The government of Alberta has released the report of a committee tasked with studying Alberta’s savings and investment strategy, outlining 17 recommendations for the province, but it warns that a lot has change since the report was completed.

The five-person Financial Investment and Planning Advisory Commission, chaired by Dr. Jack Mintz, head of the University of Calgary’s School of Policy Studies, was asked to review the province’s savings strategy and make recommendations aimed at ensuring Albertans receive the maximum benefits from the province’s savings and investment funds.

The 17 recommendations announced Wednesday include:

> growing the size of Alberta Heritage Fund to $100 billion;

> saving a fixed share of government revenues each year;

> providing stable funding for research foundations, and;

> consolidating several government funds into a larger Heritage Fund.

“Increasing savings and investments is critical for the province’s future to stabilize resources to support government spending and avoid higher taxes in the next two decades arising from demographic and other fiscal pressures,” said Mintz. “We believe our report and recommendations form a strong foundation for a strategy that will preserve the prosperity we enjoy today for the future.”

The government said it received the report earlier this year and continues to consider its recommendations, along with information from a wide variety of sources, in the development of a new savings and investment strategy.

“There is no question that a lot of work and good thought went into this report and its recommendations,” said Iris Evans, Minister of Alberta Finance and Enterprise. “There is also no question that the economic and fiscal landscape has changed dramatically since it was completed. We need to consider both as we work to come up with a plan that stands the test of any economic cycle.”

IE