The results of a new poll, asking Albertans whether or not they want to see a sales tax implemented in the province, show that residents have no taste for the proposal.
The poll, conducted on January 18 from a test group of 3,184 Albertans, found that 73 percent were not in favour of a provincial sales tax.
The firm found that the idea of a PST came dead last against other revenue streams. The preferred method in the poll was an increase of user fees and sin taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.
Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Technologies, says that unfortunately, that won't be enough, but there aren't many other options. “When we looked at how Albertans want the Premier to deal with the upcoming budget the most popular idea was to cut spending - but there just isn’t much to cut. This really places the PC government and the opposition parties in a tough bind. APST has the most potential to raise revenue but Albertans are firmly opposed.”
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of talk over the issue of falling oil prices and how the province is going to make up for the billions in revenue lost as a result.
Prentice has been saying for weeks that the province is in for some tough financial decisions in the upcoming budget and that he’s not ruling anything out when it comes to the plan.
On Friday, he made a controversial proposal to reopen signed contracts with unionized, provincial employees.
That idea isn’t sitting well with the union that represents those workers.
“We struggled so hard to get the collective agreement we've got now. There is absolutely no appetite on the front lines to look at roll backs or opening it up. I can tell you unequivocally on behalf of my members, after what we went through there is no way we are going to capitulate now,” said Guy Smith President of the AUPE.
The province and its largest union spent more than 18 months negotiating the last contract, which was finally signed last summer.
The full report from Mainstreet Technologies follows:
