Jeffrey Simpson’s column today is about a blue-ribbon panel report on economic strategy, commissioned by the Premier of Alberta:

Recommendation One – dead on arrival – says: “stop diverting money received from the sale of non-renewable energy assets into the general revenue fund.” In other words, stop paying for today’s services with resource revenues, which are volatile, unpredictable and should be set aside for investments tomorrow. > Recommendation Two – also dead on arrival – says: “finance current expenditures using current revenue.” Translation: raise taxes equivalent to about 30 per cent of expenditures. Further translation: impose a provincial sales tax and/or raise personal or corporate tax rates.

Simpson is probably right that this report won’t have any impact on the province’s politics. What he doesn’t mention (I think it’s supposed to be implicit) is that its ideas are actually really good ones, and they’d produce tangible improvements in future quality of life for Albertans with minimal present impact.

What perplexes me is that leading Albertans can endorse this view but no viable political movement can form behind it. It’s obviously not impossible to convince electorates to back sensible policies — viz 1995, or for that matter Norway — and it doesn’t seem like Alberta’s centre-left parties have much to lose.