Jason Fekete and Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald August 27, 2010
CALGARY — It's a seemingly bottomless well of riches the Alberta government continues to tap to fund its programs. But instead of extracting it, you plug it, play it and drink it. Indeed, booze and gambling are producing a windfall of riches for the provincial government at a rate that's suddenly worth more than the individual takes from conventional oil and natural gas. Combined, the vices are expected to generate about $2 billion in revenue for provincial coffers in the current 2010-11 budget year -- roughly $1.3 billion from gaming and lottery revenue, and nearly $700 million from liquor. Yet, royalties from conventional natural gas -- for years the province's primary source of energy income -- are now forecast to hit only $1.9 billion this year. Four years ago, the government reaped $6 billion in natural gas royalties. The gaming and liquor income is also expected to outstrip estimated conventional crude oil revenue for the year, which is also projected to reach about $1.9 billion. It was a similar story for the 2009-10 fiscal year and part of an intriguing but potentially alarming trend for the Tory government: Albertans' bad habits are suddenly more valuable than some of the province's geological wealth.
"It's a reliable source (of revenue) and they depend on it. That's the worrisome thing," Robert Williams, a co-ordinator with the Alberta Gaming Research Institute, said about the booze and gambling dollars. Albertans are already near the top of per-capita gambling in Canada, spending an average $951 per person in 2009, he said -- far more than almost every other province. "It's startling and it's worrisome," Williams added. (More)
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