Alberta MPs call on feds to lower business taxes, eliminate carbon tax to stimulate job growth

Four Conservative members of Parliament are calling on the federal Liberals to immediately eliminate the proposed carbon tax, reduce corporate and small business taxes and reverse planned increases to Canada Pension Plan contributions — measures they say will help alleviate a jobs crisis in Alberta.

The recommendations come from the Alberta Jobs Taskforce Report released Monday at events in Calgary and Edmonton by Tory opposition leader Rona Ambrose, along with fellow Alberta MPs Michelle Rempel, Matt Jeneroux and John Barlow.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS | Rising oil production will push Alberta economy to fastest growth in country in 2017: Conference Board
• MORE CALGARY NEWS | There are nearly 44K unfilled jobs in Alberta. So what's going on?

The group commissioned the report in October 2016 in response to two years of economic recession in the province.

"Albertans are faced with the worst recession and unemployment in a generation," Rempel said at an event in Calgary.

"There are currently 220,000 Albertans out of work, and the unemployment rate in Alberta has nearly doubled since the start of 2015. We're seeing increased unemployment, increased [employment insurance] applications, increases in crime severity indexes and decreased job vacancy rates."

In total, the report makes 11 recommendations the authors say will stimulate job creation and economic growth:

• 1) Reduce the tax burden: Eliminate the proposed carbon tax, review corporate tax rates and reduce the Small Business Tax Rate to nine per cent, and reverse the mandatory increase to CPP contributions. 
• 2) Support oil and gas job creation: Honour decisions of the National Energy Board that will see the approval and expansion of pipeline projects. Reduce regulatory burden and red tape on natural resources projects.
• 3) Support unemployed Albertans: Encourage retraining programs by increasing their and offer incentives to workers and employers who use them. Review the EI program to improve efficiency and fairness. 
• 4) Support Alberta families: Invest in programs to help food banks respond to the growing demand. Reverse the new mortgage rules. Increase mental health funding. 
• 5) Help Alberta job creators: Reduce red tape and regulatory hurdles for new small businesses. Create tax credits and work-sharing programs to encourage hiring of unemployed skilled workers. Create incentives to encourage young and new Canadians to start a business. 
• 6) Help Alberta youth: Implement programs to encourage employers to hire recent graduates. Explore ways to reduce the burden of student debt for job seekers. Increase financial literacy.
• 7) Improve federal-provincial relations: Coordinate to reduce unnecessary regulations and remove trade-barriers. Make fiscally responsible infrastructure investments. Review the Equalization Payment Formula.
• 8) Increase Canada's competitiveness: Build on Canada's bilateral relationship with the United States. Expand free-trade agreements around the world. 
• 9) Encourage Alberta's economic diversification: Create a hub for clean tech development. Partner with First Nations communities to foster economic growth. 
• 10)  Review the immigration system: Reform credential matching for new Canadians. Reform the Temporary Foreign Workers Program to address wage distortion and overuse of the program.
• 11) Commit to balance the federal budget within five years.

Canada West Foundation report

Another report released Monday by Canada West Foundation — co-authored by Janet Lane — suggests creating a framework to match those looking for work with jobs they can actually do.

"The big thing we think is going on is there's not enough understanding of what people can do and what jobs require people to do," she told CBC Calgary News at 6.

"We have a tendency in this country to hire on the basis of qualifications and credentials, rather than on what specifically the tasks of the job are and what competencies people have, so we're suggesting industry and the government get together and create this competency framework."

In his latest quarterly update presented last week, Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci said modest growth is predicted for the coming year, with the GDP expected to rise by 2.4 per cent.

Ceci also said 18,000 jobs have been created since a low point in July 2016, with a majority of those — 12,500 — in the oil and gas sector.