Alberta should stop using oil revenue to pay day-to-day bills: report

<p>EDMONTON – The Alberta government should stop using oil and natural gas revenues to pay for its day-to-day bills and make up for that loss by either cutting programs or raising taxes.</p> <p>That was the recommendation Thursday from a study by the Premier’s Council for Economic Strategy.</p> <p>Council chairman David Emerson said Albertans simply cannot count on resource revenues to pay the bills in the coming decades.</p> <p>”That means we’re going to have troubles in health care and education and job creation,” he said, adding other measures would be needed to make up about one-quarter of the budget.</p> <p>”If you were to look at different ways of financing infrastructure using public-private partnerships -look at some constellations of user fees or possibly some tax measures – over a 10-year period we think it is not going to be a back-breaker for your average Albertan.</p> <p>The report suggested Alberta should instead use resource dollars to top off its stabilization fund and then invest in new technologies to make the energy sector more economic and environmentally sustainable.</p> <p>The council also said the government needs to spend more to ensure that the growing population of aboriginal young people are educated.</p> <p>Premier Ed Stelmach said the recommendations make sense.</p> <p>”We cannot sell off our non-renewable resources and continue to do that well into the future without having the next generation pay the price,” he said.</p> <p>”It will require some tough decisions, obviously, but it is the way to go. As the council heard time and time again, and we see proof, the world is changing much quicker than we originally thought and we must be prepared for those changes or we’ll lose in the end.”</p> <p>However, NDP Leader Brian Mason the report ignores how green technologies can help the economy and the environment.</p> <p>”I would have liked to have seen a real focus on renewable energy, research and development and commercialization,” Mason said. “I think that’s the future we need to embrace in Alberta.”</p> <p>Mason added he doesn’t think there’s much chance the report’s recommendations will be put into effect.</p> <p>”I think the irony of this report is that it is a blueprint for Alberta’s future by a premier who doesn’t have one,” he said. “I really question how this is going to be implemented with Premier Stelmach on his way out the door.”</p>