Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ UCP announces taxpayer protection law

00:00:00.000 If the NDP win here in Alberta, I think we all lose.

00:00:03.840 Today we'll talk about exactly why.

00:00:05.660 I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed and you're watching The Gunn Show.

00:00:08.040 The Gunn Show.

00:00:38.040 But then they announced a hike to the corporate tax.

00:00:41.320 Who do they think own or patronize Alberta corporations, if not for Albertans?

00:00:47.060 Who do they think will be paying for the increased costs?

00:00:50.000 In the taxes, it either has to be eaten by the owner of the corporation,

00:00:53.660 who already doesn't have a lot of wiggle room left in the bottom line because of Trudeau's failed policies,

00:00:59.880 his increased taxes, and of course inflation.

00:01:03.020 Or the cost increase will be passed along to the consumer.

00:01:08.220 But either way, Albertans pay.

00:01:10.020 We all will.

00:01:10.880 And it sounds like we'll pay for no real benefit.

00:01:15.080 Joining me today to explain all this is my friend Chris Sims.

00:01:18.560 She's the Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and much smarter than me.

00:01:24.320 She's incredible at breaking down these overly complicated ideas in a way that we can all understand.

00:01:29.840 Take a listen.

00:01:30.360 So joining me now is my friend Chris Sims from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:01:42.640 Chris, I just can't wait until you're on the show again.

00:01:45.680 Every time the show is done, I'm like, when can we have Chris back again?

00:01:48.240 I try to give the viewers a little bit of breathing room because sometimes the things you say,

00:01:52.240 not you personally, are kind of irritating when you talk about how the government is wasting our money.

00:01:59.140 But we actually have a politician who is proposing something really good.

00:02:04.960 And right now we're in the middle of an election campaign.

00:02:08.080 We're just in the homestretch.

00:02:10.280 And the United Conservatives are proposing a Taxpayer Protection Act.

00:02:14.660 Tell us about this.

00:02:15.480 Yeah, this is really important and it would be a game changer for all Albertans.

00:02:20.280 So right now here in Alberta, we have a law on the books that is called the Taxpayer Protection Act.

00:02:26.240 Some of you might have noticed that we don't have a PST.

00:02:29.560 There's no provincial sales tax here in Alberta, which is why it's called the Alberta Advantage.

00:02:34.540 Now what the UCP is proposing is that they would then expand the Taxpayer Protection Act

00:02:41.360 to include any personal income tax increases.

00:02:45.480 So in layman's terms, they're saying that they're going to tie their own hands as the government

00:02:50.880 and say, we cannot increase your income taxes.

00:02:54.920 We're going to enshrine it in law.

00:02:56.840 Now I can hear some folks saying, yeah, well, they can just change the law.

00:03:01.320 Yeah, technically they could.

00:03:02.840 But they'd open themselves up to a whole heck of a lot of embarrassment and shame and scorn

00:03:08.640 from some folks in the field if they did something like that.

00:03:12.700 So again, this is why a PST is often referred to as political suicide in Alberta.

00:03:19.400 I don't like that term because it's nasty, but that is why that's called that.

00:03:23.120 And it's because they would have to open up or scrap this law and then hike taxes.

00:03:28.400 So what the UCP is saying is, hey, you know what that Taxpayer Protection Act does for no PST?

00:03:34.400 Let's enshrine no income tax hikes with that as well.

00:03:38.140 So we're super stoked about that.

00:03:40.700 Yeah.

00:03:40.920 And, you know, you talk about something that actually has happened in the past.

00:03:45.500 So in Alberta, we used to have a law and we sort of do again that prevented the government

00:03:51.100 from deficit spending and then the former progressive conservative government, I think in part it

00:03:59.620 led to their downfall.

00:04:01.840 They scrapped that.

00:04:03.260 They started deficit spending and debt spending and Alberta started to not be that place of

00:04:08.280 opportunity.

00:04:09.880 And it sort of sank the Alberta advantage.

00:04:13.120 And I think it contributed to their very quick demise after four decades in power.

00:04:20.800 Yeah, I think it did, too.

00:04:22.620 And for folks who are saying, oh, well, it doesn't matter.

00:04:25.400 It does matter.

00:04:26.680 You know, nothing is carved in stone.

00:04:28.740 You know, we cannot get inside their brains and alter them forever.

00:04:32.340 But we can at least put up a fight, right?

00:04:34.940 As taxpayers, as citizens, as voters, we can say, you know what?

00:04:39.220 We're not going to make this easy for you.

00:04:41.000 And so things like balanced budget legislation, which they're also wanting to do, they passed

00:04:46.700 a law.

00:04:47.540 So during the last budget back in February, feels like a million years ago, they passed

00:04:53.460 a law saying, hey, in future, this is going to be balanced budget legislation, meaning they

00:04:58.480 can't run a deficit unless they're in a massive, big hullabaloo crisis.

00:05:03.340 They also, this is key, they must hold future spending increases to the rate of inflation and

00:05:10.900 population growth.

00:05:12.580 This is huge.

00:05:13.620 This is something that the Taxpayers Federation has been pushing for since like the 90s.

00:05:18.540 Like the Backstreet Boys were topping the charts back when we were first pushing this, okay?

00:05:23.260 And so they're saying that they want to keep all of these major promises.

00:05:27.280 And for folks who are saying, well, you know, we can't hold it, hold them to it.

00:05:31.120 We can.

00:05:32.280 We can make it really hard for them.

