Why Alberta is Restless

[Dean2]

I found this written by;
Kelly Kopinsky
Vice President & General Manager
Landtran Express Inc. (Landtran is a Trucking Company Headquartered in Edmonton and they do have a VP per above.)

I did a little fact cross checking and the ones I verified matched up. Makes kind of an interesting read. In total it makes it clear why there are so many Alberta separatists starting to pop up. Don't agree with separating but we really do need to be getting a much more fair deal out of confederation. Hopefully Jason Kennedy and the United party can get that done because the NDP sure never will.

In 14 Years (2000-2014) Alberta sent $200 Billion to the Federal Government.
In 57 years (1957 to 2014) Alberta only got $92 million back. And the rest of Canada has the nerve to badmouth Alberta. Now what's wrong with that picture?

• As part of a four month investigation, the Financial Post has identified as many as 35 Canadian projects, worth $129 Billion, that have been stalled or cancelled because of opposition due to environmental, aboriginal and or community groups. If these projects went ahead they would create hundreds of thousands of manufacturing and construction jobs while being built and tens of thousands of full time operational jobs when the projects were commissioned.
• A recently released third quarter (2016) National Accounts Report shows that all sectors of the Canadian economy are now net borrowers.
Net borrowing for Corporations reached an annual rate of $19.7 Billion.
Households totalled $30.5 Billion and
The total of all governments 2016 annual deficits total $37.6 Billion.
• Total accumulated debt by the Federal Government currently stands at $634.4 Billion.
Total Federal and all Provincial Debt stands at $1,294.7 Trillion (Note that Municipal debt is not included in the $1.294 Trillion debt).
• Included in the above totals, accumulated debt in Ontario stands at $313.9 Billion.Quebec is $180.1 Billion. Ontario has the highest per capita debt of all provinces at $22,449.00. We used to believe that Quebec did not have their finances under control. Their per capita debt is less than Ontario's.
• Manitoba's total provincial debt is $22.6 Billion. This does not include the $17 Billion debt owed by Manitoba Hydro which is backed by the Manitoba Government. If Manitoba Hydro's debt was included in the provincial debt, Manitoban's would have the highest per capita debt.
• Net Federal debt is expected to increase $107 Billion in the next 4 years. Total Federal Government interest costs since 1990 equal $950 Billion.
The Federal debt increases at a rate of: $ 87 Million per day or $ 60,460.00 per minute or $ 1,008.00 per second.
• Business Investment in Canada has fallen for an eighth straight quarter. Even with the favourable Canadian exchange rate, exports are below their level of a year earlier. The manufacturing sector , particularly in Ontario is struggling with energy cost differentials, rising non-tariff barriers, uncertainty about the status of trade agreements and complex approval processes. Policy makers are just starting to realize that government stimulus spending is not working and more of the same won't help.
• Voters in our last federal election, who embraced the tax the rich message by the current federal government, should know that of the $126 Billion in federal tax collected, $26.2 Billion was collected from 1.4% of the high income earners. Even if the tax for this group doubles it will not pay for next year's federal deficit forecast at $27.8 Billion.
• Top marginal tax rates for Canadian provinces is as follows:
Nova Scotia - 54%,
Ontario - 53.5%,
Quebec and New Brunswick - 53.3 %,
P.E.I. - 51.37%,
Manitoba - 50.4%,
Newfoundland - 49.8%,
British Columbia - 47.7% ,
Alberta and Saskatchewan - 48% (note that in 2014 Alberta's was 39%).
Of course these rates do not include GST, PST, Carbon Taxes or Property Taxes.

