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To no one’s great surprise, last week’s Alberta budget did not introduce a provincial sales tax. It is safe to assume that neither will next year’s budget nor the one after that.

Very few Albertans are likely lamenting any of this, mind you. There is zero political cost to be paid in Alberta for shunning a provincial sales tax (PST) and a world of political hurt just waiting to fall on any elected official who dares embrace one.

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Despite that, though, it’s worth looking at whether Albertans actually benefit from this status quo.

For one, it’s unlikely that Premier Jason Kenney is philosophically opposed to the concept of taxing consumption. Moreover, though, it’s not as though Albertans have been spared from tax increases under this government. So perhaps there is a conversation to be had around what could be possible if we were all collectively less intransigent on this point.

While the UCP did scrap the NDP’s carbon tax, it has made other tax changes that will reach into the pockets of Alberta taxpayers.