Norway got really lucky:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/99680a04-92a0-11de-b63b-00144feabd...

Canada too.

Those places have good government, I guess that's what saves them.

I guess so, but then the claim boils down to:

- It is bad to be resource rich and have a bad government.

- It is good to be resource rich and have a good government.

Why not instead just say

- How good things are will significantly depend on how good the government is.

Since that claim holds true for both resource rich and resource poor countries.

Yes. But we can add another (non-trivial) claim: If you have bad government, resources make it harder to transition to a good government.

Not Canada. Resources in Canada are a mixed blessing.

Google "canadian tar sands"