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A Taxpayers' Platform

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A Taxpayers’ Platform Responses from PC Leadership Candidates to 16 Questions from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation November 14, 2006 Scott Hennig Alberta director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation #202-10621-100 Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta T5J OB3 PH: (780) 448-0159.e-mail: [email protected]: www.taxpayer.com ABOUT THE CANADIAN TAXPAYERS FEDERATION The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is a federally incorporated, non-profit and non-partisan, advocacy organization dedicated to lower taxes, less waste and accountable government. The CTF was founded in Saskatchewan in 1990 when the Association of Saskatchewan Taxpayers and the Resolution One Association of Alberta joined forces to create a national taxpayers organization. Today, the CTF has over 68,000 supporters nationwide. The CTF maintains a federal office in Ottawa and offices in the five provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. Provincial offices conduct research and advocacy activities specific to their provinces in addition to acting as regional organizers of Canada-wide initiatives. CTF offices field hundreds of media interviews each month, hold press conferences and issue regular news releases, commentaries and publications to advocate the common interest of taxpayers. The CTF’s flagship publication, The Taxpayer magazine, is published six times a year. An issues and action update called TaxAction is produced each month. CTF offices also send out weekly Let’s Talk Taxes commentaries to more than 800 media outlets and personalities nationally. CTF representatives speak at functions, make presentations to government, meet with politicians, and organize petition drives, events and campaigns to mobilize citizens to effect public policy change. All CTF staff and board directors are prohibited from holding a membership in any political party. The CTF is independent of any institutional affiliations. Contributions to the CTF are not tax deductible. The CTF’s Alberta office is located at: #202, 10621 – 100 Ave Financial Building Edmonton, AB T5J 0B3 Telephone: 780-448-0159 Facsimile: 780-482-1744 E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.taxpayer.com 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary of Questions for the Candidates 4 Introduction 6 Overall Report Card 7 Grade Summary by Category and Question 9 Candidate Responses 10 Revenue (Taxes) 10 Question 1 10 Question 2 14 Question 3 17 Question 4 21 Question 5 25 Question 6 28 Expenditures (Spending) 32 Question 7 32 Question 8 38 Question 9 42 Question 10 46 Democratic/Transparency Reforms 50 Question 11 50 Question 12 53 Question 13 57 Question 14 61 Quesiton 15 64 Health Care Reform 67 Question 16 67 3 SUMMARY OF QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES Revenue (Taxes) 1. Will you commit to eliminate the health care premium tax? 2. Will you commit to eliminate the hidden sales tax on insurance premiums? 3. Will you commit to reduce or eliminate the education property tax? 4. Will you commit to enact legislation implementing a municipal property tax cap to ensure municipal property taxes don’t increase by more than the rate of inflation without a referendum? 5. Will you commit to an 8 per cent general business tax rate as promised in the 2001 provincial budget? 6. Will you commit to amend the Taxpayer Protection Act such that any new provincial tax or an increase to an existing tax could only be approved through a successful provincial referendum? Expenditures (Spending) 7. Will you commit to introduce legislation capping annual provincial spending increases at a rate of the combined growth in the inflation and population rate? 8. Will you commit to introduce legislation that restricts the government from increasing spending during the fiscal year (other than declared emergencies)? 9. Will you commit to roll back the Fiscal Responsibility Act such that only the first $3.5-billion of non-renewable resource revenues could be used for budgeting and program spending? 10. Will you commit to legislating a minimum of 50 per cent of resource revenues be saved each year? Democratic/Transparency Reform 11. Will you commit to introduce fixed election dates for Alberta’s general elections? 12. Will you commit to introduce legislation giving citizens the right to recall their MLA? 4 13. Will you commit to introduce citizens’ initiative legislation giving citizens the right to initiate and vote in a referendum on issues of importance? 