00:05:34.200 So yes, the government could grab the wheel and go for the exit ramp, but boy, oh boy,

00:05:38.940 we're going to be putting rumble strips and, you know, speed bumps and maybe a couple of

00:05:43.120 those big sawhorses right in front of them.

00:05:45.500 So that we're going to make it really hard for them to break these promises.

00:05:48.620 And so this is what makes the Alberta Advantage a real thing of keeping taxes low and keeping

00:05:54.880 spending restrained in seeing these promises.

00:05:57.760 And we're seeing them come from the UCP and we're really happy to see it.

00:06:00.980 Yeah, and I think it speaks to the philosophy of the current government and the United Conservative

00:06:06.720 Party.

00:06:07.340 And I think this comes directly from the Premier's office, is that there's a philosophy of

00:06:13.980 responsibility, fiduciary duty to the people who are paying the bills, and that's us.

00:06:19.120 But also that so often we see governments who pass laws to restrain the behaviors of the

00:06:26.520 citizenry.

00:06:27.220 This is a government that has passed two major laws or considering the second one as a campaign

00:06:33.460 promise, restraining themselves, restraining the size and scope of government as opposed

00:06:39.200 to restraining the freedom of the citizens.

00:06:41.820 And I think that's a real philosophical difference between the United Conservatives and I think

00:06:47.560 probably almost every major political party in the entire country at this point.

00:06:51.400 Yeah, and I agree.

00:06:53.600 I think it's largely, my gut's telling me, it's largely coming from the Premier's office

00:06:57.320 as well.

00:06:58.460 I've spoken with Premier Smith many times on the air, both as a CTF person or a media person.

00:07:06.560 And I've also spoken to her more casually and privately.

00:07:09.600 And this is something that she's talked about openly.

00:07:12.820 It's a fun topic for her.

00:07:14.440 I, she was totally geeking out one time, I remember, she was saying, hey, do you realize

00:07:20.440 that if we put X amount of dollars, I forget how much it was, into the heritage savings

00:07:24.300 plan for year after year after year for a certain amount of time, we could totally eliminate

00:07:29.240 income tax in the future?

00:07:31.580 Like, gone at some point in time down the road?

00:07:34.140 And she really was right into it.

00:07:36.240 Like, this wasn't even me starting this conversation.

00:07:38.240 And so, I do think, philosophically, it's coming from that office.

00:07:42.800 And we really want to see this put in place.

00:07:45.360 Because again, like you say, if they restrain themselves, if we have smaller, more accountable,

00:07:51.580 more fiscally responsible government, it frees up people to go out there and make their fortune,

00:07:58.100 to go out there and be entrepreneurs, to be job creators, and to make that money, and to

00:08:02.460 reinvest back into their families and communities.

00:08:04.700 We think it's better to have the money in the hands of those folks than in the hands

00:08:09.020 of government.

00:08:10.180 Yeah, and this is something we were talking about before we hit record, but I think this

00:08:14.180 is a good place to talk about it, is actually, if you leave more money in the hands of people,

00:08:19.280 it actually creates revenue for the government.

00:08:23.520 Right now, we have the NDP saying that they're not going to raise taxes, as a campaign promise,

00:08:29.020 out of one side of their mouth.

00:08:30.400 And then they're proposing a corporate tax hike on the other side.

00:08:34.360 And you pulled some numbers that show that actually, when corporate taxes are lower in

00:08:41.220 Alberta, you see a capital influx.

00:08:44.840 People want to come here and start a business as opposed to somewhere else.

00:08:47.880 And that actually ends up with more money in the government's hands.

00:08:51.820 Yeah, that's true.

00:08:52.780 And it might sound counterintuitive.

00:08:55.140 So I'm going to actually pull up the numbers right here in front of me.

00:08:58.360 Bear with me, folks.

00:08:59.280 So when we have a lower corporate tax rate, we have, at this point, 8% corporate tax rate.

00:09:07.760 So this means all of those businesses that aren't small businesses, which is a lot of businesses

00:09:12.120 in Alberta, we have an 8% corporate tax rate.

00:09:15.460 We're pulling in about $6.4 billion for this fiscal year.

00:09:21.740 Okay, 8% pulling in 6.4.

00:09:25.920 Back when the rate was 12%, so it was higher, we were only pulling in $4.8 billion per year.

00:09:34.600 So again, with a lower corporate tax rate, the government is actually pulling in more revenue.

00:09:41.700 There's more stuff going into that pot with the lower rate.

00:09:45.640 With the higher rate, there's less.

00:09:48.820 And so it might sound counterintuitive, but this is why we're really concerned about this

00:09:54.340 announcement coming from NDP leader and former Premier Rachel Notley.

00:09:58.480 Because if you do that kind of a huge tax hike, you're really running a risk there of scaring

00:10:04.400 off the businesses and entrepreneurs and job creators that are flocking here.

00:10:09.700 You're acting as a scarecrow to that flock of people.

00:10:12.880 Yeah, it seems counterintuitive, but when you think about it, it's really not.

00:10:18.120 You want people to move here and start a business.

00:10:20.280 You want people who are thinking about starting businesses to start a business.

00:10:24.260 You want people to spend the money that they didn't have to give to the government in taxes

00:10:28.220 into the economy, to buy a pickup, to buy tools, to hire people who then spend money into the economy.

00:10:35.160 It makes perfect sense that if you leave the money in the hands of the people, it creates

00:10:40.440 an economic superheated furnace that we have seen here in Alberta.

00:10:47.660 I'm happy for us to be sort of returning back to that, but leave it to a socialist to not

00:10:52.480 understand that.

00:10:53.820 This is it.

