Alberta Minute: Tax Cuts, Public Consultations, and more Fair Deal Meetings

Posted by on January 06, 2020

Alberta Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Alberta politics.

Alberta Legislature by IQRemix on Flickr

This Week In Alberta:

Welcome to the first Alberta Minute of 2020! We hope you all had a great holiday season and a Happy New Year. If you fell a little behind on provincial news over the holidays, don't worry, we kept watching the government over the break and you can catch up via our Alberta Minute archive here.
The Fair Deal Panel is holding two meetings this week - one in Fort McMurray on Wednesday, and one in Fort Saskatchewan on Thursday. To register to attend the event, you can visit the Panel's website here. To get involved in Project Confederation's campaign for a better deal, you can visit their website here.
Alberta's Health Minister is planning major changes in Alberta's health system in 2020, including action on a commitment to reduce wait times. We are expecting a report sometime this week that will provide more details on how these wait time reductions will be achieved, and the kind of health system changes to expect.

Last Week In Alberta:

As of January 1st, Alberta's corporate tax rate dropped by another 1% - back to the 10% it was before it was raised by the NDP. There are two more 1% reductions planned in 2021 and 2022. Alberta's combined federal-provincial corporate tax rate will be lower than that of 44 U.S. states when it reaches 8% in 2022. Now if only municipal governments (particularly Calgary and Edmonton!) would start rowing in the same direction.
An expert advisory committee to address automobile insurance was announced during the break to "provide recommendations to government about how to stabilize and reduce the cost of auto insurance". While no details have been released yet, it's likely we will find out more about how the public can be involved in this process soon. So, start preparing your thoughts and feedback.
The government seems to have forgotten how badly prohibition failed, and have decided to put the brakes on the sale of cannabis vaping products after some (unproven) health concerns. We're not necessarily suggesting people go out and start vaping, but a safe legal system is vastly preferable to the black-market alternatives that are already widely available.