It is time for a fundamental course change by Atlantic Canadians respecting equalization and other regional subsidies. Earlier this week I made a presentation to independent Senators in Ottawa on this subject, in which I advised them that Canada’s regional subsidies...
In recent days, readers of the Guardian have read very different articles on equalization, one by Premier Wade MacLauchlan and one by me. This is healthy. One hopes that the debate continues. It is important to be factual as we go forward. For example, Mr. MacLauchlan...
The controversies that have erupted over equalization in recent days must seem tiresome to many Canadians. Our national debates on equalization have been marked by conflict, obscure technical jargon, little research on the impact of the program, excessive vitriol and...
Canada Should Fix Equalization and Other Regional Subsidies Now, the latest study by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, demonstrates how equalization is unfair, diminishes productivity, holds back economic development,...
In a recent New York Times article, David Wallace Wells asked, “How did No-Mandate Sweden End up with such an average pandemic”. Let’s be clear. This admission from the New York Times, who tried to destroy the response to Covid-19, starting in April 2020 and...
Candida Auris is a fungus that, unlike most fungi, can survive in a human body. It is capable of spreading within the body, resulting in an agonizing death. For unknown reasons the fungus is spreading at a rather alarming rate. So far, cases have been confined to long...
“I want to tackle a taboo subject today: how one of Canada’s most sacred cows—regional subsidies—is, in fact, chewing up the country’s economic foundations, national unity and future prospects.”
%20copy.jpg)
Listen to David MacKinnon speak about costs of Public Industry in Canada here. (30 minutes)
The government has generally acted in a haphazard way. In 50 years, it has not conducted a public study of the economic impact of the Canadian system of regional subsidies and transfers on Ontario or any other region. This is rather like the ATM user who never checks the balance but hopes that something remains in the account.
‘I don’t know Mr. Duffy’s actual views. If, however, he was warning that excessive dependency on subsidies is dangerous, that Islanders are not entitled to treatment by governments that is not available to others and that there are risks in offending public opinion in contributing provinces by constantly seeking more money from them, then he is proving his merit as a senator and deserves recognition for his courage.”
We are fortunate that we don’t have a housing bubble that is nearly as serious as in Western Europe and the United States. However, we now better understand the nature of financial “bubbles” driven by excess and it is increasingly evident that we have our own. They are called Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and to a lesser extent, Quebec.
Our regional subsidy system is not transparent, it is not sustainable and it is driven by excess. It is almost by any definition a bubble.
The vice is tightening on Ontario and unfortunately the federal government is doing much to help it close. Ottawa is still taking about $80 million every working day from Ontario to fund subsidies, including equalization, for Manitoba, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.
In our personal lives, we generally recognize three basic moral principles in our economic relationships with others. The first is to do everything we can to ensure that we do not become an unnecessary burden on our neighbours. The second is a core principle adopted from the practice of medicine. It is to do no harm. The third principle is to share where sharing is required but to do so in a way that does not breed dependence. The failure to measure the system against its principal goal means that federal regional subsidies fail this final moral test.
As Ontario snoozes it loses. An Ontario based critic of regional subsidies makes the case for change.