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Red Deer Chamber Still Concerned Over Province’s Deficit And Debt

Published

8 years ago

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reg_warkentin-red-deer-chamber (Reg Warkentin – Policy and Advocacy Manager for the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce)

By Sheldon Spackman

The Alberta Government released it’s Second Quarter Fiscal Update and Economic Statement on November 28th and it shows that despite ongoing challenges and high unemployment, there are some hopeful signs for the province’s economy.

Provincial officials say there were 25,000 jobs added in the last three months, manufacturing shipments have increased in recent months, the value of Alberta’s exports has increased since April and drilling activity is picking up from its lows.

Following two years of contraction, Alberta’s economy is also expected to grow by 2.3 per cent in 2017, supported by wildfire reconstruction, a rebound in oil production, additional investments in public-sector infrastructure and a modest improvement in oil prices.

However, Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce Policy and Advocacy Manager Reg Warkentin says there’s still cause for concern when looking at the size of the deficit and debt. The 2016-17 deficit is forecast to be $10.8 billion, a $78-million decrease since the first quarter but still $449 million higher than estimated at budget, due to the impact of the Wood Buffalo wildfire and other factors.

Warkentin says “It’s good to see some progress being made despite the high cost of the Wildfire in the spring but the debt and deficit maintenance levels remain cause for concern.” He feels that “Some further efficiencies can still be found in the way the government delivers it’s services without major service cuts.” Having said that, Warkentin was surprised to see non-renewable resource revenue increase, adding that “It’s a broad sign of the economy being on the right track, especially in the oil and gas sector.”

The government is maintaining it’s forecast for oil prices at $45 US/Barrel, the same as at first quarter but three dollars higher than estimated at budget. Forecast revenue is up $1.3 billion from Budget 2016, primarily due to the increased non-renewable resource revenue, federal transfers and investment income.

Operating expenses though have increased by $556 million from budget. This includes a second quarter increase of $100 million to address higher caseloads for Income Support, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped and other support programs.

In a release, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Joe Ceci, says  “While it’s too soon to say Alberta’s economy turned a corner, there are some hopeful signs that it’s stabilizing. We are keeping a steady hand on the tiller and sticking to our approach of controlling spending, protecting critical public services and supporting job growth and the diversification of our economy.”

You can watch the Announcement here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF1okvLkQZA&feature=youtu.be

(Photo courtesy of the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce)

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‘Context Of Chemsex’: Biden-Harris Admin Dumps Millions Into Developing Drug-Fueled Gay Sex App

Published on November 22, 2024

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Owen Klinsky

The Biden-Harris administration is spending millions funding a project to advise homosexual men on how to more safely engage in drug-fueled intercourse.

The University of Connecticut (UCONN) in July announced a five-year, $3.4 million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) for Assistant Professor Roman Shrestha to develop his app JomCare — “a smartphone-based just-in-time adaptive intervention aimed at improving access to HIV- and substance use-related harm reduction services for Malaysian GBMSM [gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men] engaged in chemsex,” university news website UCONN Today reported. “Chemsex,” according to Northern Irish LGBTQ+ nonprofit the Rainbow Project, is the involvement of drug use in one’s sex life, and typically involves Methamphetamine (crystal meth), Mephedrone (meth), and GHB and GBL (G).

Examples of the app’s use-cases include providing a user who has reported injecting drugs with prompts about ordering an at-home HIV test kit and employing safe drug injection practices, UCONN Today reported. The app is also slated to provide same-day delivery of HIV prevention drug PrEP, HIV self-testing kits and even a mood tracker.

“In Malaysia, our research has indicated that harm reduction needs of GBMSM [gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men] engaged in chemsex are not being adequately met,” Shrestha told UCONN Today. “Utilizing smartphone apps and other mHealth tools presents a promising and cost-effective approach to expand access to these services.”

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and is punishable by imprisonment, according to digital LGBTQ+ rights publication Equaldex. Drug use, including of cannabis, is illegal in Malaysia, and drug trafficking can be a capital offense.

The NIH disbursed $773,845 to Shrestha in July to conduct a 90-day trial testing the efficacy of JomCare among 482 chemsex-involved Malaysian gays. It also provided Shrestha with $191,417 in 2022 to “facilitate access to gender-affirming health care” for transgender women in the country.

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Shrestha has a track record of researching mobile health (mHealth) initiatives for foreign homosexuals, co-authoring a 2024 study entitled, “Preferences for mHealth Intervention to Address Mental Health Challenges Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in Nepal.”

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Shrestha and the NIH did not respond to requests for comment. When reached for comment, a UCONN spokeswoman told the Daily Caller News Foundation that, “specific questions about the grant and the decision to award it to our faculty member should be directed to the NIH, since that’s the funding agency.”

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Business

Broken ‘equalization’ program bad for all provinces

Published on November 21, 2024

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From the Fraser Institute

By Alex Whalen  and Tegan Hill

Back in the summer at a meeting in Halifax, several provincial premiers discussed a lawsuit meant to force the federal government to make changes to Canada’s equalization program. The suit—filed by Newfoundland and Labrador and backed by British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta—effectively argues that the current formula isn’t fair. But while the question of “fairness” can be subjective, its clear the equalization program is broken.

In theory, the program equalizes the ability of provinces to deliver reasonably comparable services at a reasonably comparable level of taxation. Any province’s ability to pay is based on its “fiscal capacity”—that is, its ability to raise revenue.

This year, equalization payments will total a projected $25.3 billion with all provinces except B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan to receive some money. Whether due to higher incomes, higher employment or other factors, these three provinces have a greater ability to collect government revenue so they will not receive equalization.

However, contrary to the intent of the program, as recently as 2021, equalization program costs increased despite a decline in the fiscal capacity of oil-producing provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In other words, the fiscal capacity gap among provinces was shrinking, yet recipient provinces still received a larger equalization payment.

Why? Because a “fixed-growth rule,” introduced by the Harper government in 2009, ensures that payments grow roughly in line with the economy—even if the gap between richer and poorer provinces shrinks. The result? Total equalization payments (before adjusting for inflation) increased by 19 per cent between 2015/16 and 2020/21 despite the gap in fiscal capacities between provinces shrinking during this time.

Moreover, the structure of the equalization program is also causing problems, even for recipient provinces, because it generates strong disincentives to natural resource development and the resulting economic growth because the program “claws back” equalization dollars when provinces raise revenue from natural resource development. Despite some changes to reduce this problem, one study estimated that a recipient province wishing to increase its natural resource revenues by a modest 10 per cent could face up to a 97 per cent claw back in equalization payments.

Put simply, provinces that generally do not receive equalization such as Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan have been punished for developing their resources, whereas recipient provinces such as Quebec and in the Maritimes have been rewarded for not developing theirs.

Finally, the current program design also encourages recipient provinces to maintain high personal and business income tax rates. While higher tax rates can reduce the incentive to work, invest and be productive, they also raise the national standard average tax rate, which is used in the equalization allocation formula. Therefore, provinces are incentivized to maintain high and economically damaging tax rates to maximize equalization payments.

Unless premiers push for reforms that will improve economic incentives and contain program costs, all provinces—recipient and non-recipient—will suffer the consequences.

Authors:

Alex Whalen  and Tegan Hill
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