The Alberta Chambers of Commerce and the Certified General Accountants Association of Alberta released a report today that called on the provincial government to make a firm commitment to maintain the Alberta Advantage by establishing a long-term savings plan.

The report, which is the third in the Alberta Vision 2020 series, was reviewed by former premier Peter Lougheed, whose legacy includes the establishment of the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund (AHSTF) 30 years ago. Mr. Lougheed also provided the foreword for the report. "The Alberta Chambers of Commerce and Certified General Accountants Association of Alberta have made a very important contribution to the public debate as to Alberta's choices and options in responding to increasing natural resources revenues from oil and natural gas," wrote the former premier.

"While many have stated that saving a percentage of surpluses for the future is critical, what's unique with our approach is instead we're saying we need to save 30-40 per cent of the natural resource revenues," said Ken Kobly, CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce. "And this commitment has to be for the long term, so even if the decision makers change at election cycles, we know that our Province will maintain the Alberta Advantage for its citizens," he added.

"Our government is currently in the fortunate position of generating enormous amounts of revenue from our province's non-renewable resources. But our obligation to meet the needs of future generations also continues to grow," said John Carpenter, Executive Director and CEO of CGA Alberta. "This phase of our Vision 2020 research partnership is all about turning surplus revenue today into savings for tomorrow."

The report outlines that measures such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) are not strong enough, as the cap can be lifted and additional resource revenue can be allocated to spending. In addition, several other funds allow the Province to spend natural resource revenues beyond the annual $4.75 billion "cap" contained in the FRA.

The report also compares the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust fund to other natural resource abundant jurisdictions that have a similar trust fund, namely Norway and Alaska.

Saving for the future Alberta Advantage, authored by Mark Milke, makes the following key recommendations to the Government of Alberta:

- Alberta's annual per capita spending should not exceed population

growth and inflation.

- The province should deposit between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of all

non-renewable resource revenues in the Heritage Fund annually.

- The province should consider transfers of additional resource revenue

into the Heritage Fund (beyond the recommended percentages) in the

manner of the state of Alaska.

- The province should not issue dividend cheques in the short to

medium-term. While the 2006 dividend cheques were popular, such

payouts place the dividend "cart" before the principal "horse."

All 83 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have been provided with a copy of the report.

The full report is available at www.albertavision2020.ca.

For further information: Ken Kobly, CEO, Alberta Chambers of Commerce, (780) 975-1659; Richard Truscott, Director, Communications, Certified General Accountants Association of Alberta, (403) 299-1323

Source: newswire