If every Norwegian’s a millionaire, why’s Alberta in hock?

[grower99]

A great discussion. The "Calgary School of Economics" where our pm went is a sham.Who paid his tuition? The "national citizens'coalition" or the northern foundation? He takes the credit for our recovery from the recession but he was the "economist" who,before he became pm,wanted to deregulate the banks like the US system!.Our regulated chartered banks is the reason our economy remained as strong as it is. A high reserve ratio compels our banks to practise due diligence.Sad to say but our pm and his policies need to be revamped.

[fjlip]

Bank regulation is proof Canadian economy needs way MORE regulation of private businesses and transparency, IE railroads, grain companies, oil producers both wholesale and retail. Free market competition is great, but HD oversight and regs to keep the greedy bastards inline and honest.

[grower99]

Just turned on the tv for the Canada/Slovakia game. More taxpayer paid ads to support the federal govt! Why are these ads not paid from conservative party donations? This is not fiscally responsible with taxpayer money!

[samhill]

Politicians would sell Granma's false teeth for a small bag of salt, where do you think the money goes?

[helmsdale]

It's always fun when bureaucrats are breathing down someone else's neck rather than your own.

[sawfly]

one guess why Norway is in the black.
sorry guys but left leaning govt.s is why .

Oliver .
potash was an asset in Saskatchewan.

and a Conservative govt. comes along and sells it out.
Who was the failure?

and remember the only reason potash was nationalized in the first place was a flat out refusal to pay royalties by the potash company's.

at least Wall has not jumped on that train yet.

i wonder why?

because he had the brains to realize
how important those royalties are to the province.

and see this is an asset like oil that belongs
to the people of sask.

and why Sask. and Alberta never got together on royalties.
well Sask at one time held the line
on royalties, like 40 years Alberta did not follow suit.

maybe or maybe not that was a mistake on sask.s part.
because Alberta got most of the early development.
and sask. was shunned.

But , if sask. had caved on royalties
on oil in the beginning , what would
either have for royalties now?

or if Alberta had held the line with
Sask. Maybe it would be like Norway here.
or the US would have invaded and taken it anyway . Who knows?

either way we are here now.

and there were some excesses of the CCF/NDP
, but at least they protected the assets of the province.
oil , potash , timber and even farmland with non resident ownership laws.

i can live with a fiscal or free enterprise Conservative govt.

but protect our assets and don't give the farm away to every corporation that walks thru the door.
( like Alberta gave away all their timber for like 1 or 10 bucks an acre, something super cheap)

and by the way , if Norway is something to aspire to .

guess who would not sign up to the UPOV 91 seed regulations
Norway


here we bend over on oil and seed
and timber etc. etc. etc.
end of rant.

[LEP]

Sawfly, it was your beloved NDP governments that changed the farmland ownership laws to allow Canadians to what we have today.

Also it was the NDP that set in place the current royalty structure for oil and potash. Careful where you point the finger.

But that said royalties at $10 a barrel should be different than $90 on a percentage basis in my opinion. The government should get more in a windfall situation.

Government should be forced to put 25 or 30% of non renewable resource revenue into a heritage fund of sorts. If you give a government a buck they will always spend it, they never run out of ways to spend.

[FarmRanger]

The people of Norway are indeed well fed and watered. Like other socialist systems, there is also little chance to better your life beyond what the government allows. They have a low population relative to the resources available, but if they had Canada's population they'd be running deficits, like every other government in the world. When the next energy source replaces oil, I'd much rather be in Alberta than Norway where the people aren't as used to being firmly connected to the gov't teat.

I don't suppose we'll get our $15-20 billion a year back from Quebec when the oil runs out either.

[foragefarmer]

FarmRanger

"Like other socialist systems, there is also little chance to better your life beyond what the government allows".

Would you care to justify the above statement with regard to Norway. Are saying people in Norway do not possess entrepreneurial skills, or are you another poster on here making excuses for Alberta's blown opportunities with regard to oil revenues?