Alberta needs to adopt HST and provincial carbon tax, says new report | CBC News
A new report from the Business Council of Alberta says the province should institute a harmonized sales tax (HST) and reinstate the provincial carbon tax.
According to the report by the council, Alberta overspends and undertaxes, which has resulted in a $40-billion debt.
Over the years, the province has been able to get away with it due to resource royalties from oil and gas companies; however, the council says this reliance has now caused a problem.
“Provincial governments dependent on resource revenues tend to increase spending in response to high commodity prices but resist curtailing spending when prices decline,” says the report.
Mike Holden, chief economist with the Business Council of Alberta, says that on average, the province collects…
