The Government of Alberta Budget: Personal
income taxes to rise sharply, province moves toward a ”PROGRESSIVE” system.
And, there are many changes coming to B.C. on
April 1. While the changes may coincide with April Fools’ Day, they are not a
joke-not
at all.
The government politicians, CROWN CORPORATION CEOs and
most other Civil Servant Officials of Alberta and British Columbia deserve to
be given A Multi Gun Salute- In front Of a Firing Squad.
Alberta’s flat tax on income — touted for years
by Progressive Conservatives as a key component of the “Alberta Advantage” —
was unceremoniously dumped by Jim Prentice’s Tory government on Thursday.
Some veterans of former premier Ralph Klein’s
government cried foul, but Finance Minister Robin Campbell said the government
had to find new sources of revenues in Thursday’s provincial budget to protect
front-line services and end Alberta’s dependence on volatile energy royalties.
“Albertans want higher taxes at higher income
levels,” he told reporters at the legislature. “We are asking those who can
afford it to pay a little bit more.”[As I see it that would be the international
corporations that now are allowed to exploit resources owned by
the citizen/taxpayers of Canada. All Canadian Governments are financed by the citizens
of Canada. While politicians and political appointees dearly love to claim the government’s
OWN Canada; in actual fact governments are financed and paid for by the
citizens of Canada—the taxpayers-any way you care to look at it in Canada—own the
governments. It is NOT and must never be allowed to be-the other way around.]
While the basic income tax rate of 10 per cent
is unchanged for many Albertans, the government moved Thursday to introduce a
new “health-care contribution levy” that will be applied to income tax on a
progressive basis on individuals with annual incomes over $50,000, starting
July 1, 2015. As well, individuals making more than $100,000 annually will see
their tax rate increase by 0.5 percentage points in each of the next three
years, leading to an 11.5 per cent tax rate by 2018. [The Ctiizens/taaxpayers of Metro Vancouver are being asked to AGREE to that much of a taxhike, just to finance Translink and some of the "mayors council's" pet INCOME PRODUCING therefore EXPLOITABLEprojects.]
Those who earn over $250,000 annually will be
subject to an additional 0.5 percentage point tax rate for three years —
topping out at 12 per cent in 2018 — in what the government is calling a
“temporary tax.”
Beyond the income tax measures, the government is
introducing a series of user fee hikes and increases to liquor, tobacco and
fuel taxes, but Campbell said Alberta remains the lowest-taxed jurisdiction in
Canada.
And he said the government is Protecting Low-Income Albertans
by Exempting Them from the Health Levy and Income Tax Hike, And By Enhancing
The Family Employment Tax Credit And Creating A New Working Family Supplement.
[Of course, he failed to mention that “working families“ by definition leave
the entire belief/value system, caring for, education of, raising of, teaching
of all children—the very existence of ANY FAMILY up to the discression of
government and the politicians therein involved.]
The new health-care levy —
which tops out at a maximum of $1,000 for those earning over $130,000 annually
— is expected to bring in $396 million this year and $530 million when fully
implemented in 2016.The tax hikes on high earners are projected to take in $330
million in 2016, rising to $730 million by 2018-19.
Prentice’s rejection of the flat tax turns the corner
on one of the signature moves of former Tory premier Ralph Klein and provides
political ammunition to his opponents as he prepares to call an early election.
While the NDP and Liberals
have long called for the government to scrap the flat tax, NDP Leader Rachel
Notley and interim Liberal Leader David Swann both said Thursday Prentice did
not go far enough in the income tax changes. They believe he should have also raised
corporate tax rates, which were left untouched. “Jim Prentice is
asking Albertans to pay much more for considerably less, and he’s putting that
burden specifically on middle-income families, and he’s doing that so he can
protect his backroom, boardroom buddies,”
In the Province of British Columbia,
the biggest changes will focus on the liquor laws. Starting Wednesday, grocery
stores can legally start selling alcohol in special sections of the stores. One
of the first stores in B.C. to do this will be the Save-On-Foods in Surrey, at
3033 152 Street. The way alcohol is priced in B.C. liquor stores will be
different as well. Price tags will now show the cost of the product before
taxes, which will be added on at checkout. It is still unclear how much
consumers will be paying for alcohol starting Wednesday. Government liquor
stores have stated their prices will remain almost the same, however, private
liquor stores have always had the ability to set their own retail prices.
Consumers will be able to see on their receipts whether there is a change, if
any, on Wednesday. All government stores will now also have the option to sell
cold beer and wine.
A government computer system nominated for the
annual Premier’s Award of Innovation and Excellence is incomplete and doesn’t
meet expectations of improving service delivery for vulnerable children and
families, says B.C.’s auditor general. Carol Bellringer said the province spent
seven years and $182 million trying to modernize aging computer systems but
failed to replace two thirds of the old system. In an audit released Tuesday,
Bellringer concluded the province’s Integrated Case Management system w system
did not adequately protect sensitive personal information.
“The
ICM project did not fully replace legacy systems as initially planned,”
Bellringer said in a report. “At project completion, about one third of the
legacy systems had been replaced. This means that a number of
systems characterized as antiquated and expensive to maintain must continue to
run.”
The report makes eight recommendations,
including regularly monitoring the system for inappropriate access and activity
and preparing full accounting of its capital and operating costs.
At a news conference, Bellringer did not
directly counter last November’s government statement that the ICM project was
completed on time and on budget, but said, “while it was, if you will, on time
and on budget, that was with a reduced scope.”
She said she only recently became aware the
project was nominated for an award of excellence within B.C.’s civil service.
“I found it interesting,” Bellringer said.
The ICM project dates back to 2008 and was meant
to replace outdated computer systems used to deliver social programs including
child protection, child-care subsidies and income assistance. Last May, the
system crashed regularly and frustrated staff but the government said it was
still able to meet the needs of social services clients.
BC Ferries: Fees will increase on BC Ferries for
vehicles and passengers starting April 1. Fares will go up 2.9 per cent on most
routes. The fee increase was 3.9 per cent, but BC Ferries also announced a fuel
rebate of one per cent. On the northern routes, between Port Hardy and Prince
Rupert and Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii, fares will go up two per cent.
On March 18, the commissioner of BC Ferries
proposed fare increases capped at 1.9 per cent per year over four years — from
April 2016 to March 2020.
BC Hydro: Rates will increase six per cent,
starting April 1. This comes after a nine per cent increase on April 1, 2014.
Vancouver remains the most traffic-congested
city in Canada: Once again, Vancouver
has been ranked the most traffic-congested city in Canada.
According to a study from TomTom, which released
its fifth global Traffic Index on Tuesday, Vancouver commuters lose, on
average, 84 hours a year being delayed in traffic. The average time lost to
traffic across the country is almost 79 hours. Vancouver ranks 20th among
cities around the world. Istanbul in Turkey is the most congested city in the
world at 58 per cent.
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