That does not mean that Albertans hate people from Quebec, it means that Alberta want to stop subsidizing Quebec when the Alberta economy is in trouble. That was enough to attract the support of eight MLAs from the province. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Whats more, Ottawa needs to be on the ground in Alberta in a way it hasnt been before, and it must be seen by Albertans to be making policy changes in Albertas interests. The 40 per cent of earners above them paid 28.7 per cent of the tax. 7. It's the politicians that are the problem, B.C. Flipping the tables found BC and Alberta actually at odds, with respondents seeing each the other province as less close or friendly towards their own. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. How much are these payments Alberta is making? Alberta, they explain, just should have voted for a Liberal party that hates it. Forty years and another Trudeau later, Albertans feel they're still on the outside looking in at a moment when their future is under siege. The oil price crash that continues to weigh on the economy was no politicians fault. What's the deal with Alberta? At best, it may prove to be a kind of political harm-reduction strategy, a pressure valve for separatist sentiment. But the most common target of this rally is, in fact, mainstream Conservative politicians; Kenney, Stephen Harper and Andrew Scheer, who oversaw the current equalization formula that is pulling out billions worth of revenues more than what Alberta receives in transfers and services. If each of your parents are of 2 ethnicities, do you wind up with one of each or are you a quarter of each? (For those interested in the nitty-gritty details, these calculations include both the high-income surtax and the health premiums charged in Ontario as part of the income-tax system. Access articles from across Canada with one account. The differences are largely aesthetic and emotional. Most Albertansstill pay a 10-per-cent income tax rate, but those who earn more than $128,145 per year now pay 12per cent on earnings above that threshold. Ive seen a version of this play out in greater or lesser form again and again in reporting from Alberta. And because the money comes out of general federal revenue, theres no way for Albertans to stop funding it short of refusing to pay their taxes. The modern era of Alberta alienation began under Pierre Trudeau. Open pit mining doesnt seem to be under threat. Chief among them is Trudeaus Senate policy, which is founded upon nonpartisanship in the upper chamber, with no Liberal Senate caucus and no senators in the cabinet. I know it is the oil culture that people dislike but whenever something crappy happens there, people make fun of the entire province. So did Donald Trump. Low-income and high-income Albertans, meanwhile, enjoy the lowest taxes in the country. It's the place for possibilities,amarketplace of ideas. The myth of the anti-Alberta Liberal - Canada's National Observer And that's where many people might be surprised about Alberta. All rights reserved, From a purely environmental perspective the arguments used against the oil sands can be deployed against these, too. You are welcome to republish this Policy Options article online or in print periodicals, under a Creative Commons/No Derivatives licence. Top smartwatches to sport: Great options to track your fitness, Laurent Duvernay-Tardifsets sights on what's next, Top performing coffee grinders for the perfect morning cup, EXCLUSIVE: Vitamix introduces FoodCycler turning food waste into plant food, 5 high-performance blow dryers for all hair types, tap here to see other videos from our team. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. The West wants out.. We need to phase them out. Copyright 2023 Buzz Connected Media Inc. Daily Hive is a Canadian-born online news source, established in 2008, that creates compelling, hyperlocal content. The government of Canada notes that there is one circumstance in which it is proper to display the flag inverted: as a symbol of distress. It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Saskatchewan, too, has raised issues around how Equalization is calculated, as has Ontario. The focus in these matters always rests on personalities and signals. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Get email updates from your favourite authors. That subject is Alberta, and ever since the election and shutout of the Liberals in that province, family, friends and casual acquaintances have been asking variations of this: What's with Alberta? The rate increases further, maxing out at 15 per cent on income above $307,547. These richest Albertans also pay alarger share of the total income taxes collected in Alberta, compared to the wealthiest people in other parts of the country. Ontario isn't friendly, Alberta resents everyone else and nobody likes Quebec: poll, Florida Panthers refuse to sell tickets to non-U.S. residents as Leafs move to second round, FIRST READING: The evidence against Trudeau's claim he didn't 'force' vaccination, Who is Alexandre 'Sacha' Trudeau? By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. There are a variety of factors to consider, The Eco 5 launches in Canada today reduces volume of food waste up to 90 per cent, The best in budget-friendly, lightweight and dual-action hair dryers, 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4. RELATED:The rise of Albertas unapologetic petro-patriots. Again, the most recent data comes from 2015. 57% of Albertan respondents saw BC as unfriendly towards their own province, while 47% of British Columbians though similarily about their neighbours to the east. I dont know if this separatist sentiment in AlbertaWexit, if we mustis something to worry about. The Ontario group, formed in fall . We could talk about macroeconomic oil demand, the unemployment rate, the economic argument for pipelines like the Trans Mountain expansion; Bills C-69 and C-48, the oil price differential, the public purses dependence on oil and gas royalties. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. The Canadian Press, by Jason Franson. The numbers have been updated to reflect that abatement. As if he needed the boost. Or, at the very least, to greet the crisis playing out in this province with smug contempt. With lower prices, the two provinces take in less revenue and so receive more equalization money. My personal favourite is the do-they-really-believe-that question, as in: Do Albertans really believe that the Liberals would spend $4.5 billion to buy a pipeline only to kill it? University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe said the program has room for improvement and agreed that some people may have legitimate grievances. A key but often overlooked part of Alberta's income-tax system is the generous personal exemption that everyone receives. Here, we answer common questions and dispel some myths about the most resilient Alberta bogeyman. Instead, they recall Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer, who addressed the convoys rally in Ottawa, allegedly speaking at the same event as racist alt-right personality Faith Goldy. Rather than shame the province out of the folly of separatism, I fear this will have the opposite effect. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. From a purely environmental perspective the arguments used against the oil sands can be deployed against these, too. What's even more surprising is that 21% of Quebecers actually agree! Ottawa isnt going to give a bunch of rednecks a fair hearing, or a fair deal. and Ontario. This isn't necessarily shocking, considering Quebec's Premier Franois Legault publicly stated "no social acceptance for a pipeline that would pass through Quebec territory." The former lacks even the veneer of democratic legitimacy, though it is constitutionally valid. But times have changed. Were not alone., RELATED:Encana doesnt want to be Canadian anymore, and Trudeau shrugs. RELATED:The answer to Justin Trudeaus Western cabinet problem. The Angus Reid Institute looked to answer that question with their most recent study, asking a random sample of 4,024 Canadians from all over the country to speak to their provinces relationship with the other members of the federation. The starting point could be the creation of an Alberta Economic Development Agency, as distinct from Western Diversification, the existing federal agency that covers all of western Canada. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. More than four in every five Albertans surveyed stated that Quebec was unfriendly towards their province, while views from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and even neighbouringOntario were around the same all at more than 50%. Does it even need to be fixed? As you can see from the interactive graph below, Alberta's highest-income earners carry a higher proportion of the tax burden than those in Ontario or Canada-wide. Equalization is a concept enshrined in the Constitution, but for Alberta, it could become the new NEP if not managed well. Another interesting discovery from the survey was what appears to be Alberta taking the reigns as the most resentful province in the country. Unlike people in the rest of the country, who were subject to progressively higher tax rates that increased with income, Albertans paid the same rate a flat 10 per cent regardless of how much money they made. Whether Alberta should return to a "flat tax" on income has been the subject of debate recently. What I do predict is that the Wexit leaders currently fronting Facebook pages will be discredited. Part of it is the tone that has been set from the top. Pipelines have been an especially touchy subject for Western Canada, to say the least meaning Quebec's public stance against them was never going to go over well. At the front of the dark, wood-panelled hall, a Canadian flag held aloft by two hockey sticks was displayed, inverted, on stage. Didnt he buy you a pipeline?. DATA NERD. We are going to do for Western Canada, and Alberta in particular, what the Bloc Quebecois does for Quebec. To paraphrase a proverb, screwing is in the eye of the beholder. I wouldnt be surprised to see Wexit morph, in the national subconscious, into a fever dream of white nationalist uprising. Some suggest Justin Trudeau should do likewise today and bring an Alberta senator into his cabinet. Jean admits as much in his article, saying hed rather work with other provinces to fix the program. A Rednexit hat is already available for sale on the Wexit website. Most people in Quebec are rather indifferent about the people in the rest of Canada. But in the end, I tell them, it is a telling example of Albertans' belief that their economic might, their enterprise and their hard work have again been taken for granted by a Liberal government that promised to be different, open and inclusive. The movement will probably be riddled by alt-right wannabes, conspiracy theorists, and anti-immigration zealots. Why are Albertans so mad? Everything you need to know - nationalpost The Green Party will definitely never look after us and now we see the Conservatives dont have our best interests in mind, said rally speaker Ambrose Ralph. If you forget about us, tweet after tweet from Alberta read, perhaps well forget about our payments to the equalization program. But neither has Trudeau done much to ease fears or restore trust. are happy to take redistributed . Even Facebook online. The top 0.01 per cent, alone, accounted for 5.7 per cent of all the income tax revenue. RELATED:Why