Article content

Alberta is the only Canadian province without a sales tax. That needs to change.

With its own sales tax, Alberta could afford to make important new investments in social programs. For example, it could hire more teachers, improve staffing levels in long-term care facilities and build more affordable housing.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Opinion: Alberta sales tax is politically risky but it's good public policy Back to video

Without such a tax, Albertans must settle for mediocrity. We must watch as low-income households struggle to pay for prescription medication. We must watch student debt loads grow. And we must watch some social assistance recipients get by on a mere $8,000 annually.

The province has seen several alarming trends in recent years. For example, our population is aging — in fact, the number of seniors in the province aged 85 and over has doubled since 1999. This trend will only increase.

Meanwhile, class sizes for young Albertans are growing. Just five of 61 school boards in this province meet the class size targets adopted by Alberta’s provincial government in 2003. To bring class sizes up to the levels of a decade ago, Alberta would have to hire 3,000 additional teachers.