CALGARY, AB – Instead of raising job-killing taxes during a time of economic uncertainty, the Wildrose announced today a commitment to scrap over a billion dollars in corporate welfare payments to protect Alberta taxpayers.
“Premier Jim Prentice wants Albertans to believe they need to pay more in job-killing taxes while the PCs run government coffers dry with billions in corporate welfare handouts,” Wildrose Leader Heather Forsyth said today. “The Wildrose believes firmly that government should stay out of the business of being in business. We are committed to ending corporate welfare payments, keeping taxes low and growing the economy.”
During his leadership campaign, Prentice promised Albertans he would wind down wasteful programs such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), but broke another one of his promises by recently extending the program to 2020.
According to recent budget documents, the PC government is slotted to spend near a billion in corporate welfare payments in the next year alone, including $306 million slotted for Carbon Capture, and $106 million in bio subsidies.
| Project | Cost |
| Northwest Upgrader | $300 million |
| Carbon Capture and Storage | $306 million |
| Bio subsidies | $106 million |
| Shell Canada | $15 million |
With the Prentice PCs maintaining the most expensive government in Canada and laying the seeds for one of the biggest tax increases in Alberta history, Forsyth said dropping the billions of dollars wasted by the PCs on corporate handouts should be a no-brainer.
“The PCs recklessly direct hundreds of millions every year away from core government services in health or education in order to pick winners and losers in the economy,” Forsyth said. “Considering the massive tax increase Mr. Prentice wants to slam on the back of taxpayers before or after the next election, we believe firmly it’s time for the era of corporate welfare in Alberta to come to a crashing halt.”