Alberta Finance Minister and GP-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews (Canadian Press file photo)

By Shaun Penner

AB's Finance Minister on Feds Budget

Toews sees some good, some bad in federal budget

Apr 23, 2021 | 7:32 PM

Alberta’s finance minister says he has mixed feelings about the federal budget tabled on Monday, adding there are a lot of areas where he felt Alberta is being left out.

Travis Toews tells EverythingGP in response to the tabling of the budget on Monday that there were some areas he was happy to see, including a commitment to a request made by the Alberta government for incentives when it comes to a carbon capture and storage tax credit.

“However, (we’re) disappointed that there weren’t more details on the size of that tax credit,” said Toews. “We were also disappointed that projects that include enhanced soil recovery would not be covered by that investment tax credit.”

Monday’s budget from the Liberal government is the first in two years and was highlighted by the extension of COVID-19 supports like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and Canada Recovery Benefit.

Having tabled a pandemic budget himself, Toews says he can appreciate the unprecedented times both federal and provincial governments are tasked with navigating.

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However, he says more of a focus should have been put on economic recovery, noting the energy sector was essentially without mention in the new budget.

“The energy industry constitutes by far and away the largest export in the Canadian economy. It represents over 20 per cent of Canada’s exports, which is incredibly significant,” said Toews. “The budget really didn’t acknowledge the contribution the industry makes to the nation, to the prosperity of Canadians.”

The Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA was also disappointed the cap on the Fiscal Stabilization Program was not removed with this new budget, leaving the program “unable to deliver adequately on the objectives of the program.”

He adds the program is supposed to provide some relief to provinces that see a sharp, unexpected downturn in their revenues within a given year, which Alberta has in 2020 due to the sharp decline in oil prices.

Despite this, the cap on stabilization payments only allows for a maximum of $170 per person, leaving provinces like Alberta who experience high revenue volatility to only be able to reclaim a fraction of what it lost.

“Alberta has contributed, on a net basis, close to $200 billion over the last 10 years to the federation,” said Toews. “Alberta makes an outsized contribution to wealth creation in the nation, year in and year out.

“And so, to simply ignore fixing a program that would provide some relief to Alberta with our revenue volatility is really unacceptable.”

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland also announced Monday a pledge of $30 billion over five years towards a federal childcare program.

Though he says he was more than happy to see such a large investment made in childcare, he has concerns about the program not being flexible enough for Alberta families.

“What we find untenable is when the federal government tries to take their solution, and basically impose it on provinces,” said Toews. “We know that Alberta families want flexibility.

“What our request is, is for the federal government to simply advance the funding to the provinces and allow the provinces to design programs that best meet the needs, in this case, Alberta families.”

Other items Toews had hoped to see in the budget, but did not, was an increase to the Canada Health Transfer, as well as a more robust plan around investment attraction to Canada.