A July presentation to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggesting the government is committed to a full-scale review of how it addresses hydroelectricity revenues in the equalization formula is not under active consideration, the Finance Department said Thursday.
Equalization
Two billion dollars is “chump change”
Only in Canada would an Eastern politician refer to two billion dollars of Albertans’ hard-earned money as “chump change.”
Equalization Isn’t Equal
Mention the subject of federal transfer payments, and most people’s eyes will glaze over. Mention that taxpayers in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario are net contributors to federal transfer payments – even though the cost of living is highest in those provinces, and lowest in the provinces that receive the bulk of federal transfer payments – and you might get people’s attention.
Belgian Vote Reflects Tensions Over Unity
Equalization policies now intensify calls for separatism in Belgium. Political tensions run high in Belgium, a federal state consisting of Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia and the bilingual Brussels-capital region. The previous general election, in 2010, led to an 18-month political crisis before a government was formed.
Featured News
Coal – Not Wind – is Keeping Saskatchewan’s Lights On
While it’s not the same minute-by-minute data provided by the Alberta Electric System Operator for their grid, SaskPower has begun breaking down where its power is coming from on a daily basis. And the data from Oct. 3 and 4 showed wind generated an average of just...
57 Policy Proposals for Future Leaders to Help Make the Canadian Economy Soar
Executive Summary The various federal political parties are all promoting the policy agendas they believe will foster a sustainably high quality of life for all Canadians. It remains to be seen whether they will attain the success that they aim to achieve. In some...
Editorial: Stealth equalization;: Practice of stuffing federal jobs into have-not provinces is form of transfer payment
“Over the past week and month, prominent players in business and political circles from Eastern and Central Canada made it clear the dysfunctional dependency on federal largesse — largely financed by Western Canada, must end, and that such transfers in their current form may be doing more harm than good.”
Report Pans ‘Stealth Equalization’;: Analysis Think-tank says fed jobs in New Brunswick, other provinces amount to additional transfer of money from Ottawa
“With the third-largest per-capita concentration of federal government jobs in Canada, New Brunswick is a “have-not” province that’s dependent on a hidden system of “stealth equalization” from Ottawa, says a new report from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.”
Ottawa’s Payroll Secretly Skewed Against Ontario;: Public servants abound in Maritimes, Manitoba
“The federal public service has become a “stealth equalization” program that overwhelmingly favours the Maritimes and Manitoba at the expense of Ontario and the rest of Canada, a new study shows.”
Bureaucracies Stealth’ Subsidize Have-Not Provinces: Study
“Canada’s rich westernmost provinces are footing the bill for more than $2-billion annually in “stealth” economic subsidies to the country’s poorest provinces – above and beyond the $14-billion in official federal equalization, according to a study released Monday by a leading Canadian think- tank.”
Rejecting Subsidy, Shunning Dependency: Maritime Provinces wish to sail to self-reliance.
Ben Eisen’s study of “stealth equalization” provides further evidence for the new movement of Atlantic Canadians who understand that federal subsidies undermine their economic capacity for self-reliance and foster dependency.
Stealth Equalization: How Federal Government Employment Acts as a Regional Economic Subsidy in Canada
Federal government employment is distributed unevenly across Canada. These jobs are found in high concentration in four out of the five major recipients of equalization – Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Such uneven distribution amounts to a hidden form of wealth transfer worth more than $2 billion.
Media Release – Stealth Equalization: How Federal Government Employment Acts as a Regional Subsidy in Canada
Federal government employment is distributed unevenly across Canada. These jobs are found in high concentration in four out of the five major recipients of equalization – Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Such uneven distribution amounts to a hidden form of wealth transfer worth more than $2 billion.
Stop Giving $36B A Year To The Provinces: Less-centralized systems are more efficient
“Conservative MP Maxime Bernier argued that federal transfers to the provinces — especially in health and education — are inefficient, if not simply unconstitutional. He proposed to replace them with a transfer of tax points, allowing the provinces to occupy the fiscal room thus vacated.”
Bernier Seeks End To $40-billion In Social, Health Transfers To Provinces
“Calling for an end to $40-billion in social and health transfers to the provinces, Maxime Bernier is criticizing his own government’s policies in areas of provincial jurisdiction and laying another plank in his platform for a future Conservative leadership bid.”