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. When regional development agencies were created in the late 1980s, the intent was for them to focus on have-not regions. Returning to the Klein-era flat tax would not change any of this, other than to increase the "tax advantage" already enjoyed by the richest Albertanscompared to other provinces. Ginned up, the crowd chants: The West wants out. Alberta is also thought to have bought its own trouble because it didnt hoard its oil gains, Norway-style. When search suggestions are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. But it is going to take more than a part-time sage like me or a full-time one, for that matter to come up with the answers. Didnt he buy you a pipeline?. I had long chalked this up to habit. Theyre a scapegoat, a channel for all the guilt and anxiety that we Canadians feel about our greenhouse-gas intensive lifestyles. All of this will be used as proof of the underlying logic of Wexit: that the liberal East looks down at you while it takes your wealth. We simply dont want our little island ruined by the same thing that is going on in the rest of Canada. Alberta calls Ontario the "center of the universe" then proceeds to claim its the entire driver of the Canadian . The movement will probably be riddled by alt-right wannabes, conspiracy theorists, and anti-immigration zealots. Kenney created a "war room." Low-income and high-income Albertans, meanwhile, enjoy the lowest taxes in the country. Albertans have a way of adopting Central Canadians as "True Albertans" and ignoring and shaming those actually born and raised in Alberta as "not real Albertan". 2023 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Within days, he turned on that position entirely. That means half of Albertans earned less than that amount, and half earned more. For merely bringing up the fact that separatist sentiment in Alberta is on the risea trend apparent years before he returned to Midnapore. As if he needed the boost. Click or tap on the drop-down menu to change income levels and see how much in provincial income tax you would pay in each province. In this case, the Angus Reid Institute found that the most disliked province was none other than Quebec. Alberta's basic personal tax credit now stands at $18,915, meaning Albertanseffectively pay no income tax to the provincial government on income up to that level. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. An earlier version of this story didn't factor in the abatement on federal taxes that Quebec income-tax filers receive. Where Alberta only feels they are close with Saskatchewan. Were not alone., RELATED:Encana doesnt want to be Canadian anymore, and Trudeau shrugs. What to know about the PM's brother, Federal government reaches agreement for a new wage deal with striking workers, Jamie Sarkonak: Censorious Liberal attempt to block news article shows why they want to control the internet. 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? Shut down the oil sands and avoid the much harder questions about why they exist. Turning that question on its head saw respondents pointing out the province that they felt was giving more than it got by being a part of Canada. Fred Youngs was a journalist for CBC News in Winnipeg, Calgary and Toronto. Read more about cookies here. Whether Alberta should return to a "flat tax" on income has been the subject of debate recently. 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. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. A new poll released by theAngus Reid Instituteseems to have found the answer to Canada's most disliked province. Whatever you do, don't forget to mention Alberta. The program intends to make sure provinces are providing comparable services across the country, but more often it is a political talking point. The data definitely aligns with many Canadian's belief that Quebec is not particularly interested in the rest of Canada or engaged with the country. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. You can see how it all breaks down in the chart below. Sorry, PEI. We need to manage the transition off of our dependence on fossil fuels. Thats all you are.. There is a militancy to some of Wexits language and memestalk of civil war, for exampleand pictures of men in full military garb, that could foreshadow something darker and more violent. 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. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. No one is talking about transitioning B.C.s forestry industry, despite the fact that the provinces forests are a major carbon sink. The former lacks even the veneer of democratic legitimacy, though it is constitutionally valid. Naturally, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba all stuck together, with Alberta and Saskatchewan seeing the closest bond of all provinces at 75% and 77% of respondents viewing the other province as especially close. 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. With lower prices, the two provinces take in less revenue and so receive more equalization money. 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. (The values in the interactive chart now show provincial taxes minus the federal abatement.). 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. November 7, 2019, The baseball caps were sold to the side of the rally at the Boot Scootin Boogie Dancehall last Saturday night. Alberta's income tax 'advantage' exists for the poor and the rich, but not those in between | CBC News Loaded. TRUDEAU HATES ALBERTA. Now, it does not surprise me in the least that blue collar truckers and patch workers would hold views toward matters like asylum-seekers that would not earn them a warm welcome at a cocktail party in the Annex. B.C., along with the other two most popular provinces Quebec and Ontario, feels isolated: 43 per cent of British Columbians say they dont feel any other provinces are close or friendly, that number is 41 per cent in Ontario and 30 per cent in Quebec. (David Kawai/Bloomberg/Getty Images). There is a moral component to which industries were choosing to transition. The oil sands are greenhouse gas intensive. Conversely, the highest-income Albertans still pay the lowest taxes in the country, even with the progressive tax brackets the province recently adopted. What I do predict is that the Wexit leaders currently fronting Facebook pages will be discredited. READ MORE:Netflix Canada Announces The Official Date That The Harry Potter Movies Are Coming. Through propaganda, many Albertans have come to see oil as part of their identities and it has led them to resist the diversification of their economy and adequate social safety nets, which is creating a feedback loop where the higher the unemployment and the worse their economic woes are, the more they blame liberals/leftists, the federal We've helped lots of families relocate and we'd love to help you too! We could go back in time, to the National Energy Program, to 1905, to Frederick Haultain, to the doomed province of Buffalo; to the railways, the crow rate, and the robber barons of the East. A protection I figure. He was an embarrassment to Alberta. