Why keep the gas tax if it hurts Albertans and fuels inflation?
On Monday, the Alberta legislature returned for the fall sitting and Premier Danielle Smith used her throne speech to lay out her agenda.
Sheila Gunn Reid was joined by Cory Morgan from the Western Standard to share his predictions for the coming legislative session in Alberta.
Cory said a lot of Smith's speech was “kind of predictable.” He also added that the thing surprised him was the “high speed train proposal,” which he doesn't remember anybody campaigning on.
Sheila responded:
Yeah, that was sort of a thing I didn't expect to see. I knew it was something that [former premier] Jason Kenny was sort of poking around, examining. I hadn't seen the business plan for that, but it seems like every five or six years someone's like, 'you know, we definitely need is a monorail from Edmonton to Calgary.'
I am excited for session today!
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) October 31, 2023
Bill 1 of this legislature is the ‘Alberta Taxpayer Protection Amendment Act’ which will protect families and businesses from future income tax increases they do not support. pic.twitter.com/Rg77InLNxR
Sheila suggested discussing “Bill One” and the temporary suspension of the gas tax until the year's end. Sheila questioned why the tax isn't eliminated entirely if it's causing inflation and financial strain on Albertans. “If we realize that it is driving up inflation and hurting Albertans in their pocketbooks, why wouldn't we just get rid of it altogether?”
“So, if revenue starts dropping, it doesn't look like they're bringing back an old tax or adding a new tax,” responded Cory. “If they got rid of it altogether, they can always just say, well, ‘the term or the suspension expired.’ So this way they'll just keep kicking that can down the road. At least they are suspending it for a time. But, I would be more comfortable if they did just get rid of it all together.”
Cory added that it's not a good tax — it's hurting businesses, it's hurting citizens and should be removed.
This is just an excerpt from last night's episode of The Gunn Show. To watch the whole episode and gain exclusive access to our full-length shows and more, become a subscriber to RebelNews+.
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