Danielle Smith is back at it, stirring up a good ol’ Alberta political duststorm with a proposal that’s got folks from Calgary to Peace River scratching their heads.
Smith suggests dipping into Alberta’s Heritage Savings Trust Fund, our province’s rainy day fund.
But does she want to dip into the fund to help solve our healthcare or housing crisis?
No, she wants to use the money to bolster struggling oilpatch ventures.
Her idea, unveiled during a recent chinwag with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, is far from her earlier stance.
Just a few moons ago, Smith was all about fortifying the Heritage Fund, preaching fiscal responsibility and steering clear of the boom-and-bust cycles tied to resource revenues.
“If we had reinvested the income from our Heritage Fund in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” she mused in a televised speech earlier this year, “our Heritage Fund would be worth over $250 billion today.”
But now, she’s singing a different tune. She wants to use our legacy fund to prop up oilpatch projects that are so risky that their corporate owners can’t secure private financing.
As Alberta pundit David Climenhaga quipped, “Back in February, she promised to use the fund to get Alberta off the royalty rollercoaster – so much for that plan!”
Smith’s latest idea seems about as far removed from fiscal responsibility as possible.
Up in Arms
Critics are up in arms, arguing that Smith’s move is akin to reckless government intervention, dubbing it “dumb money” and questioning the wisdom of propping up ventures deemed “too risky” by conventional lenders.
University of Alberta economist Andrew Leach minced no words in his critique, labelling the strategy as “the intersection of big government and picking winners.”
Yet, Smith remains steadfast, positioning her proposal as a safeguard for Alberta’s economic future.
She insists that tapping into the Heritage Fund could provide a lifeline for industries grappling with external pressures, particularly amidst dwindling resource revenues and a broader move away from fossil fuels.
Her pivot isn’t an isolated policy shift.
It aligns with broader sentiments expressed by Smith regarding Alberta’s economic sovereignty and resilience against external pressures, such as divestment campaigns targeting fossil fuel investments.
The implications for Albertans are significant.
It looks like another half-baked effort to create a slush fund for a sunsetting industry with which Alberta governments have had a cozy relationship.
The Heritage Fund, once envisioned as a shield against economic turbulence, could now become a bailout fund for oil and gas.
Is the fund a legacy for Albertans as intended or a slush fund for dicey oilpatch corporations?
Only time will tell, folks.
