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

[Oliver88]

Just an FYI on Norway:
Norway doesn't have a royalty structure on oil, this is because the government is in charge of oil production.
Norway has high income tax, 25% sales tax, state owned oil production, "free benefits".

Saskatchewan is a jurisdiction that has tried nationalization in potash, oil and uranium.
It failed miserably in all three of those industries and were all eventually privatized.

[nicolaas]

Sounds like Norway does not give away its resources. Danny Williams got a good deal for NFLD a few years ago as well. Intelligent people with vision need to be elected, not yes men.

[SASKFARMER3]

Ill answer cot! Why he's tired of farming try up to 8 years of shitty weather. When the last shitty weather you had was back in the 60S.
Norway has a system that I think we needed to look at long ago and realize big oil doesn't need help it makes money pumping oil.

[seabass]

Forage the same can be said for the dumbass NDP government in Manitoba. They just give away our hydroelectricity for nothing and we remain in debt. Dumb dumb dumb.

[sumdumguy]

You would think that the oil producing provinces and states would put their heads together and raise their royalties. There was a ton of money flying out of here. Now what?

[sumdumguy]

I guess I should say energy producing provinces/states should get together. An unfortunate consequence of high oil wages is that young families took on a load of debt by way of big new houses, new super cabs, new trailers, boats and other luxuries. As hours are cut and layoffs are handed out, how will they handle the debt load?

[Hamloc]

I am an Albertan and I find our collective way of looking at things rather short sighted. First off you only extract a natural resource once therefore present and future generations must benefit. Unfortunately we give away our resources with to small of a royalty, instead of controlling our rate of production and putting in place refining infrastructure to maximize returns we try to produce as fast as we can and ship raw unrefined products to the world. More importantly we refuse to implement a sales tax instead we will reimpose health premiums, raise sin taxes and increase taxes on high income earners. No new ideas. Interestingly enough I despise big government but I despise government debt and Albertans short sighted outlook more.

[rockpile]

I read the article a few days ago in the Calgary Herald. I started reading up on Norway. Btw, SF3, the population of Alberta (est. 4th qtr 2014) is over 4.1 million. Norway has a blended economy with a strong private sector side by side with State enterprises though in the last 15 years they've been moving to a more deregulated market driven economy. True, they don't charge royalties on oil and gas - they charge exploration and production licence fees so get their blood upfront. The 2 State owned oil companies control about 60% of the resource production. There are outside players. Both companies are now traded on their stock exchange. True, they pay way more in taxes. Saw a comparison for a CEO earning $577,000 USD and what he paid in income tax vs what he would pay in Massachusetts (highest taxed state) and Florida (lowest taxed state). Plus there is the VAT. Then come the intangibles - superior infrastructure, free health care (even if your just a tourist it's free), free education (check university tuition fees anywhere in the US) and the biggest one - zero national debt. In fact in 2009, Norway was the only country in the world with a budget surplus. So if you figure we're better off because of lower taxes, think again. The only reason your taxes are lower is because your Government went out and borrowed a pile of money on your behalf. But you're on the hook for paying it back.

[HFL]

How many dollars has Norway sent to Quebec?

[rockpile]

Interesting question HFL. None of course! But, as a Country, they are completely committed to equalization among regions. Almost half of their Municipal regions don't levy property taxes. They are more committed to regional equality than we ever will be.