Norway's success shows the wealth Alberta could have

This month, Norway's oil revenue fund reached the point where every Norwegian is now a millionaire in Norwegian kroner. As an article in the Tyee shows, this is very different from what has happened with Alberta's oil revenue.

A combination of higher taxes for oil companies, and a government-owned oil company, enables Norway to get over 80% of the revenue from its oil. Alberta rejected the idea governments have a key role to play and gets less than 20%.

Norway also recognized that its oil and gas resources were a one time opportunity and resisted the temptation to use revenues to fund short-term tax cuts. In contrast, Alberta's use of oil and gas revenues for tax cuts has, as the Tyee article points out, squandered $15 billion of its sustainability fund and resulted in cuts to basic services.