News
Around Red Deer June 15th…..
1:29 pm – Two Red Deer High School students will be participating in SHAD, the unique and award-winning Canadian enrichment program that has helped develop the raw skills and talents of close to 16,000 youth across the country in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship. A record 13 Canadian university campuses from coast to coast will play host to SHAD this summer. The Red Deer students attending include Natalia Brezovan, a Grade 11 student from Ecole Secondaire Notre Dame High School and Chai Chen, a Grade 11 student from Hunting Hills HIgh School. Both will attend the University of Saskatchewan SHAD Campus.
12:14 pm – Discovery Canyon will re-open this Saturday, June 17th after upgrades and enhancements closed the site for the 2016 season. Read More.
For more local news, click here!
11:55 am – Wastewater Management in Sylvan Lake will see many changes over the coming years. Find out more.
11:49 am – The Sylvan Lake Urgent Care Committee is now the Advanced Ambulatory Care Service. They are hosting an information night to update the community on the progress made since Alberta Health’s announcement. It takes place tonight at 7:30 pm at Meadowlands Golf Course.
11:44 am – It’s Food Truck Thursday in Sylvan Lake today! Read More.
For more local news. click here!
11:27 am – The Medicine River Wildlife Centre has received some much needed funding from Co-ops Community Spaces program. Read More.
11:20 am – Summer Fun in Penhold is holding a FREE BBQ tonight from 5 – 7 pm. Read More.
11:12 am – Tickets are now available for Red Deer County’s Rural Beautification Tour! Read More.
For more local news, click here!
11:06 am – Innisfail Fire & County Tech Rescue responded to Glennifer Lake on Wednesday, June 14th after a male jumped from the east end ciffs and hit rocks. EMS transported. County officials say jumping from those cliffs is a dangerous activity when the reservoir is full but even moreso with low water levels!
10:47 am – Red Deer’s Golden Circle Senior Resource Centre is among 31 such facilities across the province to receive grant funding from the province to help address and end elder abuse in Alberta. Read More.
10:36 am – The Town of Sylvan Lake has announced it’s plans for Canada Day Celebrations on July 1st. The Nation is marking 150 years this year, so lots of new activities are planned! Read More.
For more local news, click here!
10:28 am – RCMP are investigating a two vehicle collision that occurred Wednesday afternoon north of Rimbey. One person was flown to hospital by STARS Air Ambulance with unknown injuries. The matter is still under investigation and charges are pending.
10:19 am – The City of Red Deer has provided another update on the 67th Street / Johnstone Drive Roundabout project. Read More.
10:14 am – Blackfalds Town Council moved to support this week, the recommendation of the Recreation, Culture and Parks Board to accept the Bikes Skills Park Final Design with Hoots Inc. for a maximum of $400,000.
For more local news, click here!
10:02 am – Red Deer RCMP attended the East Hill Shopping Centre on 22 Street at 2:30 pm Wednesday after a collision between an SUV and two pedestrians. Read More.
9:53 am – A Red Deer man and woman were arrested after RCMP seized stolen identification, credit cards and debit cards during a search warrant at a residence in the Normandeau neighbourhood on May 16th. Read More.
9:47 am – Live music on Red Deer’s Ross Street Patio from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm today! Find out more.
For more local news, click here!
9:37 am – The Alberta Pork Congress Continues at Red Deer’s Westerner Park today. Read More.
9:29 am – When the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre/Centre des Jeux du Canada Gary W. Harris opens in the fall of 2018 it will include an additional location of the locally owned and operated, Collegiate Sports Medicine. Read More!
9:10 am – Red Deer City Council will hold a special meeting next Wednesday, June 21st. Find out why.
For more local news, click here!
8:32 am – Some road rehabilitation work is taking place in north Red Deer today. Find out where.
8:26 am – A final performance from the LTCHS dance and technical theatre students will take place this evening starting at 7 pm in the school’s Drama Room. Admission is $5 at the door; rush seating.
