Alberta Budget resists opening its bulging reserves for innovation and research

Alberta has decided to take a go-slow approach to investing in its innovation capacity, despite having eliminated the provincial debt and riding high on massive increases in oil and gas royalties. The April 13 Budget provides only a small portion of the increases pledged to its endowments for health, science and engineering research.

The Budget devotes just $250 million over three years to the two endowments — the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AHFMR) — a far cry from the $1 billion pledged earlier this year (R$, April 12 & January 24/05).

Budget documents show AHFMR’s budget increasing from a forecast $864 million in 2005 to $1.346 billion in 2008. The Alberta Ingenuity Fund’s endowment remains stagnant in the same period at $532 million.

Innovation in the energy sector fares somewhat better. The Budget provides up to $200 million in royalty relief to enhance oil and gas recovery, as part of the Alberta Energy Innovation Strategy. Priority will be given to oil sands upgrading, clean coal technology, water management research, enhanced recovery of conventional oil and gas, exploring alternative energy sources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Spending on advanced education will rise significantly to $1.7 billion, up more than 13%. The budget for the Ministry of Advanced Education is slated to increase from $1.46 billion in FY04-05 to $1.89 billion in FY07-08. In contrast, the budget of the Ministry of Innovation and Science is slated to decline from $197 million to $183 million in the same period.

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