The Alberta teachers’ union is demanding an extra $2 billion from taxpayers.

This is in addition to the $2.6 billion the government has earmarked for resolving the teachers strike.

The union’s demand for $4.6 billion would mean one of two things:

More debt or higher taxes.

Which option does the Alberta Teachers Association want?

The ATA is on the record wanting a provincial sales tax in Alberta.

Its website has several articles praising the idea of charging Albertans a provincial sales tax on things like used cars, pet food, shoes, shampoo and building supplies.

“Why not look at revenue?” the ATA article from 2024 reads. “There is so much room to move on taxation policy. The budget documents show that Alberta would collect $19 billion in additional revenue … if it followed B.C.’s tax scheme.”

Following British Columbia’s “tax scheme” means a seven per cent PST on nearly everything.

The B.C. government charges PST on everything from thrift shop clothing to 2010 Toyota Corollas. That provincial sales tax costs people in that province billions of dollars a year.

But the ATA wants Albertans to pay their own PST.

Earlier articles make the ATA’s position more plain.

“Alberta needs a sales tax,” reads a 2018 headline posted on the ATA website.

The ATA website showcases an “Alberta Alternative Budget” including a 2018 infographic reading: “A five per cent sales tax would generate an additional $5 billion per year in provincial revenue.”

The orange graphic shows spending PST money on things like “more teachers.”

The ATA has been banging this Alberta PST drum for a long time.

A 2018 article written by the executive secretary of the teachers’ union noted the ATA had teamed up with the Alberta Federation of Labour to create a group called Public Interest Alberta, or PIA.

“PIA recently launched Revenue Reno, a campaign calling on the provincial government to fix Alberta’s revenue shortage (spoiler alert: we need a sales tax coupled with a progressive income tax),” reads the article. 

Here’s a problem with the PST plan: the ATA would have to convince Albertans to vote for it.

Alberta has the Taxpayer Protection Act, a law that shields taxpayers from the creation of a PST.

If a government wanted a PST in Alberta, it would need to convince taxpayers to vote for it in a referendum.

Saving billions of dollars every year by not having a PST is part of the Alberta Advantage.

Even former NDP premier Rachel Notley knew an Alberta PST was a non-starter.

The offer from the Alberta government was generous and the Taxpayers Federation would have told Smith it was too costly.

The government offered teachers a 12 per cent raise over four years, while hiring 3,000 more teachers plus 1,500 more educational assistants. Some teachers would get a 17 per cent pay raise.

The government says these pay raises would have made Alberta teachers the highest paid in Western Canada.

New teachers would have started at about $71,000 per year while teachers with seven years experience would be making more than $100,000.

The province has also committed to spend $8.6 billion building more than 100 schools.

But the teachers’ union rejected the offer.

It also rejected the province’s offer of enhanced mediation that would have put teachers back at work while negotiations continued.

The government has already increased funding for education by 33 per cent since 2021-22.

Even with inflation and student population factored in, the provincial government is still spending more on education since Smith took over as premier.

Is it reasonable for teachers to demand $4.6 billion from taxpayers which would trigger higher taxes or deeper debt?

Do Albertans want to start paying a PST to meet demands from the teachers’ union?

The answer from taxpayers is: NO.

Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation