With Alberta's royalty revenues set to rise substantially over the next decade, all of the province's political parties have spent the current election campaign talking about what to do with the revenue.
The Wildrose Party has plans to grow the Heritage Savings Trust Fund over the next 20 years to $200 billion from the present $15 billion.
There's no reason why the province can't have such a savings account if the government manages its money wisely, said the party's Spruce Grove-St. Albert candidate Travis Hughes.
He said the province has had surpluses before that could have moved the fund in that direction. Instead, the government squandered them.
"They usually end up spending it on some frivolous activity, such as the $2 billion carbon capture and storage project, which is essentially a corporate welfare handout," he said.
Several other spending commitments – like the Royal Alberta Museum, renovations to the downtown federal building and bonuses to managers at Alberta Health Service – are examples of money that could have been saved instead, he said.
Hughes said if the heritage fund was allowed to grow, the revenue would ease the province off royalties, creating more stable, long-term funding.
"We need to be able to be planning for our future and that future will include less and less oil and gas revenues," he said.
Norway model
NDP candidate Rev. J.J. Trudeau agrees the province needs to save for the future and her party is proposing a $100 billion heritage fund.
"This is for the people of tomorrow when our resources are gone," she said.
Trudeau points to Norway, which has a fund of $500 billion, which it amassed from resource revenue.
She argues that it is not spending cuts, but royalty increases that are needed to pay for those savings, along with an increase to Alberta's flat income taxes.
"We have to get a decent return for the oil and gas revenues because there are the children of tomorrow to think of," she said.
Progressive Conservative candidate Doug Horner said his party has always taken a balanced approach, saving some money, while also looking at the needs of a rapidly growing province.
"If you sacrifice everything to put money into a mattress for something in the future you are not being very fiscally responsible for the investments you are making today," he said.
Horner said some parties are talking about the heritage fund like it is the province's retirement account, but the province should aim to keep an economy running and constantly supporting Alberta.
"The province of Alberta is never going to retire. We want to build an economic pie that builds enough of a tax base that we can keep the taxes very low," he said.
If the province was living off its savings, it could cause problems in lean economic times, he said. His party has proposed a province-wide discussion on the future of the fund after the issue and he said the decision on the fund is so important it will take time to make.
Taking specific aim at the Wildrose's proposed energy dividend, which would give Albertans a cheque when the province has a surplus over $750 million, Horner said that money can be better spent on things Albertans say they want.
"It is wonderful to give money back to Albertans, but if Albertans are telling us they need to build a new school – which they are in our riding – shouldn't they be putting that money into a new school?" he said.
Alberta Liberal candidate Chris Austin said his party has a plan for the province's savings, targeting two very specific areas.
The Liberals would create an education endowment whose interest would be used to subsidize and eventually eliminate post-secondary tuition and a municipal heritage fund, used to fund municipalities.
"This would help the communities because a lot of communities know they have lost a lot of the services to the city of Edmonton," he said. "This municipal heritage fund would help bring those services back to the community."
