This week in the Legislature, our UCP team focused on a core responsibility of any government: Defending Alberta.
As you may already know, the terms of the federal government’s equalization program are up for renegotiation in 2019. Originally designed to provide less-developed provinces with temporary economic and fiscal aid, today’s equalization has mutated beyond recognition.
There is no question that Albertans have been the biggest equalization losers over the history of the program, paying more than $200 billion and receiving virtually nothing. This is partially due to the fact that today’s equalization formula includes Alberta’s royalties from natural resources, but not other provinces’ revenue from sources like hydroelectricity. Even now, as our province suffers the effects of the worst recession since the 1980s, we continue to pay while provinces with growing economies benefit from equalization.
It’s not fair. It’s not even close to fair, and it’s time we do something about it.
This week I put the issue front and centre with a motion in the Legislature calling on the government to prepare for the 2018-2019 equalization re-negotiations. Basically, I just asked the government to do its job. Unfortunately, the NDP opted to block my motion, and it’s not the first time the Notley administration has refused to stand up for Alberta. Just one week earlier, the NDP blocked a similar motion to defend Alberta’s energy sector from jurisdictional overreach through the National Energy Board.
Our official opposition believes that defending our province, our resources, and our way of life is not optional. Representing Albertans isn’t just part of the job; it is the entire job. If
Premier Notley won’t speak up for Alberta, we will.
Jason Nixon
MLA, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre