Hello Chestermere! We hope you are enjoying the sunny weather after the blustery Stampede we all endured. I know for myself that keeping an extra pair of jeans and boots in my car while I was out and about was a necessity given the inclement weather, eau de pancake, and horse hair (if you didn’t know: I’m an animal lover and my husband literally has to drag me away from the barns and the animals). This is especially aromatic when you are soaked through from a midday storm.
I was so excited to see Grandma Mary Burger at the youthful age of 67 kick some serious butt at the barrel racing championship on Sunday July 17 in a mud soup and less than balmy downpour. People sat riveted in their seats cheering this amazing lady on, and her humble acceptance speech made getting soaked all the more worth it. I was fortunate as the overhang of the grandstand saved me from truly getting wet that day, however the walk back to my car delivered a cold reminder as to how truly brutal and unpredictable Calgary weather can be.
As we start to defrost this week, many of you may be heading out on to your porch or on the driveway to BBQ and chat with neighbours. This usually goes along with some chips and salsa, good conversation, and maybe a cold beer. If you were having a cold one with neighbours this week, I’m sure some of your discussions revolved around the new beer tax that our government will be imposing at a location near you! On August 5th we will be looking at a $1.25 per litre tax on anything sold, produced or consumed in Alberta. This is supposedly to “even the playing field” in our province for micro-breweries and large producers. This is a change from the October budget where the government was going to charge beer producers based on production.
Initially as you can imagine the small breweries were dumfounded by this change in policy, and retaliated. The government then decided to back track and offer a grant to small local breweries. What does this mean for you and I? First, it means the government is going to grab an extra $36 million a year from hard-pressed taxpayers. It means that even though the local small and micro breweries may be compensated, that deal does not get passed on to the consumer, no surprise there.
What is even more frustrating is that anything that comes from out of province now is subject to that tax as well, thereby taking away choice from the consumer due to the fact that out of province breweries may not be able to compete with Alberta prices. Again the consumer loses. There were definitely problems with Alberta having the only open market and it is true that most other provinces discriminate against out of province beer. Does that mean we should do the wrong thing also? This new policy only hurts you, and once again you are left paying the bill at the end of the day. I wonder sometimes if the government has forgotten that its job is to represent you, the citizens of this great province. As always it is our privilege to serve you and we love to hear from you.
