de·lu·sion
dəˈlo͞oZHən/
noun
-
an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder.
We have all heard:
“The NDP have ruined Alberta”
“The NDP have scared off investment”
“The NDP are taxing us to death”
“The NDP are spending too much”
“The NDP don’t do anything to help Albertans”
Albertans have fell victim to 21st century propaganda that has taken root in our social media. Living in today’s world with limitless information at our fingertips one would hope for an informed population. Unfortunately this is not the case as most of our content is created to invoke an emotional response. This results in people attaching themselves to an idea, or identifying themselves into a category such as liberal or conservative. It leaves no room for open discussion and critical thought on important issues that should not have a bias. Instead of collaboration we have “us vs them” or “left vs right” type of arguments that lead no where.
“The NDP have ruined Alberta”
This has been the anthem of people who oppose the Alberta government. People say how bad our debt is and that the NDP are ruining our province. In the image below you will see that for the past 68 years Alberta has experienced a fiscal gap. Which means we are spending more than we take in.
The following three graphs show what happened with oil before the NDP were elected.
Now our economy is on track to pre-recession levels.
This recession has been handled fairly well compared to past recessions.
Employment is reaching pre-recession norms.
The GDP growth in Alberta is leading all provinces across Alberta and most of the world.
The net debt to GDP ratio in Alberta is the lowest across the provinces and most of the world.
The peak in retail sales is higher than before the recession.
Manufacturing is also seeing strong growth.
Time and time again since the last provincial election I have heard people tout Saskatchewan as the new holy grail. It must not be the holy grail some thought it was. This chart shows a large number of people flocking to Alberta from all across Canada, including Saskatchewan.
It’s important to remember why we fell into a recession so unprepared. Previous governments have failed to reward Albertans with the spoils of their extracted resources. A 15 billion dollar loss in the 6 years leading up to 2015 triggered a Royalty Review. Here is an outlook on what the Heritage fund would look like if we used Norway’s formula(which was derived from our original framework) for rewarding Norwegians with their share of the extracted resources.
“The NDP have scared off investment”
“The NDP have scared off investment”
One may remember the royalty review. Opponents of the new Alberta government were hooting and hollering about scaring off investment. The newly elected NDP government was quick to announce that no changes would be made to the royalty framework until 2017. Unfortunately, when it came to the opposition, this fell on deaf ears.
Recently leader of the official opposition, Jason Kenney, took a trip to India. “Kenney also appeared to reverse himself on a core criticism of Notley’s government. He has said that Alberta’s tax system, particularly the carbon tax, is counterproductive and undermining investment, but in India he told a TV reporter that Alberta is a prime spot for investment because of many factors, including low taxes”(source)
While investment is still low in comparison to 2014, it’s not sitting too far below the average. It may not look pretty but if you look at the list of projects going on in Alberta you would see there is still life.
“The NDP are taxing us to death”
“The NDP are taxing us to
After the NDP were elected they quickly started implementing their platform. Small businesses saw a tax decrease from 3% to 2% and received additional tax incentives. Corporate taxes went from 10% to 12% and the government also added to our existing Carbon Tax system. Personal taxes were changed to a progressive system which lead to increases on incomes over $125 000 a year. After the dust settles, most Albertans still pay the lowest taxes across Canada. The chart below shows the CT rebate program.
“While Albertans making $25,000 a year pay the least income tax in the country, the picture changes as you approach $50,000.
At that level, Albertans pay more than both Ontarians and British Columbians.
The gap between Alberta and B.C. grows as you approach $75,000. At that point, Albertans pay about $1,200 more in provincial income tax than their neighbours to the west.
Around $100,000, Albertans pay less than Ontarians but still more than people in B.C.
(For those interested in the nitty-gritty details, these calculations include both the high-income surtax and the health premiums charged in Ontario as part of the income-tax system. They do not include Medical Services Plan premiums in B.C., which are collected separately.)
It’s around the $150,000 mark that Alberta returns to the lowest income-tax burden of all provinces. And its lead grows from there.
If you earn $250,000 a year, you’ll pay about $4,000 less in Alberta than in B.C. — and about $18,000 less than in Quebec.”(source)
There has been a fair argument for a restructure of our tax system. Below is what our revenues would look like under other provinces. Makes one wonder if we would still have the same argument over cutting services to manage our debt.
“The NDP are spending too much”
After 68 years of spending more then our revenue, one would assume we spend too much. Though after looking at the image above, it appears we have a revenue problem. Many Albertans have different opinions about how much we spend on services such as health care compared to other provinces. The opposition has hinted to cutting up to 10 billion dollars from our budget. We will be unlikely to find 10 billion dollars in inefficiencies within our budget which means we will have to make cuts to services. These cuts could result in over crowded hospitals and schools which are a problem that we don’t need to make worse.
The current government has been catching up on Alberta’s infrastructure debt which has been a large amount of spending. The good thing about this investment into our infrastructure is that we improve services all while creating constructions jobs as well as long term jobs after projects complete. This provided much needed stimulation to our flat economy.
“The NDP don’t do anything to help Albertans”
“In 2016 An NDP member of Parliament introduced a private member’s bill to extend the maximum number of weeks to 50 from 15 and eliminate a two-week waiting period for those with serious illnesses and injuries.
People have been putting together lists of things the NDP has done for Albertans since elected. It’s incredible to see a government that has followed through on so many campaign promises. When it comes to listening to Albertans, the Alberta government has been doing a good job. They held town halls for Bill 6, surveys for our school curriculum, survey for budget, and the list goes on.
Often around social media you can see the discourse around minimum wage. Statistics show raising minimum wage in Alberta has negligible impact on jobs.
“In 2016, with the provincial economy still in recession, Alberta’s accommodation and food service sector, and wholesale and retail trade sector, where low-wage jobs are concentrated, added 7,600 jobs. In 2017, these two sectors added a further 17,400 jobs, for a total increase of 25,000 jobs across the two sectors in the last two years. These jobs were created despite the minimum wage increasing 33 per cent from 2015 to 2017.”(source)
In conclusion, it is important to find as much information about issues around politics. There are paid contractors who use bots to manipulate public opinion using social media. Anytime you click something on social media, an algorithm will automatically start showing you more of that content. What ends up happening is you get stuck in a bubble only seeing information from one side of the story. Using multiple news/media outlets is very important when researching the issues that follow politics which can greatly impact our lives. When we have the answer to just about any question sitting in our pocket, there is no reason to live in ignorance.
*Puts down the partisan Mjölnir
Field of View 360 
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