Business Council advocates for creating sales and carbon taxes to bring down Alberta’s debt

A report by an organization that represents more than 90 chief executives says a harmonized sales tax and a carbon tax could help provide Alberta with the revenue it needs to handle its growing debt.

The Business Council of Alberta says it is concerned about the province’s finances.

It says the province needs to make some tough decisions about revenues and expenses to bring Alberta back to a more sustainable position.

The council estimates a sales tax would bring in about one-billion dollars for each percentage point of a sales tax while Alberta could collect 1.5-billion dollars from a 50-dollar per tonne carbon tax.