00:10:54.400 And this is where it gets so frustrating because they'll turn around and say something good

00:10:58.420 like, hey, let's make the small business tax rate zero.

00:11:02.400 Great, that's good.

00:11:04.380 And it's actually would match Saskatchewan right now.

00:11:07.000 They're on track to increase it in June, I think, last I heard.

00:11:10.660 But right now, as of right now, Saskatchewan has a zero percent small business tax.

00:11:15.220 But here's the catch.

00:11:16.780 By making that zero and then hiking the corporate business tax, it's basically telling entrepreneurs,

00:11:24.500 oh, sure, come here, do your thing.

00:11:26.840 But don't you get successful?

00:11:28.140 The moment you start climbing that ladder and you start increasing your wealth and you

00:11:33.520 start hiring people, all this good stuff, and you get bigger and better and, you know,

00:11:38.180 stronger, we're going to nail you with higher taxes. 0.94

00:11:41.860 It's wrong.

00:11:43.900 It's totally wrong.

00:11:44.940 They shouldn't say that to people who are creating jobs and creating wealth.

00:11:49.640 And again, it speaks to it's almost a lack of understanding.

00:11:53.020 It must be.

00:11:53.660 Why else would they say on one side, oh, we're going to reduce this down to zero.

00:11:58.040 But on the other side, don't you get too big or successful or we're going to hit you

00:12:01.540 with this baseball bat.

00:12:03.040 And which is why we said to them, folks, just keep the corporate tax rate where it is.

00:12:07.700 Eight percent is nice and low.

00:12:09.640 Keep in mind, you're not just competing with British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

00:12:13.520 In some cases, depending on the industry or corporation, you're competing with all of North

00:12:17.980 America in most cases.

00:12:19.660 North Dakota.

00:12:20.520 Yeah, exactly.

00:12:21.920 Bingo.

00:12:22.180 And so this is where we're saying hiking taxes, really bad plan.

00:12:27.220 And also, I haven't had a chance to look right into their data.

00:12:32.240 And so I will.

00:12:33.940 But as of right now for the NDP, I'm not seeing matching pledges like balanced budget legislation.

00:12:42.360 I'm not seeing a firm debt repayment plan, which we're seeing with the UCP, which is now

00:12:48.020 in law.

00:12:48.460 I'm not seeing a promise to keep the fuel tax suspended.

00:12:53.020 Right.

00:12:54.060 Right now, we have no Alberta fuel tax.

00:12:56.200 We're saving 13 cents per liter.

00:12:58.180 We have some of the lowest gas prices in all of Canada because we have the lowest taxes

00:13:02.760 in all of Canada.

00:13:03.860 I'm not seeing their documents saying, hey, yeah, we're right on board with that.

00:13:09.080 So I'm really leery about the spending and potential tax hikes here.

00:13:14.120 Yeah.

00:13:15.140 And I think in Rachel Notley's announcement to raise the corporate tax rate, I think it

00:13:22.140 presumes a certain amount of, you might say, lack of knowledge.

00:13:25.160 But I would say bigotry against the business community because she's presuming that corporations 1.00

00:13:32.620 are all Walmart or all Amazon, as opposed to the majority of people who work in the oil

00:13:40.940 patch are contractors with their own tools and their own corporation and their own equipment,

00:13:47.100 their own pickup trucks, their own insurance.

00:13:49.160 It might be one guy, it might be his wife, a lot of farms, family farms are structured 0.97

00:13:55.680 as corporations for, you know, for tax reasons, for inheritance reasons.

00:14:00.560 There's a whole host of reasons why somebody might do that, how they pay their kids, how

00:14:05.580 they pay for their kids' school.

00:14:08.420 People are really creative about how they structure their businesses.

00:14:11.300 And it's not all Amazons and Walmart and big, enormous, faceless corporations.

00:14:18.060 Corporations, corporations might just be your neighbor fixing small machinery in his garage

00:14:24.240 for a living.

00:14:25.500 And it's just the little guys, it's our friends and neighbors.

00:14:29.100 And I think the people on the other side of the argument who so often just generally work

00:14:34.320 for government, they don't really understand that.

00:14:37.220 They don't.

00:14:38.120 And it even, you know, to take it a step further, right, visualize.

00:14:41.480 So I'm here in Lethbridge and I absolutely love it here.

00:14:44.540 Thank you for taking me in from BC.

00:14:45.760 Um, I feel like I have to tell you that every time I talk to you.

00:14:49.500 Um, so I'm here in Lethbridge, you drive just outside of the residential area and you go

00:14:53.960 into like the industrial area.

00:14:55.840 Um, they're cheek to jowl with these major companies and industries that are literally

00:15:01.360 building and feeding this province.

00:15:03.400 So you could have something like a manufacturer of like a grain silo, right?

00:15:09.240 Or, uh, a truck and trailer fabricator that is doing major welding because they're hauling

00:15:15.800 livestock, they're hauling feed.

00:15:17.440 All of these things are quite likely corporations and quite likely they employ lots of people.

00:15:23.980 Even something as simple as concrete.

00:15:26.200 I was speaking with one of the guys who heads up a major concrete company at a movie premiere

00:15:32.340 last night on Aaron Gunn's latest documentary.

00:15:35.120 We went to it, the opening here with the mayor in Lethbridge and I met up with one of the

00:15:39.900 guys there who basically runs the concrete supply here in Southern Alberta.

00:15:44.540 Like you can't build stuff unless you have a strong foundation and that's literally building

00:15:50.360 the province.

