NEW STRATEGIES FOR OUR NEW CANADA:

Canadians have a right to direct receipt of capital produced by our nation's natural resources.

Canadian Resource Depletion Fund

Most Canadians believe that our natural resources rightfully belong to all Canadians equally. Yet the flow of new capital produced from our natural resources is 100% consumed by our governments.

Canada needs to establish a Resource Depletion Fund (RDF) similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF). This would provide needed capital to every Canadian equally and help to reduce the huge imbalance in ownership of capital funds across Canada.

Credit Suisse estimates that 1% of global population owns 48% of global wealth. Economist Thomas Piketty points out that in most of history the lowest half of the population owns almost zero wealth. Alaskans voted 2 to 1 to establish the APF in 1976 and it has grown to over $53 billion presently and every resident, including babies received $1884 in 2014.

The fund accumulates 25% of oil and mineral royalties, leases, etc. for its citizens and these funds are not to be used for political/ government projects. Canadians never see our share of the wealth from these resources as our governments use 100% of such revenues for their costly programmes and projects. The CFP, Canadian Federalist Party, would immediately ensure every Canadian receives direct benefit from the productivity of our natural resource industries.

As automation and digitization transform our economy from labour centered productivity to more intellectual and entrepreneurial productivity, Canada needs to open up more avenues for capital to reach our families and the majority of citizens. Our own RDP, Resource Depletion Fund, will launch our society into a newly structured economy that empowers Canadians to adapt to our fast changing global economic environment.

Canadians can no longer behave like Luddites with our heads in the (oil) sands. We must embrace the opportunities of automation and digitization by providing life-long re-training for these generations of citizens and enhance our education systems to maximize the adaptive and creative capabilities of our people. We must free our minds from the mundane labours of the past century and produce new enterprises to serve the changing wants and needs of modern societies.

Jim Reid, CFP Founder (August 2015)