Everyone is shocked.  I haven’t spoken to one person yet who saw this NDP majority landslide coming.  In retrospect, the passion at the ballot box was a healthy endorsement of democracy in lieu of climate rife with wasted taxpayer money and untrustworthy politicians.  Many would purport the ruling Progressive Conservatives as elitist and out of touch.  Even the sudden exit of Jim Prentice after having won his seat had a scent of arrogance while he shunned his constituents and superimposed a semblance of family responsibility to cover for his great escape in a debacle partly of his making.  The old boys club is no more.  The halls of power in parliament have shifted and for the sake of our economy dominated by the oil and gas sector, we hope that calm words from Rachel Notley translate into rational policy.

NDP administrations in other Canadian Provinces have had difficulty hosting an economic climate of vigor through words and deeds which business leaders had come to believe as threatening to progress.  Business equals risk and risk deploys capital.  Capital seeks homes where returns are reasonable and regulatory hurdles are in line with good common sense.  All stakeholders are provided due care.

Trouble arises when irrational sentiment blurs the common good. Cause and purpose can be superseded  by competing interests lost in the internal dynamics of an operating environment. Fearful that followers will lose faith if concessions are undertaken for the betterment of sound policy, leaders become distracted by whispering chatter of intransigent discontents.

Alberta is embarking upon an experiment of inexperienced politicians whom first must become versed in parliamentary procedure.  They’ll come to learn the nuances of drafting legislation that will impact the lives of a constituency.  Time will tell if they possess the capacity to be balanced, open, and sensible.

Do you remember Premier Stelmach’s old O&G royalty framework that had the well intentioned effect of harnessing more oil royalty revenue for the province’s treasury?  Well, the Calgary old boys club took fast Eddie aside and had him dismantle it.  Combine this with some sweetheart deals for public servants and brutal management of the public purse and you get our current budgetary quagmire.  Rocket science it’s not.  Particular interest groups were well served while average non-resource and non-governmental sector citizens stepped up and paid and paid and paid primarily for a health care system that represents approximately forty-five per cent of the pie.  We are not simpletons Mr Prentice.  We Albertans understand that the top marginal rate in Alberta for combined federal and provincial income tax is 39 per cent and of the federal component we pay, there are transfers back to the province in the amount of $ 5,477,000 (2015-2016) to assist with the operation of our health and social systems.

Had they increased income taxes for those earning less than $100,000, there would have been major political fall-out.  On this count, they get it right today. Frankly, I’m surprised that the percentage increase wasn’t higher.   In regards to sin taxes, certainly the hospitality industry may feel an affect (bigger cover charge coming at the Boudoir Rouge?) somewhat but in the context of the magnitude of the problem, a thumbs up to this measure and one more nudge toward those in search of healthier living.  To the speeders and violators of traffic rules, we look forward to more of your money but I ask, what about the “distracted drivers”.  Certainly we could have hit them with a four-fold increased fine.

I have no problem with an increase in user fees in the context of our problem.  If you are going to take your monster truck into crown lands and expunge our province’s natural beauty, then we can get you to pay for reclamation.  A nerve struck somewhere for certain?   No reclamation bond yet but camper’s fees on the rise at provincial parks.

As for the gas tax, Albertans deserve an increase.  I don’t know how many driver-only occupied luxury loaded four by fours I see bearing down on my bumper nowhere near rush hour in Calgary.  Once they find and opening and scream by, I see their bull balls dangling from the chassis and wonder why they’re taking their toy downtown.   Make ‘em pay.

Although not a simpleton, the ego and brazen ruggedness of the cowboy prevented him from entertaining a sales tax for fear of being chastised by the brother from B.C.