00:15:50.880 So are they going to then turn around and nail him with a higher tax rate?

00:15:56.000 Why?

00:15:56.640 If you're taking in more money, more revenue with a lower corporate tax rate, why lash out

00:16:02.920 and increase it?

00:16:04.700 Like if your end game is to get more revenue to, I don't know, help more people, whatever

00:16:09.540 their thinking is, why then turn around and hike this tax?

00:16:13.360 And so again, I think it, I think it is a misunderstanding of this almost caricature, caricature level.

00:16:20.880 Like Monopoly man, twirling his mustache, running Walmart.

00:16:24.780 Scourge McDuck.

00:16:25.280 Yeah.

00:16:25.880 Scourge McDuck.

00:16:26.720 I love it.

00:16:27.280 Exactly.

00:16:27.840 Diving through all of his money coins.

00:16:29.280 Yeah.

00:16:29.740 It's not, you know, there's maybe three people like that.

00:16:33.020 Other than them, there's a whole lot of people that you would probably recognize as your

00:16:37.400 neighbor who would pay a corporate tax rate.

00:16:40.760 Yeah.

00:16:41.300 It's, I don't know.

00:16:42.660 It's just odd.

00:16:43.920 I just don't understand.

00:16:44.880 Like, as you say, if you're taking more money with the tax rate the way it is, why would

00:16:48.880 you tinker with that except for a philosophical disagreement that doesn't align with the facts

00:16:56.060 that you think money is best served in the hands of government deciding what to do with

00:17:00.300 it, as opposed to the people who created the wealth themselves?

00:17:03.360 Exactly.

00:17:04.600 I wanted to ask you, do you, do you believe the NDP when they say that they are not going

00:17:10.820 to raise taxes on normal people?

00:17:15.900 I don't believe them because they gave us a carbon tax in 2015 after never campaigning

00:17:21.680 on it.

00:17:22.420 And then they said, but it's not a tax, Sheila.

00:17:24.600 It's a levy.

00:17:25.580 So much.

00:17:27.200 Yeah, it's my favorite.

00:17:29.000 So my kids would say that that's sus. 0.90

00:17:33.380 Yeah.

00:17:33.700 That's the NDP promising that they're not going to raise taxes.

00:17:39.980 That's, I'm super suspicious of that.

00:17:42.360 So that's sus. 0.93

00:17:43.500 I was listening to Ms. Notley on a radio show.

00:17:47.080 It was, I guess it was about 10 days ago.

00:17:49.020 And the host, to his credit, it was on a Calgary radio station, was saying, hey, but you didn't

00:17:54.180 campaign on the carbon tax and we still got one.

00:17:56.840 And her answer was something along the lines of, yeah, but we didn't say that we weren't

00:18:01.900 going to put one in because you didn't ask me exactly.

00:18:05.540 So this is where they might think in their comms shop, and this goes for all politicians,

00:18:12.260 they might think in their communications shop that they're being really cute, like super

00:18:17.340 clever. 0.51

00:18:18.560 The former leader of the federal conservative party, and I stress the former, Aaron O'Toole,

00:18:23.840 thought they were being super cute by signing our pledge to say, I will never, ever, ever

00:18:29.200 impose a carbon tax and I will scrap the carbon tax, blah, blah, blah.

00:18:33.280 They thought they were clever when they said, oh, well, it's not a tax, it's a levy, and

00:18:36.920 you get all these green points and mcbucks and what normal people can't stand politicians.

00:18:43.640 And this is why.

00:18:45.060 Because they're twisting language, and they are trying to get away with something as 0.98

00:18:50.680 important as hiking taxes on your everyday life, like a carbon tax, while saying they're

00:18:55.240 not doing so.

00:18:56.060 People aren't, you know, they're not naive, they know when their costs are going up, they

00:19:01.600 don't care what they're calling it.

00:19:03.460 And so exactly based on the same thing, because of the surprise Alberta carbon tax, I am very

00:19:12.940 suspicious when I hear we won't raise taxes.

00:19:16.980 Yeah.

00:19:17.140 I'm also really kind of scratching my head over her pledge, because she said this during

00:19:22.480 the same radio interview, over her pledge to balance the budget, like, throughout the

00:19:29.420 four-year term.

00:19:31.080 I don't know how they're plotting that, because they had four deficit budgets when they were

00:19:37.220 in.

00:19:38.140 Four.

00:19:38.900 So you're zero for four on balancing the budget.

00:19:41.960 Now, I can hear people saying, oh, they had softer oil prices.

00:19:44.640 Yeah, well, I agree.

00:19:46.100 But the UCP also had this COVID mess, right?

00:19:49.080 There's plenty of pain to go around.

00:19:50.940 OK, we get it.

00:19:51.740 Lots of excuses, blah, blah, blah.

00:19:53.540 But just looking, zero for four.

00:19:57.160 So I might tell you, Sheila, that I could score a hat trick.

00:20:01.280 Easy.

00:20:02.460 But I can't skate.

00:20:04.600 So the chances aren't zero, but they're near zero.

00:20:09.800 So when I hear them saying, yeah, we're going to balance the budget, no problem.

00:20:12.360 When I look at their record in government, they've never done it.

00:20:16.160 Now, to be fair, the UCP had two deficits, too, but they also had two surpluses.

00:20:20.760 So they're two and two.

00:20:22.460 NDP is zero for four.

00:20:24.080 Well, and not only did the NDP have nothing but deficit spending, but multiple credit downgrades.

00:20:31.420 Multiple, multiple credit downgrades.

