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By David MacLean

The controversial 2015 provincial budget tabled by the Jim Prentice Progressive Conservatives a few weeks back seems to have annoyed most Albertans — for a variety of reasons.

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The decision to hold the line on business taxes has become a central question in this hotly contested provincial election. The NDP has staked its electoral fortunes, in no small part, to a promise to increase business taxes, and the Liberals and Alberta Party are pitching similar policies. Even former deputy premier and Progressive Conservative leadership hopeful Thomas Lukaszuk broke ranks with his own party on the issue.

The problem is, it’s one thing the government got right.

An analysis on the available research conducted by Alberta Enterprise Group shows that keeping business taxes competitive with other jurisdictions in Canada and around the world has paid off immensely for Albertans. Between 2004 and 2013, total private sector business investment in Canada amounted to $1.6 trillion.