Quote:
Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear
Cowboy, are you against the idea of having the Heritage Fund?
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Not at all. I'm all for it. It's just if you look around the world at what happens when populations age and economies stagnate, it points to the government ultimately having to do less. Alberta is blessed with a young population and a good economy while the rest of the world burns. Our citizens can better cope with the reality of claw backed government benefits/services when there are still good jobs to be had now.
Building a huge Heritage fund in combination with cutting back what the government is in the business of doing now (higher taxes might ultimately be needed to build the Heritage fund) will ultimately keep taxes relatively lower when the population ages and oil and gas fade from relevance so we can attract the new industries other jurisdications can't keep or develop due to higher taxes to maintain services. I believe it's the government's job to create and maintain a climate that's favorable to do business, rather than their job to actually create an economy or an industry.