Alberta's Heritage savings fund could increase in value by more than $6B to $28B by 2026
The future of Alberta's Heritage Savings Trust Fund was up for a discussion at an annual meeting Thursday for the billions in rainy-day deposits.
Several Albertans attended the meeting, where they got the chance to weigh in on it and ask or submit questions.
"Why is there not more money being contributed from non-renewable resources?" one person in attendance asked.
That was the initial purpose of the fund. It was set up in 1976 under Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservative government, with 30 per cent of Alberta resource revenues going into savings. In the late 1980s, oil crashed, and that money was used to balance budgets.
"People criticized it at the time, but they also didn’t want to pay higher taxes, so this was the compromise that was struck," Lori Williams, a political scientist at Calgary's Mount Royal University, told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.
Critics argue governments used the cash as a slush fund and say revenues should be much higher.
Comparisons are often made to similar savings plans, such as Norway's sovereign wealth fund or the Alaska Permanent Fund, which boast $1.2 trillion and $72 billion, respectively. Alberta's fund sits at $21.4 billion.
"If we had stayed at that 30 per cent today, we would have over $60 billion in that fund," Williams said.
Changes were made to the fund last March, requiring the finance minister to decide if money should be withdrawn.
The new rule means $1.5 billion of net income will stay in the fund this year. The province forecasts savings could grow to $28 billion by 2026.
Williams says without a legislative commitment, the change falls short.
"Whatever commitments or promises government made in sunnier times, they tend to go by the wayside when the economy and polls go down," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.