EDMONTON – The Alberta NDP is launching an online petition to urge Premier Jim Prentice to reverse his decision to not hike corporate taxes.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley says it’s unfair for Prentice to freeze corporate taxes and oil royalties while signalling there will be hikes in personal income taxes and user fees.
“This PC government squandered our substantial resource revenue during the good years and now they’re telling regular Albertans that they have to pay for the PCs’ mistakes while huge corporations get to keep their tax breaks. It’s just not right,” said Notley.
Prentice has said hiking Alberta’s 10 per cent corporate tax would harm the economy at a time it is already reeling from billions of dollars in lost revenue due to low oil.
READ MORE: Alberta premier nixes corporate tax hikes to fill budget hole left by low oil
Notley says hiking the tax by even one percentage point would deliver $500 million in revenue. She says given that Alberta doesn’t have a sales tax, there is wiggle room available to hike corporate taxes without hurting Alberta’s competitiveness.
Notley says Prentice is driven by conservative ideology that will see the rich benefit while the poor and the middle class carry the load.
READ MORE: Alberta NDP announces tour to hear from residents on next budget and low oil
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