Thread by @EmmaLGraney

Former Alberta MLA David Swann is refusing to pay his provincial taxes until the oil and gas companies that owe small communities $173 million in unpaid property tax cough up the cash. #ableg #cdnpoli

He says he's "outraged" that Kenney "condones this tax evasion in the oilpatch, where viable companies refuse to pay what they owe for the roads they use, schools that train their workers, and services that support their operations." #ableg #cdnpoli

"Our government shouldn’t have one set of rules for their corporate friends, and another for the rest of us Albertans,” Swann said in a statement today. He's... not impressed, to put it mildly. #ableg #cdnpoli

Swann says oil and gas companies are essentially doing a dine-and-dash by "brazenly flouting provincial laws and cheating hardworking families who pay their taxes” despite record profits, a $4.7b tax cut, and "generous" executive salaries. #ableg #cdnpoli

Like, I don't know the mechanics of how one goes about just... not paying their provincial taxes, but hey, why not. Here's background to why and how oil and gas companies owe $173m in unpaid property taxes to small Alberta municipalities theglobeandmail.com/business/artic… #ableg #cdnpoli

I'll note that yesterday Jason Kenney did indeed say "You can't wring money from a stone" when it comes to the fact o&g companies owe millions to rural Alberta municipalities, and suggested the affected RMs take legal action. #ableg #cdnpoli

How they'll afford said legal action when they're owed $173m is anybody's guess (particularly when many are also having to eat a 35% tax cut for shallow gas producers and pay for policing), but hey, I'm no legal or accounting expert ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #ableg #cdnpoli

Oh and one more thing - I saw Swann on the weekend at a public lecture. He's involved in the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project (aldpcoalition.com) which is pushing for more transparency around abandoned wells. #ableg #cdnpoli