00:20:34.200 And, you know, further to your point, just sort of walking back to the corporate tax rate hike that the NDP are proposing, that also is a tax hike on everybody.

00:20:44.820 Because do we really think that these corporations are just going to eat a tax hike?

00:20:49.420 They're going to pass it to the consumer, of course.

00:20:52.020 They don't have a lot of wiggle room in their bottom line.

00:20:54.460 So when you go to have your vehicle fixed at the local mechanic, the rates are going to go up because he can't eat that cost.

00:21:03.820 You have to.

00:21:05.060 Because the money has to come from somewhere.

00:21:08.760 So they can do one of two things or three things.

00:21:11.720 Let's do something fun here.

00:21:12.980 They can do three things.

00:21:13.860 They can leave, right?

00:21:16.040 If they're a big mega, you know, mustachio twirling corporation with the top hat that people don't like,

00:21:21.440 they can just leave and go somewhere else because they have the capital and the money and blah, blah, blah.

00:21:25.420 And they can go.

00:21:26.560 They can lay people off.

00:21:28.680 So they can save money on payroll.

00:21:31.440 Or they can increase the costs of the stuff.

00:21:35.300 So whatever they're selling, it could be, I don't know, internet access.

00:21:39.740 It could be that feed, that grain silo I was talking about.

00:21:43.300 It could be, you know, the folks, you know, who are manufacturing, you know, the trailers for our trucks.

00:21:47.600 Whatever it is, they could pass that cost on with that widget.

00:21:53.880 And again, this is something that they just seem to not understand.

00:21:58.160 And this is going to sound snotty.

00:22:00.460 And I'm not trying to be snotty because the title of it is a little bit off-putting.

00:22:04.840 But I strongly recommend every single person read the book by Thomas Sowell.

00:22:11.620 It's called Basic Economics.

00:22:14.300 Yeah.

00:22:14.500 Okay.

00:22:14.720 I am not an economist.

00:22:15.740 I am mostly a journalist.

00:22:17.760 But some of my best friends are economists.

00:22:20.680 And they, many years ago, recommended that I read this book.

00:22:23.840 And it's for free.

00:22:24.740 You can listen to it for free on the internet.

00:22:26.860 Okay.

00:22:27.280 The man is brilliant.

00:22:28.840 And he explains exactly this all the way down so everybody can understand it.

00:22:33.980 On supply, demand, scarcity, wealth, how money moves, why inflation happens, all of this stuff.

00:22:42.840 And so I just truly am concerned when I hear a leader and a politician saying something like,

00:22:50.940 we're going to drop the small business tax rate down to zero, but turn around and nuke you with a huge tax hike on the other side if you become too successful.

00:22:59.600 So we have to keep all of this in mind when we're assessing each of the party's platforms.

00:23:05.380 Now, to be fair, the UCP hasn't put out their costed platform yet, whatever they would call that.

00:23:11.260 I think it's coming out next week.

00:23:13.000 But they already passed so much economic legislation during the budget that, again, a lot of it got lost.

00:23:21.560 So spending restraint, debt repayment, savings account, too.

00:23:24.780 A lot of people didn't notice that.

00:23:26.400 And balanced budget legislation.

00:23:28.160 Like, these are major things.

00:23:30.400 Now, before I let you go, although we're already over time.

00:23:33.640 Sorry.

00:23:34.260 No, no, no.

00:23:34.780 I'm great.

00:23:35.360 I just don't want to take up your whole day.

00:23:36.680 I could, obviously.

00:23:38.740 But I wanted to talk to you about, and it's not something that I asked you about off camera.

00:23:43.180 So if you don't have an opinion or the Taxpayers Federation doesn't really have an opinion, that's great.

00:23:48.660 But I see that the NDP and the unions are attacking the UCP pledge to maintain funding for private and charter schools.

00:23:58.860 And for me, I mean, I realize why the NDP is doing it.

00:24:03.300 They believe all things should be under the purview of big government.

00:24:05.760 And all teachers should work for the government.

00:24:09.540 But as a taxpayer, I look at that and I say, okay, well, parents who send their kids to private or charter schools, they are also taxpayers.

00:24:18.360 They pay education taxes, a portion of their property tax.

00:24:22.440 And those schools actually operate cheaper.

00:24:25.620 They save about 30% out of the bottom line.

00:24:29.820 They provide, I think we can all agree, excellent education, excellent choice to parents whose kids, you know, parents who are maybe seeking a parochial education or religious education for their kids or, you know, the charter schools, the military schools, the hockey academies.

00:24:46.600 They're doing it at 70% of what the public system does.

00:24:51.120 And I think they're seeing far better outcomes.

00:24:55.140 And just a little known fact in all of that is that parents who send their kids to these schools are by and large not wealthy.

00:25:04.700 Actually, I think they're actually under the average income.

00:25:09.480 It's just a choice that they're choosing to make.

00:25:14.360 Does the Taxpayer Federation, do you guys have a view on this?

00:25:18.260 Are you pro of private education?

00:25:21.320 Like, what's the view on that?

00:25:22.580 For me, I think more choice, the better.

00:25:24.200 And that's what makes Alberta great. 0.99

00:25:25.540 We have one of the most diverse education systems for our students and our families.

00:25:29.320 Where are you guys on that?

00:25:30.900 We're pretty much on the same page as you.

00:25:32.600 We want to see more choice, generally speaking, just from like 30,000 feet.

00:25:38.540 It does save money.

00:25:40.360 So that's number one.

00:25:41.680 The other part of our mandate is lower taxes, less waste, and more accountable government.

