Day 13 – Advent is the season of preparing for Christmas. Here at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy we want to tell you about some of the things we would like to see under our tree.
On Day 13 we would like to see transformative, “out of the box” reform of Canada’s long-in-tooth federal equalization program. At a minimum, treat Quebec’s electricity the same as western Canada’s oil in the equalization formula to stop rewarding Quebec for having low electricity prices. Much bolder would be simply to give the provinces the federal GST as a swap for provincial equalization subsidies. Another bold idea would be to , simply transfer provincial debts to the feds, helping provinces financially by reducing interest payments.
Suggested Reading:
“Artificially Cheap Hydro Power Your Equalization Dollars at Work” – Peter Holle -(one page)
“Deconstitutionalizing Equalization” – Brian Lee Crowley (one page)
“GST and Transfer Reform” – Peter Holle – (one page)
“Pay Provinces Debt Seize the Credit Cards” – Neil Reynolds in the Globe and Mail (one page)
