Natural resources and government revenue

Since the expansion of democracy, and the election of the CCF Government in 1944, the people of Saskatchewan have consistently felt that natural resources should be developed for the benefit of all. [...] In Canada today, and in many other countries, economic rent from resource extraction and use is considered to be the difference between the basic international price of a commodity less all the costs of production – including exploration, development of the extraction process, operating the system, the capital invested and the transportation costs. [...] Economic rent under this definition would include the excess profits captured by the corporations, as well as the special taxes, fees and royalties, which are used by governments to try to appropriate a share of the rent for the general public – the legal owners of the natural resources. [...] The theory is that the private company responsible for the extraction owes royalties to the owners of the resource, the general public, and this should be considered a basic cost of production. [...] For example, in 2004-5 there was a major increase in the price of oil and natural gas unrelated to the cost of extraction, and the monopoly rent was captured by the private corporations and their owners.