• The Equalization Program started in Canada in 1957. The following are the Lifetime Payments to each province:
Quebec = $198 Billion (50.5%),
Manitoba = $46 Billion (11.7%),
Nova Scotia = $44 Billion (11.1%),
New Brunswick = $43 Billion (10.9%),
Newfoundland & Labrador = $25 Billion (6.4%),
Ontario = $17 Billion (4.2%),
P.E.I. = $ 9 Billion (2.4%),
Saskatchewan = $ 8 Billion (2.1%),
British Columbia = $ 3 Billion (0.6%),
Alberta = $ 92 *Million* (0.0%).* This is not a typing error!*

• Canadian Oil Sands Producers export $3.4 million barrels of oil per day to the USA. The USA is their only customer and the USA discounts this oil by $15.40 (US$) per barrel based on the differential between the West Texas Intermediate benchmark price and Western Canada Select price. The total annual discount is $18.6 Billion (US$) lost to the Canadian economy with the benefit going to the USA. This discount may go as high as $20.00 per barrel but would disappear if either the Energy East Pipeline or Northern Gateway pipeline were built and Canadian oil was transported to tidewater. No wonder Donald Trump wants to approve the Keystone pipeline on his first day in office. And Ontario and Quebec import their oil from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia and of course pay full price.
• Between the years 2000 to 2014 Alberta's individual and corporate taxpayers sent $200 Billion to the Federal Government on a ``net basis``. Net basis meaning: what money left that province, less what the Fed`s reinvested in that province. For several years the annual contribution was as much as $20 Billion. No other province, including Ontario with 3 times the population, even comes close to matching this province`s contribution. Remarkably few Canadians seem to be aware of this, even in the vaguest sense!
• Our Federal Government is in the process of conducting an Inquiry Into Murdered And Missing Indigenous Women. Saskatchewan's Premier Brad Wall recently noted that there have been 29 studies and reports on aboriginal issues since 1996, which have produced hundreds of recommendations. The 1996 Royal Commission On Aboriginal Peoples alone cost $50 Million and presented 444 recommendations, almost all of which were ignored by the Chretien Liberal Government. Maybe we should have an National Inquiry to look into why all these earlier inquiries and studies failed.
• Some RCMP facts : 6,420 missing persons in Canada – 1,455 are women – 164 are aboriginal. Between 1980 and 2012 there were 20,313 murders in Canada – 6,551 were women and of those 1,017 were aboriginal women. 88% of the aboriginal women murders have been solved – 89% of non-aboriginal women have been solved. 83% of aboriginal women were killed by a husband, family member or acquaintance and 71% of those murderers already had a record, 53% of those had been convicted of a violent crime before and 62% had a history of violence with the specific murder victim herself.
• 90% of all Canadian Public Sector workers have employer provided pension plans compared to 24% in the private sector. Moreover 94% of these public sector pensions are "defined benefit" meaning retirees get a set amount after they leave their jobs (typically 70 to 75% of their working salary) whether or not there is enough money in the pension fund. Any shortfall is made up by the taxpayers for years and years after these civil servants retire. Many of them collect pensions longer than they worked.
• It used to be that public servants made less money than their private sector counterparts. Not anymore. According to a recently released study by the Fraser Institute public servants now earn on average 11% more salary than their counterparts in the private sector. Compared to the private sector, civil servants enjoy longer vacations, take more non vacation days off ( 13 days vs 8) , retire on average 2.3 years earlier, enjoy superior pension benefits and more job security. According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business when all compensation is taken into account and divided by the hours worked , federal government workers made 40% more than their private sector counterparts , provincial government workers made 35% more and municipal government workers made nearly 30% more. There are 3.7 million public sector workers in Canada. The only way to get this under control is to privatize more services.
• Global Oil Consumption over the past few years is as follows:
2011 = 88.6 Million Barrels Per Day (MBD),
2012 = 89.8 MBD,
2013 = 90.7 MBD,
2014 = 92.6 MBD,
2015 = 94 MBD,
2016 = 95.4 MBD and
2017 = expected to be 97 Million Barrels Per Day.
As much as the Environmental Activists pontificate that the world is transitioning off fossil fuels this upward trend in oil consumption will continue for years to come. Despite the many governments (in Europe, Canada and the USA) spending hundreds of billions of dollars on green energy initiatives over the past 10 years, sufficient technology does not exist and is still not even close to providing the energy to meet the industrialized world's needs.

Kelly Kopinsky
Vice President & General Manager
Landtran Express Inc.

Is it time for Alberta to choose a different path ??

