Hunter applauds corporate tax cuts

By Trevor Busch
Taber Times
tbusch@tabertimes.com

Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter has praised the UCP government’s recent decision to cut corporate taxes four per cent by 2022, characterizing the move as a first step in bringing economic prosperity back to the province.

Announced in mid-May, the tax cut will be gradual on an annual basis, bringing Alberta’s corporate tax rate down from 12 to eight per cent by 2022, and making it the lowest corporate tax jurisdiction in the nation.

“Our mandate was very simple. Get Albertans back to work, and get the economy back to where it needs to be,” said Hunter, who also serves as associate minister of Red Tape Reduction. “Some of the brightest minds in Canada have said this is the right way to approach this, and we’re going to move forward with that.”

A key platform promise of the UCP government, during the 2019 campaign Jason Kenney promised the move would create 55,000 new jobs and bolster the province’s GDP.

Hunter emphasized the gradual nature of the cuts as a prudent approach, but Kenney has already signaled the four-year timeline may be altered if the economy needs additional stimulus.

“It’s a reasonable approach, one per cent per year for the next four years, so it’ll bring us down from 12 per cent to eight per cent.”