Ralph Klein's rainy Day fund.

The way things are going in Alberta these days, one assumes that rainy days are far, far away but with the oil money rolling in as fast as Ralph can count it, the time has come to put some of it to use for Albertans.

The Alberta Premier took to his province's airwaves on Tuesday, outlining his plans for a 1 billion dollar "topping up" of the Alberta Heritage Fund. The fund a hallmark of the Peter Lougheed years, has for the most part been like a long forgotten bank account, no new monies had been added to it since 1992.

Prior to that, the province had actually been taking monies out as the Alberta economy suffered a relapse, fueled in part by Federal government intervention in the oil industry there. The fund prior to Klein's 1 billion dollar deposit sat at 12 billion dollars, and with oil revenues turing Alberta into a petro power it seems that the fund will now begin to accrue more revenues itself.

The premier also suggested that Alberta will move to the forefront of cancer research with an endowment of 500 million dollars for research into the disease.

Of interest to Podunkians is Klein's desire to increase the extraction of Albertan coal, claiming that Alberta's coal is going to prove to be a major source of energy in the future, the concept of "clean coal" espoused by Klein was taken to task by environmentalists and opposition members who suggested that the Premier is out of touch. Regardless of the debate in Alberta on that issue, any increase in production there will only have benefits to the Port of Prince Rupert, which is quickly becoming Alberta's port of choice for international shipping.

Tagged by one observer as a feel good beer like TV commercial, the Premier didn't really address any issues in his address, preferring to stress Alberta's booming economy and it's vibrant future. The broadcast was heavy on the feel good and rather light on the concerns or worries that your average Alberta resident might have at this time.

One contentious issue that wasn't mentioned in the televised speech was the health care situation in Alberta, it's expected that the province will begin to look for ways to privatize portions it's health care delivery system, with an announcement expected next week.

With money gushing out of the ground and the Premier topping up his Rainy Day fund, those health care decisions may give us an idea just what Alberta has planned for it's bounty of cash from it's bountiful resource sector. It may very well open up a serious debate there as well , on what is important to Albertans and their increasing wealth.