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. Premier Jason Kenney has become one of the most hated leaders in modern Alberta history, according to a new poll by ThinkHQ. This year, about $18 billion will be doled out to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, with $11 billion going to Quebec alone. There is at least one major politician in this country who has publicly expressed a desire to separate from Canada if he didnt get his way politically. Souhaitez-vous ragir cet article ? Amazon Canada now offering students month-to-month pricing for Prime, The Long John Index is all the weather reporting Canada needs this winter (MAP), Pay gap between men and women in Canada's tech scene nearly $20K per year. Quebec Premier Franois Legault. 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Let me ask: if you lived in a country where a plurality believed resource royalties more properly belonged to the nation as a whole rather than the province, how tempted would you be to save it? Access articles from across Canada with one account. But when people think of taxes, they often think first of income tax. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. has a close relationship with their own province, and that feeling, in the same proportion, is reciprocated west of the Rockies. From a purely environmental perspective the arguments used against the oil sands can be deployed against these, too. Rather than shame the province out of the folly of separatism, I fear this will have the opposite effect. You are either with Alberta or you're against it. To make matters worse, 53% of the Canadians in the study believe that Quebec takes more than it gives to the Confederation. The phrase "Alberta tax advantage" figured heavily into thebudget introduced by Ralph Klein's government in the year 2000, which made income-tax reform a key plank. That's a Federal Government problem, not an Alberta/Quebec problem. Answer (1 of 10): You tell me. It may buy time for the Trans Mountain pipeline to be built, for economic conditions to improve, or for political tensions to ease. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. There is a perception in the rest of Canada, outside of Quebec, that Quebecers are not close, are not interested, are not engaged, with the rest of the country.. Click here for a version that should work with your mobile device.). (Please note, if you will, that everything east of Manitoba is considered the East to me.). A friend described everyone from Ontario as assholes. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. After all, what good has that done? 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. Days after the 2006 general election, Stephen Harper convinced a Liberal MP, David Emerson, to join his Conservative cabinet. A recent article in Vice noted that Downing, a former soldier and RCMP officer, had a history as a far right conspiracy theorist. Its hard to glean whether these are ambitious political organizers or keyboard warriors with delusions of grandeur. Its a sign of open disrespecteven war, in some places. So did Donald Trump. 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. As you can also see from the interactive chart (by comparing the yellow and blue columns) the advantage for high-income earners would increase with a return to the flat tax. Tax burden lowest in Alberta, Saskatchewan: Conference Board of Canada, CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. But an angry Twitter outburst aimed at Newfoundlanders because they voted for Liberals? And its lead grows from there. It's the place for possibilities,amarketplace of ideas. The following errors occurred with your submission. The characature of "Albertan" means more to people here than the truth. Trudeau bought the TMX line though the purchase offered absolutely no electoral benefit to himself or his party. Top picks for different budgets, brands and other preferences. But on one particular subject, at least amonga small group, I am the go-to person. Here is alinkon how to do it. After spending more than a decade reporting from Alberta, I have to confess that Im tired of trying to explain western alienation to the East. The differences in fiscal capacities among the provinces have narrowed since that time, yet this escalator has pushed up overall program costs from about $14 billion in 2009 to nearly $19 billion this year. When I lived there for a year, I thought it was superior to southern Ontario (more specifically, Windsor) in many ways. Get email updates from your favourite authors. The only headquarters this government is passionate about preserving are the ones named SNC and located in Montreal, apparently. How much are these payments Alberta is making? Rather than shame the province out of the folly of separatism, I fear this will have the opposite effect. 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. Sign up for our newsletter and get a curated list of the top The oil price crash that continues to weigh on the economy was no politicians fault. Noting this blockage, others have suggested more radical moves, such as appointing to cabinet an Albertan who is not in either parliamentary chamber or convincing an opposition MP from Alberta to cross the floor and join the Liberal caucus and cabinet. It is very much a story of unrequited love in different parts of the country, said Kurl. and about $18,000 less than in Quebec. trending stories every day. The attendees are mostly white; at least one has shown up wearing a Harley Davidson jacket patched with a Confederate flag, but there is as much Eddie Bauer in the room as leather. Like I said, I feel like it is deeper then the pipeline and the transfer payment so I wanted to know the point of views of Alberta. grows as you approach $75,000. Some Albertans look at per capita federal transfer payments equalization is just one and the massive amount of federal income tax flooding into Ottawa from Alberta, and believe theyre getting a raw deal. I can't stand Harper. 'God help any federal leader whos trying to campaign on a united message because this is not a country that is feeling united'. For merely bringing up the fact that separatist sentiment in Alberta is on the risea trend apparent years before he returned to Midnapore from Ottawahe has been lambasted as a politician attempting to stoke that sentiment for his own political gain. The West wants out.. I have a hard time believing that Albertans "hate" people from Quebec. I just had to comment because long gone are the days of the nice Newfoundlander, and there is a good reason for that. What's the deal with Alberta? 