Legal retailers pay the compliance bill
The correspondence asks MLAs to count the cost of lawful operation before describing retailers as the problem.
Retail ledger · 28 May 2026
Retailer correspondence log: tax fairness, enforcement, and Bill 208
The coalition has prepared a retailer-focused correspondence package on compliance cost, tax fairness, and why illegal sellers cannot be rewarded by uneven enforcement.
Public position
The coalition writes this like a ledger because the file has real costs: staff time, training, signage, inspection readiness, tax compliance, and lost sales when unlawful sellers are ignored.
What the correspondence asks Alberta to test
Unlawful sellers avoid the same costs
If enforcement misses online and unlicensed supply, the rule set rewards the channel that does not card, train, inspect, or remit properly.
Oversight should be one lane
An AGLC-style model is framed as a way to put licensing, enforcement, training, and public reporting in one accountable lane.
Publication note
The coalition will keep publishing the public version of its ledger so the tax-fairness question stays visible.