Public Interest Alberta hosts meeting in Lethbridge for new ‘Revenue Reno’ campaign

Public Interest Alberta, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group in the province, held a meeting in Lethbridge on Monday night to promote its Revenue Reno campaign.

The hot topic on the docket was about how Alberta can fix its revenue shortage.

Several speakers took to the podium talking about protecting and revitalizing Alberta’s public services, stating the need to move away from depending on resources royalties.

“If we want to maintain universal access to health care, if we want to maintain quality education systems across the province, then the only way we can actually do that in the long run is if we pay a little bit more,” said Public Interest Alberta’s executive director Joel French. “We have to start understanding that the options are one or the other.”

Speakers pitched options for Albertans to consider to help get out of the province’s deficit, saying getting the conversation started was important.

The group believes Alberta has allowed its financial house to crumble, saying revenue shortage is best solved by renovating our tax system with changes to provincial sales taxes and other sales tax.