Can Alberta actually stop tax increases?

The provincial government’s first bill of the new legislative session would force a provincial referendum on any new tax increases.

Policy and political experts say it could still happen anyway, even if it’s unlikely to happen while the UCP is in government

“Many years ago when the (Ralph) Klein government instituted their no deficit-no debt legislation. Within a few years of that, the (Ed) Stelmach government was adjusting it because the bottom had fallen out of oil prices,” explained Ricardo Acuña, the executive director of Parkland Institute.

Policy expert Acuña says the United Conservative Party wasn’t likely to raise taxes while in office anyways, but worries Bill 1 can be used as an excuse to cut social funding when revenue is tight, adding that realistically, no one is going to vote to increase taxes.

“Our finances provincially are already right on the edge. Any drop of $4 or more in the average oil prices in the course of the year and we’re in a deficit situation,” said Acuña.

Bill 1 would prevent the province from raising personal and corporate taxes without putting it to voters first. It would also prevent the province from lowering personal and spousal income thresholds. The bill doesn’t prevent the government from adding any new taxes on certain products or de-indexing tax brackets from inflation.

Political experts say while any future government could do away with the legislation, it would be very hard to do so.

“People are being hit by property taxes at a municipal level, they’re being hit by affordability issues. So when you lump on top of that, additional taxes required at the provincial level, I think that makes it very very difficult,” said Chaldeans Mensah, a political science professor at MacEwan University.