Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

NEXT DOOR IN ALBERTA …

 


Alberta’s budget deficits and mounting debt are, in part, due to its treatment of non-renewable resource revenues, but establishing new constitutional rules requiring a portion of resource revenues be saved would help stabilize provincial finances, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank.

 

“It’s time the Alberta government introduced rules to stabilize this volatile source of revenue and stop the boom-and-bust cycle in government finances,” said Tegan Hill, economist at the Fraser Institute and co-author of A New (Old) Fiscal Rule for Non-Renewable Resource Revenue in Alberta.

 

As a sign of the volatility connected with resource revenues, consider that over the past 50 years, Alberta’s non-renewable resource revenue (adjusted for inflation) ranged from a low of$1.6 billion (1970/71) to a high of $19.0 billion (2005/06). As a share of provincial revenue, it’s ranged from 77.4 per cent (1979/80) to a projected 4.7 per cent in 2020/21—the lowest on record.

 

This volatility has fueled instability in the budget, particularly as the provincial government increased spending to unsustainable levels during periods of relatively high non-renewable resource revenue.

 

The study recommends re-introducing a savings account (the Alberta Sustainability Fund was eliminated in 2013) in which resource revenues can be deposited during periods when resource revenues are high. These savings can then be used to stabilize resource revenues in periods of comparatively low resource revenues.

 

The second recommendation is for the province to reinstitute the rule that requires a portion of non-renewable resource revenues be deposited into the Heritage Fund.

 

Crucially, these rules should be engrained constitutionally so that it is more difficult for future governments to change or simply ignore the rules when finances are tight.

 

“New rules based on the past experiences of the province—and not easily undone by future governments—that establish a predictable level of non-renewable resource revenue for the province’s budgets would help put an end to the boom-and-bust cycle in Alberta’s finances,” said Jason Clemens, executive vice-president of the Fraser Institute and study co-author.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FORSETH -- Given the noted infractions of this agreement with OneBC leader Dallas Brodie, I request the Party immediate suspend the leadership campaign of Yuri Fulmer

I have personally emailed the following to the Board and Administration of the Conservative Party of BC:   TODAY (03/30) Yuri Fulmer, a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of BC, made a pact with ONEBC leader Dallas Broldie, that if he is elected will commit the Conservative Party to the following. Specifically, the pact states : This Memorandum of Understanding outlines the definitive electoral and governing alliance that will be executed upon Yuri Fulmer’s election as Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia OneBC Party commits to not nominating or authorizing candidates in 88 of British Columbia’s 93 electoral districts. In exchange, the Conservative Party of BC, under the leadership of Yuri Fulmer, commits to not nominating or authorizing candidates in five (5) specific electoral districts . OneBC will be the sole standard-bearer for the right in those five districts. The specific ridings will be determined through mutual negotiation and fin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Delays to the replacement of the Red Bridge? Kamloops North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer says they are, “Totally Unacceptable.”

I think it’s totally unacceptable that on one hand the Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MoTT) is saying they’re going to be responsible for putting together multiple replacement options with public engagement, and then in the same breath they're saying, ‘Oh, and by the way, we're going to start our geotechnical environmental and archaeological site assessments on both sides of the river, possibly beginning this summer.’ According to Stamer, that should already have been done. “Obviously, we're pretty sure it will be in the same location because there's really no other place to put it. So, if you're going to put in a bridge, you think that at least you'd be doing the archaeological assessments first off”, stated Stamer.   “If it's determined it has to be a free-span bridge, and it can't have anything or very minimal impact in the riverbed, they should already be determining that. It would help in the design, wouldn't it?” Stamer indicated...
Post a Comment
Read more

Your government has a gambling problem (Troy Media)

Provinces call it “revenue,” but it looks a lot like exploitation of the marginalized The odds of winning Lotto Max are about 1 in 33 million. You’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than to win it. But your government is betting that statistics won’t hold you back; they’re counting on it. Across Canada, provincial governments not only regulate gambling, they also maintain a monopoly on lottery and gaming by owning and operating the entire legal market. That means every scratch card is government-issued, gambling odds are government-set, casino ads are government-funded and lottery billboards are government-paid. And these are not incidental government activities. They generate significant revenues that governments have powerful incentives to expand, not constrain. It would be one thing for our governments to encourage us to engage in healthy activities. We can quibble about whether the government should be trying to convince us to be more active or eat more vegetabl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more