(May 18, 2023) — Today, the UCP released the full costing of their campaign platform – a plan focused on what matters most to Albertans: a strong economy, affordability, safer streets, and improved health care. With balanced budgets and a projected surplus of $3.48 billion over a four-year term, the UCP will deliver on these priorities for Albertans.
CLICK HERE FOR A FULL COSTING BREAKDOWN
“The UCP have a responsible plan for Alberta, and that starts by lowering taxes for all Albertans, supporting our economy through our Job Growth and Diversification Strategy, and making our communities safer with our Safe Streets Action Plan,” said UCP Leader Danielle Smith. “Unlike the NDP, our fully costed platform won’t shut the door on job creators or investors. The UCP platform will continue to grow and diversify our economy while keeping taxes low for families and entrepreneurs.”
When the UCP was elected in 2019, their first action was to lower taxes for Albertans by axing Rachel Notley’s carbon tax. The UCP then cut taxes for Alberta job creators from 12 per cent to eight per cent. That lower tax rate is expected to generate a record $6.4 billion this year, proving that hiking taxes isn’t the answer. The UCP’s pro-growth, pro-business policies have allowed for substantial repayment of the NDP’s debt as well as deposits into the Heritage Savings Trust Fund and two consecutive balanced budgets.
CLICK HERE FOR A BACKGROUND AND Q&A CONFIRMED BY ECONOMISTS
The UCP’s platform and costing stand in direct contrast to the NDP’s misleading promises. Central to the NDP plan is a 37.5 per cent tax increase on Alberta’s biggest job creators. The effects of this tax would be devastating to Albertans. When asked about the impact of the NDP’s record tax hike, their own economist admitted that he had not done any analysis into the ramifications for people’s jobs or investment in Alberta. That means the NDP’s inflated and inaccurate revenue projections don’t take into account the economic consequences of their proposed policies – meaning their platform costing could likely off by billions of dollars.
Unfortunately for the NDP, this is nothing new. During the 2015 campaign, they admitted to a multibillion-dollar error within a day of tabling their costed platform. Then, despite promising a balanced budget in 2018, Rachel Notley instead delivered more debt to Albertans.
“The only things that the NDP can deliver on are unbalanced budgets, broken promises, high taxes, reckless spending, and fiscal mismanagement,” continued Smith. “Albertans have been down this road before and all they got out of it was lost investment, lost revenues, lost jobs, and lost hopes and dreams. We cannot afford to go down this path again.”
“The three-point corporate income tax hike proposed by the NDP would have a significant negative impact on employment and investment in Alberta,” said economist Jack Mintz, President’s Fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy. “At a minimum, the impact of their proposed income tax rate is estimated to result in an investment loss of $1.1 billion to Alberta—and an employment loss of 33,700 jobs. However, if we combine the impact of the rate increases and scaling back capital cost allowances, it results in a total estimated annual loss of $3.2 billion in investment and 93,200 potential or existing jobs.”
The UCP have a plan to move Alberta forward with a fully costed plan that has been confirmed to be accurate by well-respected economists. It includes a $1 billion tax cut for Albertans, continued low taxes on Alberta families and job creators, and a healthy $1.5 billion contingency fund for one-time emergencies like wildfires. It also maintains the UCP’s track record of balanced budgets.
Furthermore, since the UCP plan does not include tax increases on people creating jobs, Albertans can look forward to more jobs across diverse sectors. That means regular paycheques to help families support and pursue the opportunities before them.
The NDP has proven they are willing to raise taxes and Albertans can’t trust that they don’t have additional tax hikes up their sleeves. The last time they were elected, Rachel Notley blindsided Albertans by implementing a carbon tax that she never campaigned on. Aside from the NDP’s proposed tax increase on businesses, it remains the largest single tax hike in Alberta’s history. Alberta families cannot afford to take another risk on the NDP with their history of hidden tax hikes.
“At a time when billions of dollars in investment have started flowing into the province and good-paying jobs are being created across diverse sectors of our economy, Rachel Notley and the NDP want to risk it all by hiking taxes by 38 per cent on Alberta job creators,” concluded Smith. “We’ve experienced the failed anti-business policies of the NDP before and it will lead to the same result if they’re given a second chance. Fortunately, Albertans can shut the door on the NDP’s ill-informed and risky economics for the second time on May 29.”
The choice in front of voters is clear: go back to the same failed and devastating policies of the NDP—who will hike taxes by $2 billion and kill jobs—or move forward with the UCP who will put more money in Albertans’ pockets, keep taxes on Alberta job creators low so they can build on their success, grow the Alberta economy, and create more jobs.
