Albertans have climbed aboard the government’s royalty roller-coaster so many times in the past two decades that we’re used to being turned upside down by the boom-and-bust nature of oil and gas revenues.

Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to end that ride by building up the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.

In a televised state of the province address on Wednesday night, Smith set out her target to grow the fund from less than $25 billion in value today to something much, much larger.

By year’s end, the UCP government will unveil a long-term financial plan, “charting a path to a Heritage Fund of between $250 and $400 billion by the year 2050,” she said, according to a prepared copy of her address.

The government will also limit government spending increases below the legislated cap of inflation plus population, which could have major implications for next week’s provincial budget and the years ahead.

“Instead of spending all that non-renewable surplus cash on the wants of today, we will instead be fiscally disciplined, invest in the Heritage Fund annually . . . and slowly but surely wean our province’s budget off the volatile roller-coaster of resource revenues,” Smith said.

“In my view, our province has one last shot at getting this right.”

While the path to socking away more money in the province’s rainy-day account is unclear, it appears the focus in next week’s budget will be on saving and paying down debt, not major spending increases.

A promise that Smith made during last year’s election campaign of a personal income tax cut “will have to wait a year and be phased in responsibly,” she said.

Last May, the UCP vowed to create a new eight per cent tax bracket on income under $60,000 annually — people making above that rate would save up to $760 a year —........

© Calgary Herald