00:25:48.140 Before that, it's smaller in brackets.

00:25:50.840 Smaller, more accountable government.

00:25:52.460 Because the vast majority of our supporters want more freedom, more independence, more autonomy.

00:25:58.540 And right now, the way the system works, according to these experts that I've listened to here in Alberta,

00:26:04.600 is that the money follows the child.

00:26:06.520 Yes.

00:26:07.000 So that, say, you want to put your kid in a charter school,

00:26:12.100 the money will follow your kid into that charter school.

00:26:16.040 Okay?

00:26:16.540 They still have to abide, obviously, by all the same rules of the province, right?

00:26:23.120 They can't, you know, start teaching them crazy stuff.

00:26:26.080 But what a lot of people don't seem to know is that, number one, the money follows the kid.

00:26:31.540 Okay?

00:26:31.980 So this isn't an increase in cost.

00:26:33.660 It's usually a decrease in cost, to your point.

00:26:35.900 Number two, most charter schools actually have to find a geographical, physical location in older buildings.

00:26:44.560 Yep.

00:26:44.840 Like, they're finding unused buildings that are sitting there otherwise vacant and using them in a very efficient way.

00:26:51.340 And number three, just from a more choice, more diversity, smaller government, more individuality for freedom and a family's perspective,

00:27:01.500 I don't think a lot of folks realize that charter schools can be anything from, say, a classic academy,

00:27:09.080 where you're learning the classics like Greek and Latin and English literature, to rural stuff.

00:27:15.920 Like, they're teaching them, like, on-farm mechanics, like, really specialized things.

00:27:21.360 And they're also including really specialized things like First Nations cultural-based learning.

00:27:27.520 Like, that's incredible.

00:27:30.280 Like, really incredible.

00:27:32.100 And so for folks who initially go, oh, I don't want private schools, stop.

00:27:37.420 Listen, the money follows the kid.

00:27:41.460 Yep.

00:27:41.940 And it gives them more choice.

00:27:44.160 And it can be, like I said, this wide range of specialized schools, including for kids who have autism, who have learning disabilities.

00:27:52.860 They get way more tailored and specialized care and attention in some of these charter schools.

00:27:59.440 And you've got to hand it to the parents here who are really researching and doing their homework and trying to figure out what's best for their kid.

00:28:07.480 And so, yeah, number one, from everything we can tell, looks like it's saving money.

00:28:12.020 Two, people who use them really like them.

00:28:14.660 And three, it makes it more, a smaller government and gives more autonomy to individuals, which is all really good stuff.

00:28:21.720 Yeah, it's odd that the people who won't shut up about diversity being their strength, wanting to shoehorn other people's kids into cookie-cutter schools where they may or may not thrive.

00:28:31.160 Yeah, I honestly, I think most of the time, maybe this is my naivete coming in, I think people often don't know what they don't know.

00:28:40.840 Yeah.

00:28:41.000 And I think much of the time, they just hear something like, oh, rich private school, and then they stop listening or they don't know.

00:28:49.640 If you sit down and explain, like we just did, the wide variety of what you can pick for these schools and the benefit for some of these kids, I think you'd capture a lot more hearts and minds.

00:29:01.900 And so, I think most of the time, people don't know what they don't know.

00:29:05.060 Yeah, that was one of the most shocking statistics for me that I saw is, you know, like I have relatives who send their kids to private religious, like private religious schools, not separate as we have the Catholic system here.

00:29:18.540 Yeah.

00:29:18.720 They're not rich by any means.

00:29:20.720 And so, I dug down into the Fraser Institute data, and they do some really great research on this.

00:29:26.340 They're the best, actually, on this.

00:29:27.660 Yep.

00:29:28.140 The income of these families is below the average.

00:29:31.440 It's just something that they are choosing for their kids.

00:29:34.260 And so, there is a stigma that says, you know, like you're just wealthy people.

00:29:38.500 This is like their pet thing is they want their separate system where they don't have to be near your icky snot-nosed kids. 0.99

00:29:46.240 And that's not it at all. 0.52

00:29:47.980 It's not it at all.

00:29:49.760 No, especially here in Alberta, it's not it at all.

00:29:52.740 I have been, you know, private schools, for example, exist in downtown Ottawa.

00:29:57.540 Yeah.

00:29:57.880 Where people from Rockcliffe and the Glebe are sending their kids to these schools.

00:30:03.800 And in some cases, the tuition rivals that of university for, like, a nine-year-old.

00:30:09.300 And they're in prep school to become, you know, deputy ministers of the crown forever and be bureaucrats forever or international famous lawyers or whatever they do.

00:30:19.440 That's largely not the case here.

00:30:21.620 When we're talking charter schools in Alberta, we're talking exactly what you were just describing.

00:30:25.380 Yeah. And, you know, I think it provides opportunities to kids to have access to specialized education that suits their needs in a way that is not available in the rest of the country.

00:30:36.600 And if you want kids who are vulnerable to have the same level of education and opportunities as kids who are wealthy, I think Alberta's system is probably the best case scenario in this country.

00:30:48.580 And I don't think we should tinker with it the way the NDP would like us to do.

00:30:53.400 Chris, I want to ask you before I let you go.

00:30:55.840 Predictions for Election Day.

00:30:57.420 We're hurtling headlong towards it.

00:31:01.220 I honestly, I have had people explain polling to me.

00:31:07.540 And to me, have you seen that beautiful mind where Russell Crowe is backing up and there's all these numbers and stuff going around?

00:31:14.540 So I can do percentages for you.

00:31:16.340 I can, like, rip through a budget real quick and figure it out for you.

00:31:19.660 As far as polling goes, there's so many variabilities.

00:31:23.080 You know, how big is the sample size?

00:31:24.880 Where did they ask?

00:31:25.580 Yeah, exactly.

00:31:27.100 Who's answering the phone?

00:31:28.280 Who typically still has a landline?

00:31:30.040 How old are they?

00:31:31.080 Like, there's a million things going on there.

00:31:34.080 I will put it this way.

00:31:36.660 I think, obviously, the cliche is the big poll that matters is Election Day.

00:31:41.840 My feeling is that it's close.

00:31:45.060 Right?

00:31:45.520 So I'm here in Lethbridge and that's kind of a swing riding.

00:31:48.720 My feeling is that it's close.

00:31:50.940 My feeling also, though, is that people are more engaged.

00:31:54.400 So I don't know if that's different because I'm from BC and people in Alberta are just more engaged people.

00:32:02.620 That may be it.

00:32:04.960 Right?

00:32:05.340 But I am hearing people talk about it.

00:32:08.020 I'm seeing a lot of signs in our neighbourhood.

00:32:10.300 It is obviously all through the airwaves.

00:32:12.800 I think it's too close to call.

00:32:15.140 Honestly.

00:32:16.160 And I think that both teams had better get their ground game going.

00:32:20.980 And their door-knocking teams had better be working almost around the clock.

00:32:26.620 Sun up to sun down.

00:32:27.480 They've got to be out there on the doors.

00:32:29.120 And it's not guaranteed.

00:32:30.560 I think, personally, it's too close to call.

00:32:33.560 I think it is a lot closer than it should be.

00:32:37.220 And I remain optimistic that Albertans are not going to fall into some sort of collective madness the way they did in 2015.

00:32:47.900 And I think Calgary is going to save us from ourselves, I think.

00:32:53.580 At the end of the day, I think folks really need to look at what's important to them.

00:32:59.140 And if affordability is important to them, they need to realise that that doesn't mean that the government promises you a bunch of free programmes.

00:33:08.440 Okay?

00:33:08.980 Because it's not free.

00:33:10.440 You're going to pay for it.

00:33:11.920 You're either going to pay for it directly with a tax increase, or you're going to pay and your grandkids are going to pay.

00:33:17.420 Because we're going to hurdle even deeper into debt, and we're going to be spending billions of dollars per year on our interest payments, on the provincial debt, and we're going to get credit downgrades.

00:33:28.280 So, if affordability is your thing, look to people who are saying, we are going to lower your taxes and guarantee to lower them.

00:33:37.100 And again, the NDP could come out tomorrow and match those promises.

00:33:41.960 Nothing is stopping them from confirming that they will match all those same promises.

00:33:47.420 Kids, listen to your Auntie Chris.

00:33:50.100 Everybody.

00:33:51.260 Yes, please.

00:33:53.080 Chris, tell us how people can get involved in the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

00:33:57.460 You guys do great work.

00:33:58.600 You don't take any money from any level of government.

00:34:02.020 And you advocate for the normals out there against the behemoth of government.

00:34:07.220 So, how do people help you, and how do they help you help them?

00:34:11.540 Awesome.

00:34:11.880 Well, you can go to our website, taxpayer.com, and the first thing you should do is click on the petitions page.

00:34:18.100 And the reason why you should do that is because we got something there for everybody.

00:34:21.300 If your thing is to cancel the gun grab, we have a petition.

00:34:24.800 If you want to defund the CBC and stop giving the media government money, you should sign that petition.

00:34:31.820 We have all, like, scrap the carbon tax.

00:34:33.540 Whatever your thing is, sign that corresponding petition, and now you're part of our standing army.

00:34:38.740 So, that means any time this issue comes up, we're going to send you an email blast saying,

00:34:43.100 everybody phone the minister right now.

00:34:45.600 It's like critical mass.

00:34:46.880 Also, on our website, there's really good tips on how to start your own ratepayers organization.

00:34:52.100 Because if you're loud and you're noisy, you're pushing back,

00:34:55.020 and you're not letting politicians get away with wasting your money.

00:34:57.720 So, go to our website, taxpayer.com.

00:35:00.440 It's a huge wealth of resources for anybody who wants lower taxes, less waste, and smaller, more accountable government.

00:35:06.500 Chris, thanks so much for coming on the show.

00:35:09.380 I'm sure we'll have you back on again after the election to either celebrate or plot for the future.

00:35:17.680 Build our bunkers together.

00:35:20.700 I'll get my canning ready.

00:35:23.040 And we'll, yeah, me too.

00:35:24.600 And we'll talk very, very soon.

00:35:26.240 Thanks so much.

00:35:27.180 You bet.

00:35:27.440 We'll talk very soon.

00:35:57.440 And if you don't like it, then you don't support us.

00:36:03.200 And then we wither on the vine and die, unlike the mainstream media who have to rely on their sugar daddy, Justin Trudeau,

00:36:08.900 for a constant series of bailouts, which prevent them from receiving the market correction and mass layoffs they so rightly deserve.

00:36:17.720 But if you don't want to send me an email, might I suggest you leave a comment on one of the platforms wherein you find us.

00:36:24.940 If you're still watching us on the censorship platform of YouTube, leave a comment there over on Rumble.

00:36:30.060 Likewise, sometimes I go looking on those platforms for what you think about what we do here at Rebel News.

00:36:36.060 Now, today's email letter comes to me from somebody named John.