14. Will you commit to disclose a complete list and dollar amount of all campaign contributions you have received during this PC leadership campaign prior to the first ballot vote? 15. Will you commit to introduce legislation requiring pre-election campaign contribution disclosure for all future elections (general provincial, municipal and party leadership elections) in Alberta? Heath care Reform 16. Will you commit to give Albertans the ability to purchase private health insurance to cover costs incurred by those who pay for timely access to medically necessary procedures? 5 INTRODUCTION On October 24, 2006, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation sent each PC leadership candidate a document entitled: A Taxpayers’ Platform: Advice and Questions for Alberta’s PC Leadership Candidates. The document contained 16 questions in for major areas of concern: Taxes, Spending, Democratic reform/Transparency and Health care reform. Each candidate was provided with an opportunity to answer the 16 questions in their own words. All of the eight candidates responded and this sequel document contains their positions, as well as the position of the CTF. The purpose of the Taxpayers’ Platform is three fold: to raise issues with leadership candidates and the public that may have been staying under the radar (or out of their platforms), to inform our supporters – and others who may be interested in these very important issues – on where leadership candidates stand, and to collect commitments from our future premier and cabinet ministers to take action on these issues. The CTF is a non-partisan advocacy organization. It never has and never will endorse a candidate, but in order for readers to quickly digest the candidate responses, each response has been assigned a grade. Each response’s grade was determined by taking the average score assigned to that response by a panel of Canadian Taxpayer Federation provincial directors from across Canada. Grades are averaged for each of the four categories, to provide a quick guide as to where candidates’ strengths and weaknesses lie, as well as averaged for the entire questionnaire. The grades range from A+ to F. The grades were then converted into the 4.0 scale (using the University of Alberta grade system) for averaging. A+ is given for a full commitment F is given for a full rejection of the commitment Grades ranging in-between are given for partial commitments, openness for re- consideration, for expressing support for the fundamental goal or discussion of alternative or tangential ideas worthy of merit. 6 OVERALL REPORT CARD Candidate: Overall Grade: JIM DINNING VICTOR DOERKSEN GARY MCPHERSON DAVE HANCOCK 7 TED MORTON MARK NORRIS LYLE OBERG ED STELMACH 8 GRADE SUMMARY BY CATEGORY AND QUESTION Jim Victor Dave Gary Ted Mark Lyle Ed Dinning Doerksen Hancock McPherson Morton Norris Oberg Stelmach Taxes Question #1 D+ A+ C A+ A+ C+ A+ C- Question #2 F D D C- A+ F A+ C- Question #3 D C C C C C+ D D Question #4 F F D+ C D+ C- F F Question #5 B+ F C+ C- A+ B+ A+ D Question #6 D F D+ C- F F B- F Taxes Avg D D+ C- C+ B- C- B- D Spending Question #7 F B F B+ A+ F B- D Question #8 B+ C- C B- A+ B+ F D Question #9 C+ B- B- C A- A- F D+ Question #10 B C+ A+ C+ B B- B- D Spending Avg C+ C+ C+ B- A- C+ D+ D+ Dem. reform/transp. Question #11 C C B+ A+ A+ A+ D+ C Question #12 F C D+ A+ F D+ A+ C Question #13 F C+ A A+ A+ C+ A+ F Question #14 C C C A F A+ C C Question #15 F C C- B A+ A- C C- Dem. reform/transp. Avg D C C+ A C+ B B- C- Heath care reform Question #16 D C- D C A+ B A+ D Overall Average D+ C- C B- B C+ C+ D+ Top two candidate grades in each category Taxes: 1. Ted Morton & Lyle Oberg (tie): B- Spending: 1. Ted Morton: A- 2. Gary McPherson: B- Democratic/Transparency Reform: 1. Gary McPherson: A 2. Mark Norris: B Heath care reform: 1. Ted Morton & Lyle Oberg (tie): A+ 9 CANDIDATE RESPONSES REVENUE (TAXES) Question 1: Will you commit to eliminate the health care premium tax? CTF’s Position: Axe the regressive health care premium tax Alberta’s health care insurance premium is a regressive tax. For a family earning $35,000 a year, the $1,056 in health care premiums is equivalent to 3 per cent of their annual income. For a family earning $100,000 a year, the $1,056 in health care premiums is equivalent to 1 per cent of their annual income. The CTF welcomed the relatively small increase to the premium subsidy in the 2006 provincial budget. However, this increase was only one-time, “premium-creep” will continue to eat away at the value of the subsidy because unlike the Basic Personal Exemption, the health care premium tax thresholds are not indexed to inflation. The CTF also welcomed the abolition of the health care premium tax for seniors as a first-step towards abolishing this tax for all Albertans. This age-based exemption, put into place in 2004, has created a situation where seniors who are wealthy, no longer raising children or paying off a mortgage, are exempt.
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