Alberta’s finance minister weighs in on draining Heritage Trust Fund
Posted Jan 23, 2017 6:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Finance Minister Joe Ceci continues his pre-budget consultations as he prepares to present the document in March.
There is one question that comes up from time to time in Alberta and the weak economy has some asking it again.
Is it time for the government to spend the Heritage Trust Fund, which is currently worth more than $17-billion, to help ease the financial burden?
Ceci doesn’t believe that’s what Albertans want.
“Albertans continue to say they’re really pleased that we (…) I mean it’s not the government’s, it’s the revenues that have been put away over time from non-renewable resources,” he said.
Ceci explains the interest alone helps to fill government coffers and wiping out the fund isn’t the way to go.
“It’s really only a one-time use of that money and keeping it means that we have an amount of capital that drives revenue on a regular basis,” he said.
In fact, Ceci hopes government can find a way to continue to grow the trust fund in the way places like Norway and others have been able to do.
