Editor:
We checked out Canmore on the weekend, and I grabbed a copy of the RMO. I was surprised to see the position your paper had taken on the Fair Deal Panel that the UCP are creating.
You state your view that the panel will be a waste of money “requiring untold amounts of taxpayers dollars." Instead of employing baseless rhetoric, perhaps you should actually do the math.
Per a recent Fraser Institute study, Albertans paid $27.9 billion more into the Canada Pension Plan over the past decade then we took out. So, In addition to the net transfer of $17.2 billion via income taxes from Alberta into the Federal coffers in 2018, Albertans also paid $2.79 billion more for pensions than what we received.
Pulling out of the federal program would mean we no longer use federal resources, and new resources required would be minimal as Alberta Management Investment Corporation already manages $100 billion for Albertans: the transfer likely will actually lower costs.
You claim “Alberta is stronger and better off as part of Canada and any discussion or pursuit of a separatist agenda is nothing more than a waste of time, energy and public funds."
Well, that’s your opinion. The panel has been created to hear everyone’s opinion. Me, I expect Albertans should reasonably expect to benefit in some small way from an extra $20 billion staying in our province each year.
If the Alberta Government didn’t need to borrow $8.7 billion last year to keep the lights on, do you think they might have been able to find an extra $20 million to support the Canmore Nordic Center?
Jamie Fisher,
Calgary
