‘A good discussion to have’: Premier approves of federal sovereign wealth fund

Saskatchewan’s premier is giving a nod of approval to the federal government’s announcement Monday of a sovereign wealth fund — but Scott Moe is also adding a few notes of his own.

The Prime Minister said in the announcement that the Canada Strong Fund will invest in major Canadian industrial projects in energy, infrastructure, mining, agriculture, technology and more.

It will start with $25 billion, meant to be invested alongside private investors. Carney compared it to a national savings and investment account.

A short time later, Premier Scott Moe called the media together to give his thoughts on the fund, calling it a good initiative for the country.

“It really speaks to what we need to do in this nation, in working together at all levels of government to ensure that we can aspire to achieve what the Prime Minister said a number of months ago — being the strongest economy in the G7 and Canada becoming an energy superpower,” said Moe.

To invest that money alongside private money, Moe said the country needs to have an environment to attract the investment. He took the opportunity to repeat a frequent talking point of his, with Moe saying the federal government could do more in the regulatory environment. He pointed to the industrial carbon tax, Bill C-69, and the tanker ban on the West Coast, specifically.

“The opportunity that we have is to really restructure, and I would say fix, some of the wrongs that have been introduced in the regulatory environment, to attract that private sector investment and really allow our economy to become all that we know it can become,” said Moe.

The Sask. Party government has mused about creating a sovereign wealth fund in recent years. Moe said it couldn’t be done in a year when the government runs a deficit, and in years where there was a surplus, he said the government had instead made the decision to pay down the debt.

“If we are able to find our way to a surplus situation in the years ahead, that would be a choice we’d make at that time,” said the premier.

Moe said there are concerns about the country putting $25 billion into a fund when it’s already expecting to run a deficit — the premier thought that would be a concern for Canadians generally.

“The broader thought of having a sovereign wealth fund, I think, is a good discussion to have. And I would say, the way for us to get there is for us to really make the efforts, concrete efforts, in ensuring that we can attract that private sector investment and expand the industries that are creating wealth and jobs across this nation, including in our province,” explained Moe.

In his announcement on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested there would be good news on the federal deficit in the spring economic update on Tuesday.