No one does a better job than David MacKinnon of revealing what he calls “the tragic consequences” of Canada’s broken equalization program.
Equalization
The Myths of Equalization: Notes for Speech by Prof. David C. MacKinnon to the Rotary Club of Ottawa West
I will deal with the myths associated with the current equalization system and then devote the largest part of my remarks to the consequences of these myths for Canadians and the politics of actually changing.
Germany’s Federal States: Givers and Takers: Germans fear a European transfer union because they hate their own one
As they do about once a decade, the Germans are again fighting over their domestic “transfer union,” in which tax revenues are redistributed among the 16 federal Länder (states).
Understanding Equalization
Last week, the Globe and Mail ran an article authored by John Ibbitson which profiled David MacKinnon, a Frontier Centre senior fellow and one of the country's leading critics of Canada's equalization program. David's work over the past several years has helped show...
Featured News
A Year of LNG Royalties/Taxes from a Single Pipeline Could Pay for …
Sitting on top of one of the world’s largest and richest natural resource warehouses is turning into quite a disconcerting distraction. While much of Canada’s population – the heavily urban part for whom “rural” means Whistler, Muskoka, or Mont Tremblant – likes to...
Medical Martial Law – Never Again
The economic upheaval now roiling over the world’s financial markets, rapidly lowering living standards, and even threatening to freeze Europeans this winter, is all directly related to the radical decision most western leaders took in March of 2020., when a new...
A Transfer System That’s Far From Equal
On Tuesday, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce attacked fiscal federalism, claiming that Canada’s complex system of transfers and equalization payments robs Ontario taxpayers and diminishes national productivity.
When $8 Billion Just Isn’t Enough
The Prime Minister has an obligation to pursue policies that benefit the entire country, and writing Quebec another big fat cheque just doesn’t qualify. The response should come swiftly and be unequivocal: “No deal. The rest of Canada won’t be shaken down.”
Supplicant Series Begins
One of the most important functions of an independent think tank is to inject controversial ideas and thinking into the public dialogue.
Control federal spending
The Harper Government needs to take control of spending. Immediately.
Cities-Towns Ask Ottawa for Investment in Infrastructure
If senior levels of government are going to invest in upgrading the water systems of towns and cities, will they also fund 2/3 of the cost to upgrade my water supply and septic systems on the farm?
Frances Needs to Visit Belgium
As well intended equalization is, it’s ultimately a divisive policy that cements the recipients into the status quo while fuelling national acrimony.
Caution in the Air: Manitoba Politics
To implement limited government ideas in Manitoba the province’s chronic pragmatism and unique political geography must be understood.
European-style bailouts in Canada?: Quebec and Ontario’s debts add up to trouble for nation
Frontier Centre in the media from the Calgary Herald.
Federalism’s Free Lunch: Why should Alberta taxpayers have to pay for PEI to provide students with free college?
“Maxime Bernier is right: End transfer payments to the provinces. Let Ottawa give them greater room to tax their own residents, but let provincial legislatures also have to make the tough choice to increase taxes on their own citizens if the politicians want to spend more on health, education, welfare and other provincial functions Ottawa is now subsidizing.”