The Opposition parties are asking serious questions about Future Fund legislation which underwent second reading in the House of Assembly yesterday.
The fund will be made up of royalties from the oil and gas industry and proceeds from the sale of government assets. It will be administered by the Department of Finance, with a six-person board of trustees to provide oversight.
Opposition Finance critic Tony Wakeham says while he supports the concept of a Future Fund, not enough is known about where the money is coming from.
“We have no idea what the fiscal situation of the province is, because the government has failed to be transparent, has failed to share this information,” says Wakeham.
The NDP’s Jim Dinn says the New Democrats will not support the sale of government assets and want to know more about the makeup of the board which will administer the fund. He says Moya Greene’s report recommended an external advisory committee to oversee the Future Fund.
“…yet what we’ve got here,” says Dinn “is the Deputy Minister of Finance, the Assistant Deputy Minister Responsible for Treasury Management, the Comptroller General of the Future Fund, the Director Responsible for Treasury Management in the Department, one person within government who has expertise in environmental matters…and one person responsible for the general public interest.”
Dinn says he would have liked to have seen the board answerable to the House of Assembly and not to the Minister of Finance since the assets are those of every citizen and “not the purview of any one political party.”
Finance Minister Siobhan Coady meanwhile is responding to concerns about how money in the future fund could be used down the road.
Under restricted withdrawals of the money, the legislation mentions that it can be used to fund “strategic priorities.”
Coady responded to the vagueness of that phrase, and whether or not there will be measures in place to help guide the use of the money.
She says they have a 10-year window before funds can be accessed for that purpose, and as the legislation is refined more will be done on that front.
