Alberta has no provincial sales tax. Texas has no state income tax. Both populations are fiercely protective of these absences—they're not just policy choices, they're identity markers. "No PST" bumper stickers exist in Alberta. "Don't Mess With Texas" has always implied "especially our tax code."
So here's the question that makes South Alberta genuinely interesting: what if we kept both?
Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a forceful speech Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on the “new world order” and how middle powers like Canada can benefit by working together.
Democracy has a math problem.
One person, one vote sounds fair until you realize it ignores intensity. The person mildly in favor counts the same as the person whose life depends on the outcome. This seems wrong, but the obvious fix—letting people cast more votes if they care more—immediately advantages those with more votes to cast. Weight votes by resources and you've built plutocracy with extra steps.
Coordination is the lifeblood of democracy. People finding common cause, building coalitions, amplifying shared interests—this is how collective action happens. Without it, we're just isolated individuals shouting into the void.
Coordination is also how democracy gets captured. People finding common cause against the public interest, building coalitions to extract value, amplifying shared interests at everyone else's expense—this is how oligarchy happens. With enough of it, collective decisions become private deals wearing democratic costumes.
The morning light filters through the window of a modest home in Mississauga, where Elena, a 68-year-old retired teacher, reviews her monthly budget with a magnifying glass. Her Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) provide a stable floor, but she watches her Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) investments with bated breath, aware that market volatility could erode the principal she needs for potential long-term care costs.
Margaret is 71 and lives alone in a rented apartment in Sudbury. Her monthly income is the Canada Pension Plan cheque she earned over forty years of work, topped up by Old Age Security and a small Guaranteed Income Supplement payment. When her rent rose this year, the gap between what arrives on the first of the month and what she owes by the fifteenth grew uncomfortably wide. For Margaret, "CPP, OAS, and GIS" is not an acronym — it is the difference between staying in her home and not.
**Housing Waitlists and Availability: A Complex Issue with Multiple Perspectives**
In a small city in British Columbia, Sarah, a single mother of two, has been waiting for over three years to secure a subsidized apartment. She currently lives in a cramped basement suite, struggling to make ends meet as she works multiple jobs to support her family.
In a quiet suburban neighborhood in Victoria, British Columbia, Arthur, a retired engineer in his early eighties, finds himself navigating the delicate balance between independence and isolation. His single-family home, once a symbol of stability, now feels like a burden with its steep stairs and high maintenance costs.