Jason Kenneys proposed referendum is so puzzling. If Ontario and Quebec, with the first- and second-largest gross domestic products respectively among the provinces, can have their own federal agencies for economic development, so should Alberta, which has the third-largest GDP not to mention the biggest economic adjustment challenge of any province if Canada is to move down the path to the decarbonization of its economy. This is typically expressed by income percentile, and those at the very top pay by far the most, per person. That budget set the stage for the "flat tax" system, which set Alberta apart from other provinces for the next decade and a half. We simply dont want our little island ruined by the same thing that is going on in the rest of Canada. A party that treats its major industry as a font of dark oil money funding the Conservative party and a network of sympathetic media outletsa position no less cynical or conspiratorial than the anti-communism hysteria generated in the West. An earlier version of this story didn't factor in the abatement on federal taxes that Quebec income-tax filers receive. Alberta alone is still Alberta landlocked, and the solution won't be south of the border, because pipeline politics can be as tangled there as they are here. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney meets Trudeau on Parliament Hill in May. Just one per cent of Albertans and two per cent of Saskatchewanians feel Quebec is friendly towards their province. Equalization is one of many federal transfer programs. Well, I'm glad you asked. Tax burden lowest in Alberta, Saskatchewan: Conference Board of Canada, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. This province continues to offer high quality services and low taxes that keep it in thrall to resource royalties that are long gone and likely never coming back. Western Diversification is mandated to support economic diversification but also acts as an important advocate for regional interests in Ottawa, both within the bureaucracy and, usually, through a responsible minister at the cabinet table. It's around the $150,000 mark that Alberta returns to the lowest income-tax burden of all provinces. Secondly, I would say that we should not let Justin Trudeau and his policies make us feel unwelcome in our own country. That is going to take time. The rally began with a presentation that heavily implied that Canada is on the verge of a communist takeover; that the environmental movement is a front for a communist plot to establish some kind of one-world government. Franco Terrazzano: Canadians are united. Alberta, with its lower tax rates and lack of provincial sales tax, doesnt have the same luxury because the equalization program assumes the province could just raise taxes if it needed to. Photo: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney delivers his State of the Province address to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce in Edmonton on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. When a reporter parachutes into cattle country to root out a racist wacknut, the outlier and the anecdote become proof of the corrupt and immoral nature of the province and its political culture as a whole. Whether Alberta should return to a "flat tax" on income has been the subject of debate recently. It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Email: sxthomson@postmedia.com | Twitter: stuartxthomson. Often they want to know what makes Albertans so irate and angry at just about everyone else in Canada, and, in particular, those of us in the now-fabled 905 area code. Sure, they understand the province's frustration with B.C. It seems like a more benign entity now for being merely opportunistic in its pursuit of an ever-better deal for Quebec. Here is how Rachel Notley could really take the boots to B.C. Thus began the modern era of Alberta alienation. Our family lived in Calgary for more than 15 years before moving back to Ontario. But I have a perspective and thoughts about where the frustration and anger come from that was formed from my time in Calgary, and by a brother-in-law in Red Deer who never misses a chance to remind me how important the oil and gas industry is to Ontario's economy. In February, oil patch workers and Yellow Vest protestors set out from northern Alberta to demonstrate against Bills C-48 and C-69the latter dubbed the no more pipelines bill for its byzantine restructuring of the countrys regulatory process. Super Bowl-winning athlete talks football, his medical career and the importance of skin care. Pundits based in Toronto have responded to the last months federal election results by offering reams of opinions explaining to Albertans why their current predicament is entirely their own fault. Chief among them is Trudeau's Senate policy, which is founded upon nonpartisanship in the upper chamber, with no Liberal Senate caucus and no senators in the cabinet. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The delays included resistance from Albertans who weren't sure they had enough material to sell East and a preference to sell to the United States. There are various reasons why this approach either won't work or won't suffice this time around. Whether youre private sector, public sector, labour, youre the workers, youre immigrants, Indigenous communities again, for people from tight-knit communities, people who have to work three extra jobs, three extra jobs, and they get to keep more of their own money. Not because I am some political seer, but because I know where Bridgeland is in Calgary, how glorious Kananaskis is, and how treacherous Highway 2 can be in the winter. Meaning it might be time for Canadians to reconcile and hug it out.
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