.
Alberta has had a lot of good news stories lately. We’re expected to lead the country in economic growth in 2023. We’re also the most powerful magnet in the country for Canadians wanting better job prospects and a lower cost of living. In 2022, Alberta’s population grew by nearly 60,000 between July and September alone, which is
Professor Jack Mintz has indicated, even a 3% tax increase, combined with a forthcoming removal of federal capital cost allowances, could cost Alberta upwards of $3 billion in lost investments and almost 100,000 jobs. That is 100,000 of our neighbors unemployed.
With the provincial election on the horizon, I want to write specifically to other Calgary business owners and their workers with the hope of making some critical points in the 500 words available. Not only are we losing the Canada we used to know, but we are also at risk of losing Alberta and the spirit of a prosperous and vibrant province that we have built and re- built over the years. While 2022 wasn’t the greatest worldwide in the aftermath of COVID, Alberta remained one of the most successful economies regardless of the many challenges we faced.
No thanks to the federal Impact Assessment Act or Bill C-69 – even with a global energy crisis and the world pleading for Canada’s responsibly and sustainably produced natural resources, Canada, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is on track to have the worst performing economy of the G20 over the next 10 years. Our organizations – the Alberta Enterprise Group and ICBA Alberta – are in the Supreme Court of Canada, supporting the Government of Alberta and almost all other provinces and territories in their fight against the federal government’s Impact Assessment Act.
With all the chatter around the Prime Minister’s proposed ‘Just Transition’ plan, and the nuances surrounding what caused the federal government to change the name to ‘Sustainable Jobs,’ I gathered the courage to download the 32 pages headlined: ‘Sustainable Jobs Plan.’ It turns out it is not something one does for entertainment on a Saturday night.
Pre-election budgets are rarely admirable. Money is spread around like pixie dust to curry the support of voters and to knee-cap opposition parties by borrowing their ideas. To a certain extent, the pre-election good news budget that Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews delivered Tuesday follows this time-honoured political path, helped by $27.5 billion in oil and gas revenues in the 2022/23 fiscal year. And so, it is easy to chide the budget for populist policies like freezing insurance rates and capping post-secondary tuition fee increases at 2 per cent and for industrial policy measures for politically favoured industries (such as agricultural processing and film and television production). And there is the usual scattering of minor tax credits instead of a general cut in personal taxes – with no mention of a tax review geared to major reform, which the United Conservative Party proposed when it took office.
The article discusses various predictions and concerns for Canada in 2023, including inflation, economic growth, and tensions between resource-rich provinces and climate-frenzy Ottawa. The fastest-growing economies are predicted to be Guyana, Libya, and Venezuela due to oil and gas development and political stability. There is also a rise in environmentalists looking to end the fossil fuel industry, which is causing tension with oilfield workers. Housing insecurity and economic hardship are also concerns. Additionally, the article notes that Canada has spent millions of dollars on COVID isolation hotels due to a lack of notice of vacating.
