Creating a New Vision for Alberta -- CTF's Pre-budget submission

EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is renewing its call for the Alberta government to eliminate the health care premium tax and the 3% tax on insurance in the 2006-07 provincial budget.

"Eliminating the regressive health care premium tax and the 3% tax on insurance would not only remove two unnecessary and poor forms of taxation, it would also put $1.088 billion back in the pockets of taxpayers," said CTF-Alberta director Scott Hennig.

Scott met with Finance Minster Shirley McLellan yesterday afternoon to present the CTF's 2006-07 Alberta pre-budget submission entitled "Creating a new vision for Alberta."

Other recommendations included:

• Restricting all in-year unbudgeted spending, and hold program spending to no more than $26.3 billion for 2006-07;
• Roll back the Fiscal Responsibility Act to 2003 levels and only budget to spend the first $3.5 billion of resource revenues;
• Increase the size of the Sustainability Fund from $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion and index it to inflation starting in 2007-08;
• Link public sector workers (nurses, teachers, doctors, MLAs, government employees) wage increases to what the private sector gets;
• Quit stalling on health care reform, and remove any legislative barriers necessary to allow private competition and address the findings in the Chaouilli decision;
• Stop spending all of our resource revenues and start banking them, so that Albertans can begin to see sustainable long-term tax relief rather than one-time payments;
• Reduce corporate income taxes to 8% as promised;
• Amend the Alberta Taxpayer Protection Act so that any new tax or increase in taxes must first be approved by Albertans in a referendum;
• Require transparency in the reporting of any reduction of provincial education property taxes.

In total the CTF made twelve recommendations for the 2006-07 provincial budget. Click here to read "Creating a new vision for Alberta."