This idea could make Saskatchewan one of the richest places in the world
Canadian Taxpayers Federation Prairies director Gage Haubrich joined Ezra Levant to make the case for a new Saskatchewan heritage fund, and how such a fund can be protected from wasteful politicians.
In the past, Saskatchewan had a heritage savings fund before politicians decided the province was in enough of an emergency and spent all the money. Now, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Saskatchewan to restore its heritage fund, but with increased guardrails to prevent it from going to waste.
CTF Prairies director Gage Haubrich joined Ezra Levant on a recent episode of The Ezra Levant Show to make the case.
The straightforward pitch from the taxpayer watchdog is simple. Saskatchewan sits on significant natural resource wealth in oil, uranium, and potash. When prices are high, the province takes in more than it needs. Right now, that money gets spent as fast as it comes in — something a heritage fund would change that.
In fact, a 2013 report commissioned by then-premier Brad Wall recommended exactly that.
Based on the CTF's modelling, if the province had started a fund at that time under similar rules to Alberta's, it would contain roughly $4 billion today and generate about $200 million a year in investment returns — money that requires nothing from taxpayers and could be used for infrastructure, health care, or tax relief.
“Premier Scott Moe has said he's open to that sort of idea,” Haubrich said, “but the government has to pay down some debt first.”
Ezra raised the obvious problem of politicians and piggy banks. “It's almost like Scrooge McDuck rolling around in his giant safe,” he said. “It's tough to stop politicians from doing that.” Ezra noted that Saskatchewan won't always have a conservative-leaning premier — and that any fund needs to be protected against the next NDP government, not just the current one.
Haubrich pointed to two international models worth copying.
Alaska wrote protections directly into its state constitution, preventing politicians from touching the principal, allowing only for the interest to be spent.
Norway goes further, running its fund through a fully independent management structure that invests exclusively outside the country, insulating it entirely from domestic political pressure.
“Any fence is still a little bit better than no fence,” Haubrich said. “Right now, there's nothing stopping the government from spending resource revenues as fast as they come in.”
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