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What else is coming down the Pipe?

Area MLA muses about the federal government’s future plans on a number of issues
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Wes Taylor MLA

Battle River-Wainwright

Many constituents quiz me over the legality and fairness of Equalization payments.

Equalization payments were formalized in 1957. The purpose of the payments is to equalize the “fiscal capacity” of the provinces, i.e. their ability to generate tax revenues.

Federal levied tax revenues are the source of Equalization money. The redistribution of the money is based on the disparity between provincial tax revenues and the ‘average’ national tax revenue. This establishes what are commonly referred to as the “have” and have not” provinces.

As the money redistributed is from Federally collected taxation there is no unilateral method by which these “collections” can be stopped.

The sole method of stopping the collections is to renegotiate the existing arrangement.

As mentioned, provinces voluntarily entered into the agreement in 1957. The Canada Act, 1982 later enshrined the agreement in the constitution.

By agreeing to consider provincial resources as a national resource, and to share voluntarily the benefits, the “have” provinces displayed the very best of Canadian values.

Given the recent attitudes displayed by both the Federal government and the B.C. government regarding the Trans Mountain Pipeline, it would appear that legality, fairness and Canadian values are now open to divergent and capricious interpretation.

Suddenly those enamored of receiving and sharing fossil fuel revenue, and an overarching principle of a one-nation approach to wealth, are characterizing things in terms of “them and us”.

It like something out of Orwell’s Animal Farm; “Fossil fuel and pipelines bad, Fossil fuel revenue good”.

The Federal Liberals are showing their true colours by taking sides. For example, they threatened Saskatchewan with a $65 million ‘fine’ for not putting in a Carbon Tax. Simultaneously they rewarded B.C. by giving them $4.1 billion for infrastructure, despite B.C.’s flagrantly contumacious behaviour.

A complication here is that B.C. is a “have” province. They base their objection on an environmental argument. However the pipeline has received Federal approval and therefore it is improper for B.C. to continue to oppose the project when, as is said of Equalization payments, it is in the national interest.

The Alberta NDPs (late) reaction to events been quite something to behold.

Having scolded Albertans as “embarrassing cousins”, labelled Albertan oil as dirty, accelerated the closure of coal-fired power stations and, to underscore their attitude, imposing a punitive Carbon Tax they now want to appear as the champions of the pipeline and indeed the energy industry in general!

This tactic is not going to work. Their inaction having emboldened both the Federal Liberals in their initial, and B.C. NDP in their continued, opposition, the notion that the NDP will now stand up for Alberta is thoroughly implausible.

My concern is that this NDP government, desperate to hang on to power at all costs, will carry out divisive distraction activities or, worse, pursue foolish measures. For example, their latest ploy is to use your taxpayer dollars money to buy into the Trans Mountain project. Finance was never the issue; over regulation and illegal environmental protest is.

The UCP Caucus intends to treat all these cynical political maneuvers with a great deal of care. We will engage firmly and sensibly with the NDP on all subjects because that is our duty to protect Albertans.

However, we will not fall into traps set by the NDP designed to demonize the party and its supporters.

We will keep the focus precisely where it should be, squarely on repairing the damage this NDP government has done to our economy, creating jobs, and renewing the Alberta Advantage.

We will keep the focus precisely where it should be. That is preventing further NDP damage to our economy and recommending action that will create jobs. We need to renew the Alberta Advantage.

Based on the fluidity of this topic I expect this will not be my last comment.