Alberta Party responds to Alberta Budget
The Alberta Party isn't mincing words when it comes to the Alberta Budget that was tabled this week.
"The UCP budget is a dangerous wager on unstable oil prices," Barry Morishita the leader of the Alberta said. "(The budget) only being balanced because of a lucky increase in oil prices coupled with massive cuts of past years. This government cannot take credit for oil prices created by global circumstances."
Morishita said that time boom and bust cycle the provincial government has been heavily relied on in the past must come to an end, "Alberta cannot continue to gamble taxpayer dollars and effective public services strictly on the price of oil. It is no way to responsibly handle our future."
In response to the provincial budget, the Party did release their own shadow budget. This is the 8th time the party has released a shadow budget in response to the provincial budget. The document titled 'A Path Forward'.
"“I am proud that the Alberta Party continues to propose fiscally responsible ideas that prioritize both planning for the future and community-oriented service delivery, instead of short-term gains and government centralization," Morishita added.
'A Path Forward' lays out measures the Alberta Party would work on and introduce if they were in power. One area that the party says need focus is helping small businesses. The shadow budget outlines an increase to the income tax deduction limit for small business.
The party is proposing a harmonized sale tax would be beneficial to the province, only after the province recovered from the economic impacts of COVID-19.
According to the document, a sales tax would generate approximately $1 billion for every 1% of tax implemented. This revenue would go a long way to smoothing out the fiscal instability we face and would help transition the province away from volatile resource revenues.
Barry Morishita laid out his vision for the province in the 14 page document, but reiterated "We all know that ignoring financial reality is a terrible way to manage a household or business, yet the previous governments did it with our province. We will increase the services we provide and improve the bottom line if we embrace the changes the Alberta Party presents for you. Financial strength will allow us to properly fund the services Albertans set as priorities."