8:13 am – With Father’s Day approaching on Sunday, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students at St. Elizabeth Seton School in Red Deer will honour their dads today with songs, special activities in the gym, and share drinks and doughnuts with them! It starts at 10:30 am. Elsewhere, at Holy Family School in Red Deer, Grade 4 and 5 students will showcase their learning over the course of the year to the school’s student and parent community during this year’s Band Concert. This event will be held in the gymnasium starting at 12:45 pm.
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:
National
Liberals, NDP admit closed-door meetings took place in attempt to delay Canada’s next election
From LifeSiteNews
Pushing back the date would preserve the pensions of some of the MPs who could be voted out of office in October 2025.
Aides to the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that MPs from the Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) did indeed hold closed-door “briefings” to rewrite Canada’s elections laws so that they could push back the date of the next election.
The closed-door talks between the NDP and Liberals confirmed the aides included a revision that would guarantee some of its 28 MPs, including three of Trudeau’s cabinet members, would get a pension.
Allen Sutherland, who serves as the assistant cabinet secretary, testified before the House of Commons affairs committee that the changes to the Elections Act were discussed in the meetings.
“We attended a meeting where the substance of that proposal was discussed,” he said, adding that his “understanding is the briefing was primarily oral.”
According to Sutherland, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, it was only NDP and Liberal MPs who attended the secret meetings regarding changes to Canada’s Elections Act via Bill C-65, An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act before the bill was introduced in March.
As reported by LifeSiteNews before, the Liberals were hoping to delay the 2025 federal election by a few days in what many see as a stunt to secure pensions for MPs who are projected to lose their seats. Approximately 80 MPs would qualify for pensions should they sit as MPs until at least October 27, 2025, which is the newly proposed election date. The election date is currently set for October 20, 2025.
Sutherland noted when asked by Conservative MP Luc Berthold that he recalled little from the meetings, but he did confirm he attended “two meetings of that kind.”
“Didn’t you find it unusual that a discussion about amending the Elections Act included only two political parties and excluded the others?” Berthold asked.
Sutherland responded, “It’s important to understand what my role was in those meetings which was simply to provide background information.”
Berthold then asked, “You nevertheless suggested amendments to the legislation including a change of dates?”
“My role was to provide information,” replied Sutherland, who added he could not provide the exact dates of the meetings.
MPs must serve at least six years to qualify for a pension that pays $77,900 a year. Should an election be called today, many MPs would fall short of reaching the six years, hence Bill C-65 was introduced by the Liberals and NDP.
The Liberals have claimed that pushing back the next election date is not over pensions but due to “trying to observe religious holidays,” as noted by Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen.
“Conservatives voted against this bill,” Berthold said, as they are “confident of winning re-election. We don’t need this change.”
Trudeau’s popularity is at a all-time low, but he has refused to step down as PM, call an early election, or even step aside as Liberal Party leader.
As for the amendments to elections laws, they come after months of polling in favour of the Conservative Party under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre.
A recent poll found that 70 percent of Canadians believe the country is “broken” as Trudeau focuses on less critical issues. Similarly, in January, most Canadians reported that they are worse off financially since Trudeau took office.
Additionally, a January poll showed that 46 percent of Canadians expressed a desire for the federal election to take place sooner rather than the latest mandated date in the fall of 2025.
The Most Devastating Report So Far
COP 29 leaders demand over a $1 trillion a year in climate reparations from ‘wealthy’ nations. They don’t deserve a nickel.
Another Mass Grave?
Can’t afford Rent? Groceries for your kids? Trudeau says suck it up and pay the tax!
-
Brownstone Institute10 hours ago
The Most Devastating Report So Far
-
Economy22 hours ago
COP 29 leaders demand over a $1 trillion a year in climate reparations from ‘wealthy’ nations. They don’t deserve a nickel.
-
Censorship Industrial Complex14 hours ago
Another Mass Grave?
-
Alberta13 hours agoMAiD In Alberta: Province surveying Albertans about assisted suicide policies
-
Alberta20 hours agoOn gender, Alberta is following the science
-
Energy21 hours agoOttawa’s proposed emission cap lacks any solid scientific or economic rationale
-
Bruce Dowbiggin9 hours agoCHL Vs NCAA: Finally Some Sanity For Hockey Families
-
Brownstone Institute2 days agoFirst Amendment Blues