2023 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Jen Gerson: 'Wexit' reflects a cartoon version of the province that other Canadians find easy to attackbecause it spares them the burden of self-examination, By Jen Gerson The government of Canada notes that there is one circumstance in which it is proper to display the flag inverted: The transformation that took place while it was travelling across the Prairies was so complete that few now remember that the convoy was not some kind of white nationalist uprising. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Alberta separatism has never really been taken seriously by anyone, because every time it's just some half-baked attempt to 'own the Libs'. Equalization only accounts for about eight per cent of the discrepancy in money going to the federal government and money going back to Alberta, but it tends to draw most of the anger. Except during federal election campaigns and big crises, 'politics' in Quebec means 'provincial politics' almost exclusively. 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. The top one per cent ofearners paid 31.5 per cent of the total income tax collected in Alberta that year. Originally published on Policy Options November 1, 2019. His assessment of Trudeau as an "empty trust fund millionaire who has the political depth of a finger bowl" is, to put it mildly, one of the more caustic assessments of a political opponent. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. In fact, the equalization fund comes from general federal revenues and grows each year in line with the economy. 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. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. Email: sxthomson@postmedia.com | Twitter: stuartxthomson. Eventually, the questions wend their way to separation. But the bust was inevitable and predictable. Albertans hated his father. At least, not yet. (Of those, about 57,000 earned more than $250,000.). To this day the NEP retains mythic status in Alberta as the example of a central Canadian project inimical to Albertas economic interests. No province can unilaterally strip the equalization principle from the Constitution, and the referendum threatens to expose a discontent with Confederation that it cannot possibly relieve. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. It's Albertans in the middle who don't fare as well, as you can see from the interactive chart below. Open pit mining doesnt seem to be under threat. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. 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. 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. The first: Are they serious? The only difference is that we are cutting the parasite of Eastern Canada off from our necks, Downing continues. Jason Kenney, the premier of Alberta, does not get such an easy ride. The Edmontonian spent nearly 30 years driving trucks all over Ontario and Alberta before coming to terms with what he called his "shame." "Some people, like, come out of college, university, they . 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? There are various reasons why this approach either won't work or won't suffice this time around. The Three Percenters' private Facebook groups reveal the Alberta chapter has nearly 3,000 members, although the Vice report estimates only 150 to 200 are active. Oh yes. Saskatchewan, too, has raised issues around how Equalization is calculated, as has Ontario. The latter is perhaps worse, though there is recent precedent for it. : You cant make a choice between whats good for the environment and whats good for the economy.We cant shut down the oilsands tomorrow. Well, I'm glad you asked. 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. In the 1970's, Trudeau created the National Energy Plan. And, sure enough, Elections Canada forms are flying around the room. 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. Jason Kenney, the premier of Alberta, does not get such an easy ride. But, middle-income Albertans who account for the bulk of the population pay more than those in Ontario and B.C. It feels too futilelike trying to explain an emotion (and a not-always-rational one, as is the way with emotions)to people who dont want to hear it. I have no doubt that Wexit is siphoning some of the far-right populist fuel that keeps websites like Reddit and 8Chan blinking with discontent well into the early morning hours on weekdays. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. The protestors themselves, patch workers with little experience in political organization or communications, lacked the common sense or discipline to eject such people. The transformation that took place while it was travelling across the Prairies was so complete that few now remember that the convoy was not some kind of white nationalist uprising. The provinces suffering is proper and righteous. So if the PM 'forgets' to mention Alberta in his speech, can we 'forget' to send equalization payments? 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. Alberta is sometimes depicted as the author of its own misfortunesand the knock isnt entirely unfair. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Pierre Trudeau appointed multiple senators from the West to his cabinet. Click herefor a version that should work with your mobile device.). | CBC News Loaded, Fred Youngs doesn't claim to be a sage, but on one particular subject, he's the go-to guy among his neighbours in the "905.". The party that was founded as an explicitly separatist vehicle. Tensions have been high between Canadas westernmost provinces, with Alberta and BC being at odds over the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project for the better part of 2018. | Do you have something to say about the article you just read? It's the politicians that are the problem, B.C. The only headquarters this government is passionate about preserving are the ones named SNC and located in Montreal, apparently. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. Never mind that Goldy had showed up uninvited and offered her own rants from a cherry-picker located a block away from the main stage. Though the fact may seem hard to fathom to those in the East, a truly committed federalist has no better ally in Canada today than the premier of Alberta. Please attribute the author(s) and mention that the article was originally published by Policy Options magazine. #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/7xbZlMfyk5. Robson Fletcher's work for CBC Calgary focuses on data, analysis and investigative journalism. RELATED:Could Chrystia Freeland save Canada? Have an idea? They ask why it seems like the discussion always has to be a zero-sum game.