00:36:42.480 We're not going to publish his email address, but he put gun show in the subject line.

00:36:47.400 So I'm just assuming that he doesn't have a problem with me reading the email.

00:36:53.160 And I'm pretty sure he got my email from watching the show last week because I don't really think that he's a regular viewer.

00:37:00.460 And if you stay with me as we read his letter, I think you'll see why.

00:37:06.280 So it comes to us from John and he says,

00:37:09.920 Normally, I would not say something about appearances, but after having watched your show with Josh.

00:37:15.400 Now, this is Josh Andrus from Project Confederation.

00:37:18.360 We talked for about a half an hour about election predictions here in Alberta and the raw deal that Alberta is getting within Confederation and things we can do to make it better.

00:37:26.980 I thought it was pretty interesting, but this was John's takeaway.

00:37:29.660 But after having watched your show with Josh, I have to say that you have to get your hair out of your eyes.

00:37:36.640 A nice trim, perhaps.

00:37:38.820 Also drinking coffee or water on camera.

00:37:41.560 Looks highly unprofessional and is a real turnoff.

00:37:46.160 If you need a drink, John offers me editing advice, even though I do not edit my videos.

00:37:52.560 We have a talented production team that does.

00:37:55.000 Anyways, he says, if you need a drink, focus the picture on your guest for a few moments.

00:38:00.400 Finally, finally, your farmer or cowgirl look, because last week I was wearing a plaid shirt, as I tend to do.

00:38:09.740 Finally, your farmer or cowgirl look is a real put off.

00:38:15.840 If Rebel News wants credibility, then you will have to clean up your on-camera look.

00:38:21.160 Watch yourself and your interview with Josh on YouTube, and you will see what I mean.

00:38:27.060 Sincerely, John from Mill Bay, BC.

00:38:32.480 I'm going to respond to John.

00:38:34.720 And I should tell you that John sent me that on Mother's Day.

00:38:38.260 So I was enjoying my time with my children on Mother's Day, and that was the feedback that I got.

00:38:43.440 Now, I'll also tell you that I also received some positive, very positive feedback from the show last week.

00:38:50.100 And thank you to those who do.

00:38:51.500 I appreciate it very much.

00:38:52.900 I do take those things to heart.

00:38:54.340 I definitely don't take John's comments to heart, by the way, and you'll see why.

00:38:58.240 Anyways, I did write back to John.

00:39:00.340 I said, hi, you must be new to Rebel News if you're just discovering my Albertan aesthetic.

00:39:04.600 I'm quite literally a farmer, in case you're wondering.

00:39:07.920 To be frank, and that's what I'm paid to be.

00:39:09.680 I've received far more compliments about my authenticity in my appearance over the last eight years at Rebel News than busybody complaints.

00:39:18.100 But I recognize that I'm not for everyone.

00:39:20.880 That's okay.

00:39:21.400 Maybe Rachel Gilmore is more your speed. 1.00

00:39:23.980 Everyone has a type.

00:39:25.200 I'm not yours.

00:39:26.160 I'll do my best to survive this disappointment.

00:39:28.740 However, it's a shame that my curly hair, and I should point out to you that it is naturally curly.

00:39:33.220 This is the hair my father gave me.

00:39:35.720 That my curly hair, my dry throat, and my modest shirt, as I said last week, I was wearing a plaid shirt, again, as I tend to do.

00:39:42.800 But were your takeaways from a 30-minute, wide-ranging, thought-provoking, somewhat funny, and rather engaging interview with Josh Andrus?

00:39:52.200 I should inform you that it is a personal policy that I will not be accepting criticisms about my appearance from somebody who does not attach at least three candid, full-body photos to their email, wherein they meticulously break down my on-camera presence.

00:40:06.900 And I should actually suggest that if you are going to send me an email like this, friends at home, I want an audition tape to you.

00:40:13.380 Because I really want to see how you interact with the camera, just before I take those criticisms to heart.

00:40:21.200 If I were a leftist woman, I would be decrying the misogyny of all of this, but I'm not, so I don't take it personally.

00:40:28.860 Thanks for taking the time to write in on this beautiful Mother's Day.

00:40:32.340 I hope the women in your life rise to your high standards.

00:40:36.020 I can tell that you're a man of exacting tastes.

00:40:39.900 Sincerely, Sheila Gunn-Reed, Editor-in-Chief, Rebel News Network, and I forgot to add, 2022 Viewers' Choice Award winner.

00:40:50.400 P.S. Next time, try the free podcast if looking at me is too distracting.

00:40:55.120 Well, friends, and everybody else who thinks that they're going to feel as confident as John is to hit send on that email, think twice.

00:41:03.240 Just think twice.

00:41:06.740 Anyway, thanks everybody for tuning in.

00:41:10.020 And thank you to everybody who works behind the scenes in the studio in Toronto and at their desks around the country.

00:41:17.800 They work very hard to bring you all the shows you see here on Rebel News so that our content is there for you to watch when you're ready to click on it.

00:41:28.020 Let's make sure that we vote wisely, Albertans, in the upcoming election.

00:41:36.340 Calgary, you know what to do.

00:41:38.000 Save us from ourselves.

00:41:39.800 Edmonton, all hope is lost there.

00:41:41.900 Edmonton, if you are a conservative in Edmonton, I'm just so sorry that you're still there.

00:41:48.660 Maybe consider a suburb.

00:41:50.820 And as always, friends, remember, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.

00:42:11.900 Edmonton, all right.

Rebel News Podcast - May 17, 2023

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ UCP announces taxpayer protection law

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