What is Alberta thinking?
Governments worldwide are introducing economic stimulus programs in order to minimize the contraction in their economies. The United States has “jumbo-sized” its stimulus program and Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has conceded that a federal deficit is unavoidable, thus tax cutting and stimulus spending are likely to form the core of the next budget. In Alberta, the Stelmach Conservatives are about to introduce the biggest corporate tax increase since 1981. What are they thinking? In the fall of 2007, oil and gas prices as well as equities in energy stocks were rocketing upward. Crude oil was in the US$70 per barrel range and U.S. natural gas was US$7.00 per thousand cubic feet (mcf). Both commodities would double in price by mid-2008 and have dropped by more than one-half since then. The TSX energy index was trading at 350 last fall, rose to a record high of 470 in June 2008, then crashed below 200 last week. Last fall, the Alberta government introduced proposed royalty incr
