Oil Patch Heresy

Canada’s premiers were confronted by two oddities when they gathered in the Alberta foothills this summer. The first one was Alberta premier Ralph Klein, decked out in the costume of a masked cowboy and brandishing a mock six-shooter to ward off phantom thieves for a rodeo finale. The second was the parting comment from an anonymous announcer, punctuating the premier’s play: “And keep your hands off our Heritage Fund!”

The politicians from outside of Alberta may have wondered about that cryptic warning, since no one has broached the idea of skimming off any of Alberta’s rapidly swelling energy riches, never mind the $12 billion in the Heritage Fund.

Mr. Klein and other senior provincial politicians inside the province are justifiably worried that soaring energy prices will soon spark demands for a piece of Alberta’s prosperity. In short, they fear a second National Energy Program, a repeat of the intensely loathed federal policy of price controls and...