I was born in Calgary about the same time the Progressive Conservative Party came to power here, depending who you ask that is either a really long time or the best is yet to come, either way we're all staring down the barrel of a Middle Aged Crisis! Once again our government is claiming there is no money and they don't know what to do but blame everyone except themselves, this time it's doctors salaries, in the Ralph Klein World it was Lesbian Artists who were bleeding us dry with public art funding, cue the pitchforks and a huge round of spending cuts. Several years and two Premiers later we're still in the same mess, somehow we're sitting on a fortune in oil reserves yet never seem to live within the Provincial Budget? So what happened to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund? I was only a boy when Peter Lougheed enacted this brilliant program, if done right we could be in sound financial shape like Norway where they have saved billions from oil reserves and anyone can go to University for free! Alas, his successors didn't turn out to be cautious Conservatives like him, instead they were drunken sailors buying friends and influence. I have no personal qualm with current Premier Alison Redford, first woman Premier, Yay! She supports the gays (in the most minimal way) Yay! We've come a long way baby! Except, she does everything that a government that has been in power for four decades does, mainly, what they please and with ease. There has been no shortage of political scandal with Redford, from putting her husbands law firm on the Provincial pay roll, to illegal campaign donations, to egregious spending by Alberta Health Services employees and if you want to ask her about it too bad, she'll either get the Speaker of the House to shut down debate or will be out of town!
Here is an interactive map plotting MLA's international travel:
http://daveberta.ca/2012/10/alberta-government-travel/
So, what's with our leaders these days? On the Federal level, the Conservatives already passed, in the first Omnibus Bill, changes to Old Age Security and set the retirement age at 67 for those of us born after 1962. Also, changes to the EI program, making it harder to get especially for seasonal workers and especially in the Maritimes. They have also laid off thousands of Civil Servants and tinkered with their retirement packages, all the while never changing retirement and bonuses for themselves and the Senate; All under the guise that the sky is falling and we're going to run out of money, and it's due to freeloaders on our society that are ruining the future for everyone! Everything has to be cut and we all need to sacrifice or "get a job", you lazy under 50 somethings! So, since I'm under 50 I understand fully that we are all being asked, uuuh I mean legislated, into working longer for less and we are to embrace the Austerity! Fine, I did not expect much from the self-absorbed Baby Boom generation anyway! Anyway, since we are all being forced into austerity it is only fair that our governments, both Federal and Provincial also embrace it, they seem to be living in some distant age of privilege and tax payer funded entitlement.
Since our government is putting the burden of supporting already well-off Baby Boomers onto Generation X to Z plus Millennials too (and whoever is after that) maybe it is time everyone chip in? The message everywhere seems to be the party is over, and for us under 50's I'm not sure it ever began? You'd think with all Premier Redford's recent trips to the U.S. she may have heard of Obama's tax the rich plan? Turns out there are actually more middle and low income voters than rich ones and one can win elections on this principle! Since I live in Calgary I see a lot of wealth, there are million dollar condos next to skid row, people drive cars held together with duct tape and paint while children of the rich speed off in cars worth more than my mortgage, to their summer homes in the mountains, or to nightclubs and restaurants that cost in the hundreds of dollars for a night out. There is a lot of money flying around this town, for some, and those that 'have' constantly laud the Reagan Era "trickle down" economic theory, Calgary is so 80's! It is common for people to complain about the price of gas and then in the same breath say it benefits Alberta, oh really? I must have missed my cheque in the mail recently. Someone should really tell Ms. Redford and the PC Party that the 80's were three decades ago and it's time for some economic reality! If one googles Tax Rate by Province, you will get the Canada Revenue Agency page that shows all provinces, except Alberta, have tax brackets. The highest brackets and rates vary by Province, Ontario's is over $509,000 with a tax rate of 13.16%, British Columbia is 14.7% over $104,754 and our other neighbour Saskatchewan is 15% over $122,589, just for some "have Province" examples. In starkly insane contrast Alberta's is 10% across the board! Can't you just hear Oprah saying, "You get 10%, you get 10%, Everybody gets 10%!!!!!!!!" It seems so crazy I wonder if it has it's basis in paying a tithe to your Church? I can't really think of any other random reason for this random tax rate. The official website for Alberta also brags about how low the taxes are here, comparing rates to other regions in the U.S. and Canada, you should open your business here because we have "The Lowest Taxes in Canada" and the sunniest weather! Yeehaw!
Meanwhile, having the lowest taxes in the Western Hemisphere does have it's disadvantages. As local news was reporting the huge Budget shortfall and Alison Redford was talking cutbacks and gearing up for a fight with doctors salaries, here were the following news items minutes later; The Tom Baker Cancer Center is in dire need of funding and people are waiting too long and have been for the last eight years, also funding for the Little Warriors Be Brave Ranch was denied $650,000 in funding from the Province, it was to be a treatment and education facility for sexually exploited children, also supported by Sheldon Kennedy, famous abuse- victim-advocate. There's just no money for this first of it's kind facility in Canada, you can read about it on their site here: http://littlewarriors.ca/news/ I wonder if Ms. Redford saw the news story the next day, featuring a girl of around 8 or 9 years old, who, devastated by the letter sent by the Province, is trying to raise money by selling macaroni pictures? To date she has raised $600!
My biggest problem on the news that night was the announcement of Edmonton's new Hockey Arena! Well, yay for Hosers everywhere, Edmonton City Council can pass anything they want I guess, it doesn't mean we should all pay the 100 Million $ they are asking of the Province! To date Ms. Redford has not committed any public money to the project, and if she would like some sound advice, she shouldn't.
I'm sorry, talk of building a multi-million or billion dollar arena right now has me over the edge! What was that recent Hockey lockout about? If the millionaire Hockey players and Billionaire owners want a brand new arena please do not come looking for me to support it! It sounds like y'all have a lot of money to fight over. I do not watch Hockey, but I do drive on roads, go to the doctor and went to public school, three of these things are necessities and one isn't. Although we have our first female Premier I still think she is part of an "Old Boys Club", I ask you why it is important to fund things boys like, like sports, but not things that could be considered more female and nurturing like Health Care and Education? I apologize for the stereotype here, but I thought that was kind of why we have looked forward to having women in politics for so long? We may as well be back in the smoke-filled boys room, polyester 3-piece suit days of the 70's and 80's with priorities like these! Everyday we hear about the things we need to build, I just read that more people are moving to Alberta again, which means we need to build more roads and schools, and hire teachers and doctors. There is the Highway 63 issue, the so-called Highway of Death, which should have been twinned and rebuilt long ago; as a side note, since it is oil company equipment and traffic on its way to the North causing all the problems why don't they take some of their billions and build it? Jus sayin', I've never been further North than Edmonton and have no plans to, who's the freeloader here? You want the benefit of the oil and expect tax payers to fund the roads you use too, and pay the lowest taxes in North America?...and it's doctors who are making us broke? Anyway, too bad Edmonton, It is not this Calgarians problem you have built your image on Wayne Gretzky and The Oilers, you need to get your heads out of the 80's too and realize it's 2013! I don't even know if I'll be able to retire and the generation under mine would like to move out of their parents basements one day ! I am only asking that those in the top 20% or so pay their fair share, it would be a start. It's time to get some priorities straight and put new Hockey Arenas on ice!!!
Here is a great article about publicly funded sports arenas having little impact on local economies:
Why Funding New Sports Stadiums Can Be A Losing Bet
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/01/30/sports-arenas-stadiums-cost.html
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