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Sure the oil had to be there for those things to happen but Alberta could have had all that oil and not been as well off as they are now the oil only got them so far. They have done alot more to take advantage of their situation and make it better.
I am not sure why you think it is so trivial that rather than take the oil for granted, Alberta has looked at ways they can use this "advatage" if you want to call it to become even stronger.
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How has Alberta become even stronger through policy mechanisms? To me, the reason Alberta became stronger was rising Oil and Gas prices. Just like the price dip in the 80s necessitated a recession in the provice. Tell me, where exactly is Alberta an economic leader in industries not directly associated with oil and gas?
From the look of things, Alberta has squandered alot of the rents from the Oil under the ground with anachronistic royalty schemes under Klein and a severe lack of investment of Oil funds into anything other than Ralph bucks and tax cuts.
To me, the Alberta advantage, from a policy perspective is woefully overblown or just a flat out falsity.
Look at Norway for instance, they aren't spending any of their oil money. They're banking ALL of it for when the Oil is gone. Other countries have long term development goals that they are using Oil money with. What exactly is Alberta's vision? I'll tell you what, it's mired in a 4 year election cycle. Get ready, in 2 years you'll see some Ed-bucks coming your way.