News
Around Red Deer May 1st…..
2:22 pm – RCMP are asking for your help in finding 16 year old Nadia Gursky. She was last seen in Red Deer on April 25th and Police wish to verify her well-being. Nadia Gursky is described as white, 5’6” tall, 165 lbs, long curly red-blonde hair and hazel eyes. If you know where she is, contact Red Deer RCMP at 403-343-5575.
1:45 pm – RCMP are looking for three young male suspects after a man was robbed at gun-point in Blackfalds early this morning. Read More.
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1:41 pm – Repairs begin today on the City of Lacombe’s outdoor Tennis Courts. Read More.
10:44 am – The Town of Innisfail’s Movers & Groovers Adult Walking Group will run at the Innisfail Arena for six weeks starting Monday, May 1! Read More.
10:41 am – Large item pick-up begins in the Town of Innisfail today! Read More.
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10:34 am – Sylvan Lake’s Annual Spring Clean-Up is now underway. Pitch-In Week runs from May 1 – 7. Read More.
10:23 am – Blackfalds Annual Municipal Census begins today! Read More.
10:17 am – A number of Free activities are available for youth in Penhold this week. Check out the Town’s Facebook Page for more information. Details Here.
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10:04 am – An unfounded bomb threat shut down Red Deer’s Collicutt Centre on Sunday night. Read More.
9:58 am – The careless disposal of oily rags has been identified as the cause of a house fire in Red Deer’s Morrisroe neighbourhood on Friday. Read More.
9:35 am – The Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division is re-evaluating it’s process for third party classroom presentations, after a controversial one from Red Deer & Area Pro-Life that was presented to Grade 10 students at École Secondaire Notre Dame High School last month. This means a new guiding set of procedures is now being developed so teaching staff can be provided clear direction on how they will be involved before, during and after any presentation to ensure the integrity of the lesson. In the meantime, any future presentations will be vetted until these procedures can be formally included in the division’s Administrative Procedures.
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9:21 am – A Red Deer man is facing charges after RCMP arrested a man attempting to use a slip tank from another vehicle to pump gas into what turned out to be a stolen truck. 30 year old Kyle Earl Harstad of Red Deer has been charged.
9:09 am – Lacombe County is allocating it’s 2016 Budget Surplus of $1,447,110.46 to it’s Bridge Reserve, Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve and Recreation Capital Assistance Reserve. Each will receive $480,000. The remaining $7,110.46 will remain in unrestricted surplus.
8:59 am – Officials with Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools are asking students, parents and guardians to recognize and Thank all School Bus Driver today. It’s School Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Elsewhere, at École Secondaire Notre Dame High School, Badminton teams will play against each other with the top two teams moving onto provincials on Friday, May 5.
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8:44 am – Elementary students in the Red Deer Public School District have a chance tonight and next Monday, May 8th to take part in Choir Kids at the New Life Fellowship Church on Kelloway Crescent. Choir Kids is a unique program for elementary students to rehearse and perform with a professional orchestra. This event showcases the Division’s amazing music and choral programs and provides great exposure to a new realm of music. Students have the opportunity to collaborate and perform with peers, other teachers and professional musicians! Read More.
8:32 am – Seven students from École Secondaire Notre Dame High School will be moving onto the Skills Alberta Competition on May 10 and 11 in Edmonton. The 2017 Regional Skills Competition was on April 27, 2017. The following students are the winners in the Career and Technology Studies (CTS) areas: In Baking, Keana Fraser, Grade 12 won silver and is going onto provincials. Electrical Installations, Adam Holmes, Grade 11 won bronze, Shawn Rowland, Grade 11 won silver and is going onto provincials & Jared Wilkens, Grade 10 won gold and is going onto provincials. In Hairstyling Junior, Hailey Foster, Grade 11 won bronze, Allie Bradford, Grade 10 won gold and is going onto provincials. In Hairstyling Intermediate, Kenzie Armitage, Grade 12 won silver and is going onto provincials. In Welding, Jessica Wohlgemuth, Grade 12 won gold and is going onto provincials.
8:08 am – A Red Deer man and woman were arrested at a Markerville campground April 27th and charged with being in possession of a stolen truck, other stolen items, stolen I.D. and weapons. The pair are due in Red Deer court May 2nd. Read More.
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.
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