sutherland

Where does it say that. The policy was to provide each province with the revenue resources to maintain themselves. Which is what alberta is doing. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Alberta already sends around ten billion dollars a year more than it gets back to the rest of the country. If the east had its way it would take every cent out of alberta, and has shown in the past it could care less about albertans. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> In the end, I this argument is not about money. If it were you would think that people in the east would be grateful for $10B+, but it would seem that at least three out of five want it all. There is one other logical explanation - that the east is motivated by a desire to protect their power - at any cost. This is about power, since currently Ontario and Quebec have all the power and it will be a cold day in Hell before they share it. Ontarian Premier McGuinty is thinking long-term here. In a representative "democracy" like ours, the source of power, ultimately, is population. As long as the Ontarians outnumber the Albertans by a ratio of four-to-one, they can decisively out-vote them come election time. But the Ontarian Premier knows that that balance may eventually be upset given present trends, unless easterners do something about it. That's where the money comes in. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that money is what is attracting people to Alberta. So the more money they can steal from the Albertans, the fewer Albertans there will be to threaten their power base. 12 million to 3 million is a manageble ratio, but if it were ever to get to 12 or 13 million to even 6 million then the numbers might get a little iffy. So McGuinty and co. have to find a way to make sure our numbers never approach 6 million. That's why I get a little riled up when people from the rest of the country are sticking their grubby hands out for a (bigger) piece of the pie. Because while they're gobbling it up like little piggies without even tasting it, the Albertan Premier (as they have done since Lougheed) will be respectfully asking for a greater say in the national decision-making process in exchange for Albertan generosity, only to be told to f*** off. In the end, they only want us to share money they know they will squander so that they may never have to share their power.

Are EI and CPP benefits refunds of taxes paid? Hardly. They are benefits paid by government and they are taxable. You could argue that they were a tax refund if they went only to people who paid taxes and that the 'refund' could not exceed the amount of tax payable. However, the checks go to all people regardless of the amount of tax actually paid. For that reason, the $400 is clearly a government benefit and potentially taxable.That said, Martin may make a political decision to forego the tax on these monies, however, that would mean that the federal gov't is giving Albertan's a special deal on taxes and the implications for other provinces could be huge. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, you and I both ought to know that "taxable income" is whatever definition suits the federal government. So continuing an argument over what should constitute taxable income is pointless. As I said originally, the rebate program as it stands now is a bad idea, not least because people outside Alberta are now dreaming up ways to change the definition of "income" just so they can grab an undeserved piece of the pie. To be frank, the Albertan government and in particular Klein are fools for gifting the ROC such an opportunity to grab another $300-odd million of our money. A much more sensible move would have been to cut the income tax rate by two percentage points (to eight percent). And for the extra benefit of low income earners, the government could double the basic exemption to $25,000. That would be about the same cost as the Prosperity Bonus. And there would be no way the federal government could legitimately try to take a piece of a province's tax cut - it would just be less tax paid in the first place. I would hope that if Martin were to try to tax the Prosperity Bonus money then Klein might be sensible enough to realize his mistake, end the bonus scheme and just cut taxes. That would end the issue.

Why? It is income from the oil resources paid out to the 'shareholders'. It is not refunded tax money. Furthermore CPP, EI and other government benefit programs are taxable. Why wouldn't this be as well? Alberta can waive the provincial tax on it but that does not automatically mean the federal tax is waived as well. The federal tax should not be. If the oil revenues give Albertans more income then they should pay their share of income tax like the rest of us. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Are you really trying to tell me that royalties are not a form of TAX? I paid about $2500 to my friendly Albertan government last year and now, out of the goodness of their hearts, they're going to give me $400 back. Misguided alturism at best as I said before, but it is still a tax refund and I have serious problems with ANYONE trying to "tax" a rebate of taxes that were already paid!

To be fair to the rest of us this money would have to be taxable and it will likely trigger clawbacks on numerous federal benefit programs (like EI and OAS). The net result is close to 25% of this money will end up in the hands of the feds anyways. This approach may be the most politically astute way to 'share' the oil dividends with the rest of the country. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Most news stories I read state that the payouts are not taxable. If the feds are planning to tax it please post links. And although I don't believe this is the way the surplus should be doled out, now that they've committed to cutting the cheques - why should it be taxable? That would be like taxing your 2004 tax refund again in 2005. You see, this is a rebate from the government on taxes that have already been paid. It would be immoral to tax the money again, and it seems the Albertan government knows that.