[Newview01]

What an awful thing to read on a Monday morning.

[trophybook]

I smell civil disorder a brewing.

[HighlandHeart]

Those numbers are painful to look at.

[Scott N]

Usually by now someone has scoffed and commented that "you have no idea of how equalization" works.

It would be nice if Alberta would start go get more money back than we put in, but I suspect that all province are either "have not" provinces, or close to meeting that definition.

[catnthehat]

All of this data has been reported on and is known, it is just that it is all rolled into one big list now.
Cat

[Deer Hunter]

Thanks for posting Dean

[Scottmisfits]

What I find disturbing is that Alberta's contributions and Quebec's "withdrawals" are almost on par. And yet Quebec, and a lot of Quebecer's have no clue about it.

[Coyotebutcher]

AB,BC, and sask would be the richest country in the world if we didn't carry the rest of this country on our backs.

[waterninja]

Just the threat of a western seperation might give Ottawa a wake up call. We have been taken advantange of for so long that it's just buisness as ussual. I have never understood why the west has not stood up for itself.
It would be very difficult to form our own country, but why couldn't we become a sattelite "state" of the USA? People living in the west would have a much higher quality of life. All that cash flowing east and 0% coming back. Something very wrong with that picture.

[TBD]

Originally Posted by waterninja

I have never understood why the west has not stood up for itself.

Canada Health Care.

if the west got uppity to separate, that is all Ottawa would need to say to fear monger the aging population into more of the same.

Don't hold your breath - AB is not going to separate ...

TBD

PS ... Ottawa knows they rule a flock of sheep out here, considering our aging demographic - we'll never have the votes.

[Don_Parsons]

One would think that a chunk of the National debt goes with the departing.

If so, would it be in the trillions.

Quebec wanted out only too find out they didn't have the funds.

Doo Noo as it would be hard too start a new country these days.

Don

[tundraltd]

Those are some scary numbers as a matter of fact down right depressing, and now we have to deal with Trump.

[rugatika]

Thanks Dean. This is a good post to refer to when someone says: "But...Norway."

Norway doesn't send billions of dollars to the rest of Canada.

I always shake my head when a spouse is continually beaten, but refuses to leave her husband.

[guywiththemule]

Originally Posted by rugatika

Thanks Dean. This is a good post to refer to when someone says: "But...Norway."

Norway doesn't send billions of dollars to the rest of Canada.

I always shake my head when a spouse is continually beaten, but refuses to leave her husband.

"Like". Nothing has changed seen "confederation" or BNA act. Alberta became the "red-headed step-child in 1905 and remains so to this day.

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by guywiththemule

"Like". Nothing has changed seen "confederation" or BNA act. Alberta became the "red-headed step-child in 1905 and remains so to this day.

What would happen if the majority of Alberta businesses told Ottawa we're not paying anymore? Started a tax revolt, enough is enough time to take care of our own. Don't see any pipelines being built east or west.

Something needs to be done to get attention. Talking negotiating etc isn't working. Hit Ottawa in their pocket book.

It's easier to post then organize. I'm sure electing a provincial party based on separation would garner some confidence concern.

Albertans are people who get things done. Quebec won't leave who wants them and they can't support themselves. We could be Norway!

BW

[Dean2]

I sent a copy of this to Jason Kennedy as well as a couple of Alberta MPs. It will be interesting to see if I get any kind of a response from them on this.

Probably wouldn't hurt to have a few more [people sent it along to their MP and MLA.

[super7mag]

Do have a link?

[Bigwoodsman]

I've printed this letter from KK off and have scanned and distributed to as many people and businesses that I can.

Sent to MP as well as MLA...for what it's worth.

BW

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by super7mag

Do have a link?

No link. Just copy and paste it from the post above. I got it in an email and that is what I did to post it here.

[Bigwoodsman]

Being it's election day, I thought I'd bump this up. The only things that have changed are the numbers. But still valid in my opinion.

BW

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by Bigwoodsman

Being it's election day, I thought I'd bump this up. The only things that have changed are the numbers. But still valid in my opinion.

