Could a provincial sales tax be in Alberta's future?

EDMONTON- A hot topic of conversation at Alberta's first economic summit was the possibility of a provincial sales tax in Alberta.

While Premier Alison Redford maintains a sales tax is not on the agenda, many of the panellists at Saturday's summit in Calgary said it could be a solution to the province's fiscal problems.

"I don't think we're anywhere near that at all. I think the fact that people are beginning to talk about it as an idea is a really important thing," Redford said following Saturday's summit.

Alberta is currently the only province in Canada that doesn't have a sales tax, but with the province predicting a $6 billion revenue shortfall in the upcoming budget, some say it could be an idea moving forward.

Economist Mel McMillan was at the economic summit on Saturday. He says he got the sense from both the panellists and people in the audience, that there's an willingness to consider a broader range of options to increase revenue in Alberta, including a sales tax.

"The sales tax got mentioned several times, how you would introduce a sales tax, how much additional revenue it might raise, or do you substitute for corporate and personal income taxes to some degree, and the importance of changing the structure of the tax system are all factors that seem to be open for consideration," said McMillan, who is an economics professor at the University of Alberta.

He says something must be done in our province to generate more revenue from the conventional revenue sources, and believes Albertans are prepared to look at all of the options.

"If the option is cutting teachers or schools or health care, or reduced highway maintenance, they're probably prepared to look at some increases in tax revenue."

However, members of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation don't think a sales tax would be well received by Albertans.

"We're just not having the discussion about a sales tax at a time when people are looking for efficiencies, we're having it at a time when the government is looking for more money," said Derek Fildebrandt, Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "If it was simply just the imposition of a sales tax and it was going to be revenue grab for the government, I really don't think that it would sit well with Albertans."

Despite the conversations surrounding the subject, Redford maintains no new taxes will be introduced in the spring budget, which will be tabled on March 7.

"We had an election, we said we wouldn't raise taxes, and we didn't. Our critics for the next six months said 'they're going to raise taxes' and we didn't. Our critics will continue to say that and the proof of the pudding will be in what we actually do," Redford explained.

By law, Albertans would need to vote on a provincial sales tax through a referendum.

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With files from Jenna Bridges.

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