Friday Focus: No Tax Cut for You

In the 2023 election, Danielle Smith promised to create a new income tax bracket for Albertans earning under 60,000 dollars. This tax season, as Albertans are filing or have filed their income taxes, she cynically announced that this measure would be delayed until 2026.

This is more than just a broken promise; it's a clear sign the needs of Alberta's working families are being ignored. While our citizens face increasing living costs, from groceries to gas, the UCP’s decision to push back promised tax relief shows how little the UCP really cares about Albertans and how our Premier and her UCP MLAs have zero integrity.

A tax cut isn't everything. There are may ways in which the money could have been spent to lower costs for Albertans. 

In a province where rents rose by nearly 20% last year, investment in new affordable housing to drive down shelter costs would certainly be most welcome. Instead, the UCP offers up tiny benefits, like small discounts for seniors using registry services, and makes promises of capping access fees for utilities in Calgary that were already being considered by the city. 

More ambitious steps, like increasing our education funding per student so that Alberta isn’t the lowest in Canada would help. Educated people live healthier, more prosperous and more fulfilling lives. Instead, the UCP does nothing to reduce class sizes for K-12 students and is sticking its fingers into university research grants, which will likely drive researchers out of our province and reduce the quality of post-secondary education Albertans can receive in their home province.

Instead of helping Albertans, the UCP is obstructing the federal government by blocking federal funding for new affordable housing, promoting ideological meetings to abandon the CPP, carrying a bloated provincial cabinet complete with stipends and extra staff meddling in municipal government, and funding secret inquiries behind Albertans’ backs. 

We need a government that actually deals with the challenges affecting Albertans, one that is honest, open and transparent, and not one that makes empty promises during elections, only to pursue hidden agendas once it gets into office. 

Please support us in pursuing goals that actually help Albertans and help the Alberta Liberals build a better Alberta.