Improving Fiscal Fairness in Canada
Alberta Transfer meter
Albertans sent $324 billion more to the rest of Canada than was spent in Alberta from 2000-2019 (Stats Canada 36-10-0450-01)
Albertans’ Net Contributions
(2000-2019)
Mandate
Fairness Alberta’s mandate is to inform Canadians about the magnitude of the contributions Albertans make to Canada, while educating Canadians about the damaging fiscal, trade, energy, procurement, and infrastructure policies that chronically undermine Alberta’s – and Canada’s – potential.
News
ALBERTA GROUP SEEKS ALLIES IN ONTARIO AND B.C. TO IMPROVE CANADA’S ECONOMY AND FISCAL FAIRNESS
EDMONTON, AB March 29, 2021 – Today, Fairness Alberta launched a social media campaign showing that Canada needs Alberta’s economy productive again to recover from this
Bill Bewick: Robbing Ontario and the West to pay for the rest — exposing the unfairness of equalization
Here’s Bill Bewick’s first nationwide Opinion piece in the National Post. Read the full story Originally posted: Feb 24th 2021
TV: Alberta Primetime interview on Equalization rebates and referendum
Bill appeared on Alberta Primetime again, this time to discuss Equalization rebates and the upcoming referendum.
Fairness Alberta Press Release: Equalization Referendum Offers Opportunity
EDMONTON, AB, JUNE 7, 2020 – As the Alberta Legislature prepares to vote today on a motion setting the language for a province-wide referendum on Equalization, Fairness
Fairness Alberta: Record Equalization Payments In Budget Are Unfair, Unaffordable, and Unnecessary
EDMONTON, AB, May 13, 2021 – Fairness Alberta has released an analysis highlighting how this year’s federal budget allocates a record $20.9 billion to the Equalization
Opinion: Provinces are converging. Why is equalization still growing?
In this Financial Post column we show that families in AB, ON, BC are paying over $2400 each for a bloated program. Read full story
About the ATM
The Alberta Transfer Meter (ATM) shows the staggering total of transfers that have gone from Albertans’ federal taxes and EI premiums to other provinces from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2019.
In other words, over 20 years Albertans sent a net $79,870 per person to Ottawa that was spent in other provinces, or $319,480 for a family of four.
In 2018 alone, during the midst of an economic downturn made much worse by policies, signals, and other decisions made by the Federal and other provincial governments, that family of four contributed a net $16,917 to Ottawa that did not come back to Alberta.
It is clear that Albertans make a disproportionate contribution to the federal government and the transfers that it sends to other provincial governments to provide health care, social services, infrastructure, and other spending. To give some perspective on the other side of the equation, the net transfers from Albertans over the last two decades meant a benefit of $41,801 per family outside Alberta. That’s an incredible sum that they received in federal and provincial spending that they did not have to pay for through taxes or debt.
It is also clear that the Federal government, as well as some provincial counterparts, are pursuing policies and making decisions that are not only costing Albertans jobs and livelihoods in Alberta today, but also damaging investor confidence in Alberta so thoroughly that it jeopardizes our children and grandchildren’s prospects at financial security.
Fairness Alberta will improve Canadians’ understanding of how Alberta’s success improves their communities, and how our federal government puts numerous barriers in the way of Alberta’s future prosperity.
make a difference
Our work has never been more important to Alberta and Canada, and as a grassroots group we can’t succeed without your help.
If you support what we are doing, please sign up for updates and share our social media posts to help us raise awareness about how all of Canada can benefit from improving fairness for Alberta.
We also need you to donate what you can so we can amplify our message further and start shifting opinions across Canada. Please click below and make a difference – Thanks!