Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my comments yesterday regarding our need for revenue to fund our programs. Some jurisdictions worldwide have done precisely what this government says is impossible. Deriving meaningful public benefits from their non-renewable resource extraction, they have built programs and heritage funds that are the envy of the world, through higher taxes and resource revenues, while pursuing progressive policies aimed at mitigating unintended, harmful effects of exploitation activities.

Norway is perhaps the best example we’ve all heard about. Thanks to resource revenue and taxation policies, they have a trillion dollar Heritage Fund to pass on to their children and to remove the “bust” from the “boom and bust” resource extraction economy we both share.

Contrast this with our neighbours to the south in Alberta, a population whose citizens have, in a sense, been subjected to a government-enabled corporate fleecing. Alberta’s Heritage Fund is just $16.6 billion and is only slightly larger than it was when it started in 1976.

Economic globalization has affected the current price of oil, which has them singing the blues, proposing to cut programs and discussing tax increases.

Norway, a progressive nation with smart taxes, sound early childhood and educational programs and a population that understands the benefits of paying taxes, is also an evidence-based country that recognizes its role as a global citizen. With recent science indicating we must move away from fossil fuels and leave them in the ground, they have chosen to divest their National Pension Fund of investments in 114 companies, including all coal mining operations and Alberta’s tar sands. They now regard these resources as liabilities, not assets, and judge “there to be high levels of uncertainty about the sustainability” of their business models.

Companies reliant on fossil fuels and those engaged in harming the environment are seen as morally opposite to Norway’s investment goals and representing an investment risk. Many companies will find themselves stranded in a world that does not want what they offer. Clearly, as our own Mark Carney has indicated, the smart money is moving away from the economy based on destructive fossil fuels.

The Minister of Finance has kindly committed to providing committee a discussion paper on revenue options, outlining in great detail, I’m sure, all the reasons it can’t be done. I would ask the Minister to

show some rare leadership in Canada and include a “can do” discussion of Norway’s enlightened success.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted