Alberta, Canada’s third-largest provincial economy, will lean on consumers to help offset a drop in oil royalties that has led to the “evaporation” of 17 percent of revenue, Premier Jim Prentice said. Albertans should expect increases to user fees and personal taxes over three budget cycles to help pay for the most expensive public services in the country, Prentice said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. Imposing higher taxes on companies would increase the burden of confronting a slowing economy, he said. “I don’t think the right course of action right now is to increase corporate taxes or royalties,” Prentice said. “It’s the wrong time to start taxing investment and wealth. I won’t be part of it.” Sworn in September as the price of oil was in the midst of a collapse, Prentice is now tasked with reducing Alberta’s dependence on petroleum revenue while […]