1. An Alberta Case Study
Diana Gibson, Parkland Institute

2.  Less reliance on taxes
 Regulatory capture
 undermining democracy
 Dutch disease
 Inequality and a system skewed in the
interest of corporations and the corporate
elite.

3.  From 1989 to 2008, Alberta’s spending as a portion
of GDP shrank 40 percent—and is easily lowest
among provinces.
 Alberta’s economy has grown 76 percent more than
population and inflation in the past 20 years.
 Corporate profits more than doubled their
share of Alberta’s economy from 1989 to
2008, rising from 9.6 percent to 22.6 percent.

6. 60000
50000
40000
$Million (2002)
30000
Corporate Profits
Corporate Tax Revenues
20000
10000
0

8. Table 1: Changes in selected fiscal indicators in Alberta, 1989-1993 vs. 2004-2008
1989-1993 2004-2008
Five Year Average Five Year Average Change
(per capita, 02 $) (per capita, 02 $) (per capita, 02 $) Change (%)
Health Care 2,061 2,563 502 24.35%
K-12 Education 1,248 1,276 28 2.28%
Post Secondary 819 1,014 195 23.87%
Social Services 1,546 1,032 -514 -33.26%
Personal Income 28,214 37,041 8,828 31.29%
Corporate profits 2,923 13,290 10,367 354.68%

9. ROYALTIES

14. 85%
80%
75%
Rest of Canada
Alberta
70%
65%
60%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

15. Share of Earnings top and bottom half of households
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Bottom 50% Top 50%

16. $700,000
$600,000
$500,000
$400,000
Threshold
$300,000 Average
$200,000
$100,000
$0
NL PEI NS NB QC ON MB SK AB BC Canada

17. Median Alberta Income Median CEO Income
Top 5 Median CEO Income
$11,084,12
3.00
$2,473,439.
00
$68,100.00
Median Alberta Incomes

19. Year %
2008 40.6
2004 44.7
2001 52.8
1997 52.8
1993 60.2
In the last election Alberta had the lowest turnout for a Canadian
provincial election in the last 50 years.

20. 2
Albertans Believe that Government Should be Doing More
Believe gov’t should be doing more or at least the same to
protect free, high quality healthcare.
Believe gov’t should be doing more or at least the same to
reduce GHGs.

21. 21
By a 2:1 margin, Albertans believe in funding social
programs over eliminating the deficit
Q Which statement is closest to your view?
The provincial government should increase finding for social programs such as health and education even
if it means running a deficit
-or-
The provincial government should eliminate the deficit, even if it means reducing funding for social
programs such as health and education

22. 22
Q Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Note: ‘Don’t know/Refused’ not shown