Alberta NDP launches online petition to fight corporate tax freeze
by The Canadian Press
Petition comes after Premier Jim Prentice announced plans to freeze corporate taxes, oil royalties in wake of low oil prices
EDMONTON—The Alberta NDP is launching an online petition to urge Premier Jim Prentice to reverse his decision to not hike corporate taxes.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley said it’s unfair for Prentice to freeze corporate taxes and oil royalties while signalling there will be hikes in personal income taxes and user fees.
Prentice has said hiking Alberta’s 10 per cent corporate tax would harm the economy at a time it is already reeling from billions of dollars in lost revenue due to low oil.
Notley said hiking the tax by even one percentage point would deliver $500 million in revenue.
She said given that Alberta doesn’t have a sales tax, there is wiggle room available to hike corporate taxes without hurting Alberta’s competitiveness.
Notley said Prentice is driven by conservative ideology that will see the rich benefit while the poor and the middle class carry the load.
