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But here’s the sweetener: We don’t do this unilaterally. Alberta could create a coalition with the other nine provinces, and then together ask Ottawa to get out of the business of collecting GST. In return, each province would agree to add whatever the federal GST rate is in that province to their existing PST.

For Alberta, this would mean replacing the five per cent federal GST with a five per cent provincial GST. This would mean no net increase in GST paid by Alberta families, and what we do pay goes to Edmonton, not Ottawa (and eventually, to Quebec!). Similarly, there would be no net increase in GST paid by consumers in any other province.

This would give the Alberta government an additional $5 billion a year of much-needed revenue — a big help in the short term. Longer-term, it would allow Alberta to wean itself from over-reliance on volatile energy revenues.

For the other nine provinces, it would provide the same short-term help when they all need it.

Giving up its GST revenues would increase the federal deficit. But as the events of the last two months have proven — not just in Canada but in all federal states — national governments are much more capable of carrying this kind of debt than any province or state. If all 10 provinces made this request together — and why wouldn’t they? — the (minority) Trudeau government would likely agree. After all, the next federal election may be only a year or so away.

But this is about better policy, not politics, and not just for Alberta. Returning GST to the provinces would be a more efficient way than the current system of transfer payments to remedy the fiscal imbalance between the federal government and the provinces. Currently, Ottawa annually collects $60 billion more than it needs for its own programs but then returns this amount to the provinces to help pay for health and social services, areas of provincial jurisdiction. These transfers to and from Ottawa lead to fiscal imbalances and constant political bickering. Leaving GST with the provinces solves these problems by achieving what economists call “own-source revenues.” It enhances democratic accountability by allowing voters to know which level of government is taxing them for what public services.