Let me say this I like Ron Liepert, it is a lot more to do with personality and what Liepert has done for me over the years more than anything.
The Alberta Finance Minister is no nonsense guy and from what I have seen a good fiscal conservative. This is why I am so puzzled about the floating of the trial balloon on a provincial sales tax. I know it hasn’t been that long for the new Premier Alison Redford to formulate a platform or an agenda, but I have to say this kind of thinking is unacceptable at any point.
Sales taxes are the laziest way to get revenue, period. We have said this for years — the Alberta government doesn’t have a revenue problem they have a spending problem. Regardless of what the inner core of this new group of deep thinkers wants you to believe this is a fact.
Let me ease you into the nightmare of a sales tax bit by bit. Small business, corporations get ready you are about to become tax collectors for a group that can’t manage money; consider it a reward for creating this beautiful economy we are in. This alone will cost 100s of millions or day I say a Billion (with a capital B) for business to facilitate. We can get into the economic side and how the supply and demand curve goes inward. It is not rocket science when we pay more for every good and service we receive it is going to affect every household’s bottom line. How many times have we had relatives or friends come over to Alberta to shop because we don’t have a sales tax? I don’t imagine tourism will flourish with a new sales tax here to welcome everyone who travels to Alberta.
To what end for this economic madness? To pay hundreds of millions back to teachers, and their unions, or another one of my favourite eternal gripes, the health care system? There isn’t a money well deep enough to satisfy either health care or education. We have to look at different ways to deliver health care because this current system is slowly but surely breaking us. I would support some private health care melded into Alberta’s public system. I still can’t figure out why I wouldn’t be charged a nominal fee to visit a doctor — let’s call this a user fee — heck we had a monthly fee up to a few years ago before that was eliminated. Of course we can’t do anything like this or damage the sacred cow that is our health care system. I have to pay chiropractors and dentists, but never doctors. Why? Aren’t they part of health care? We have to get a grip when things are free because there is no accountability. Why would there be? That is a huge part of the problem.
I have a solution “we should develop a sales tax to generate more money for the money pit”, I don’t think that sounds good does it?
Conservative Economics 101 shrink government, find efficiencies, change systems and the way you do things, don’t raise taxes. Strangely I remember when a certain Goods and Services Tax was forced upon us as well, I also remember the guys who wanted it. I don’t think it is a coincidence Joe Clark came out this weekend saying he really wanted to endorse Redford’s run for the leadership but thought it might hurt her — no kidding. So here we go again, it looks like it will be the Red Tories versus the Blue Reformers. A sales tax or any tax increase will be a lightening rod in terms of a wedge issue. It is easy to spend to keep taxpayers happy, but at the end of the day you must pay the piper. Come budget time Albertans better see a real line drawn in the sand and see some cutbacks and shrinkage. It’s really nice to be as popular Ralph Klein was, and there was a reason — he knew when and where to draw that line.
