It's time to take Alberta's Oil Savings Seriously

The oil industry is critically important to Alberta -- Albertans are fortunate for the prosperity that oil has generated over the years.

Since 1971 PC governments in Alberta have collected almost $200 billion in royalties on oil and natural gas, and when adjusted for inflation, that represents $300 billion.

Alberta’s Heritage Trust Fund was created in 1976 by the PC’s first premier Peter Lougheed; however, following Lougheed’s retirement in 1985, the PC governments have not invested in the Heritage Trust Fund. Not one dime has been added to the Fund since 1987.

Peter Lougheed taught Alberta to, “think like an owner… This is a sale of a depleting resource that’s owned by the people. Once a barrel of oil goes down the pipeline it’s gone forever. It’s like a farmer selling off his topsoil… what is fair return?”

The PCs has seen signs of crashing oil prices for years and did very little to get our province off of our heavy reliance on a cyclical economy of boom and bust. Why do the PCs still base almost 30% of the province’s operating budget on oil and gas royalties? What if they took more initiatives to diversify our economy and started saving those royalties? Would we still have billion dollar deficits?

“The PCs have made Alberta too dependent on oil, but it’s not your fault. It’s the PCs,” said Alberta Party leader Greg Clark.

“The PCs have forgotten the wisdom of their first premier Peter Lougheed. It is time Alberta stopped neglecting the Heritage Trust Fund,” said Red Deer South candidate Serge Gingras.

The Alberta Party would employ the leadership needed to diversify our economy while still promoting the responsible development of our resources. We would balance Alberta’s budget over six years and would protect the services we need by reducing our dependence on oil and gas royalties and rebuilding the Heritage Fund.