BW

Numbers have certainly changed especially Trudeaus deficit. He has single handidly created more deficit in 8 years than all 22 prime ministers put together since confederation in the 148 years before he got elected 8 years ago.

[Drewski Canuck]

SO the first thing on the agenda has to be a Provincial Income Tax Levy on income earned by Non Residents working in Alberta.

I have said this MANY MANY TIMES, and in writing to MANY MANY Provincial Politicians over the years.

Since of all Canada hates Alberta, but loves to make piles of dough in Alberta to take home to other Provinces, and pay Provincial Income Tax in other Provinces, is there anyone who would disagree with Alberta getting its fair share of the wealth we are creating for out of province workers?

Drewski

[KGB]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

SO the first thing on the agenda has to be a Provincial Income Tax Levy on income earned by Non Residents working in Alberta.

I have said this MANY MANY TIMES, and in writing to MANY MANY Provincial Politicians over the years.

Since of all Canada hates Alberta, but loves to make piles of dough in Alberta to take home to other Provinces, and pay Provincial Income Tax in other Provinces, is there anyone who would disagree with Alberta getting its fair share of the wealth we are creating for out of province workers?

Drewski

I think it’s a great idea!
Also, if someone wants to move to Alberta, they have to show their true conservative values. We have enough free loaders already!

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by KGB

I think it’s a great idea!
Also, if someone wants to move to Alberta, they have to show their true conservative values. We have enough free loaders already!

And get a tattoo inside their bottom lip...just to have quick proof of thier values.

[Scott h]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

SO the first thing on the agenda has to be a Provincial Income Tax Levy on income earned by Non Residents working in Alberta.

I have said this MANY MANY TIMES, and in writing to MANY MANY Provincial Politicians over the years.

Since of all Canada hates Alberta, but loves to make piles of dough in Alberta to take home to other Provinces, and pay Provincial Income Tax in other Provinces, is there anyone who would disagree with Alberta getting its fair share of the wealth we are creating for out of province workers?

Drewski

It's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how it would be implemented. There are many 10's of thousands of Albertans that have moved to BC and yet continue to work in Alberta, yet pay income taxes in BC. Just pop into the Kelowna airport to get a gauge of the number. Those taxes pay for the services they use regularly, like health care. How would those be funded without those taxes?

[7magtime]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

SO the first thing on the agenda has to be a Provincial Income Tax Levy on income earned by Non Residents working in Alberta.

I have said this MANY MANY TIMES, and in writing to MANY MANY Provincial Politicians over the years.

Since of all Canada hates Alberta, but loves to make piles of dough in Alberta to take home to other Provinces, and pay Provincial Income Tax in other Provinces, is there anyone who would disagree with Alberta getting its fair share of the wealth we are creating for out of province workers?

Drewski

I'd be 100% on board with this.
I've heard many out of province workers bad mouth Alberta while they make 2-3 times more here than what they'd make back home in a year....?

[Scott h]

Originally Posted by KGB

I think it’s a great idea!
Also, if someone wants to move to Alberta, they have to show their true conservative values. We have enough free loaders already!

Maybe background checks as well to make sure they didn't have any communist skeletons in their closets. You can never be too careful.

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

SO the first thing on the agenda has to be a Provincial Income Tax Levy on income earned by Non Residents working in Alberta.

I have said this MANY MANY TIMES, and in writing to MANY MANY Provincial Politicians over the years.

Since of all Canada hates Alberta, but loves to make piles of dough in Alberta to take home to other Provinces, and pay Provincial Income Tax in other Provinces, is there anyone who would disagree with Alberta getting its fair share of the wealth we are creating for out of province workers?

Drewski

I've been tooting this horn, for 25 plus years. Wrote many letters over the years as well, never got a response. Almost seems like they don't care that the money leaves the province.

BW

[KGB]

Originally Posted by Scott h

Maybe background checks as well to make sure they didn't have any communist skeletons in their closets. You can never be too careful.

Oh a letter of recommendation?
After all, when people are trying to immigrate to Canada, they do have to score some points. And some are deemed “inadmissible”.