No man is an island. What is true of individuals is doubly true of societies. When even in authoritarian societies such as Iran and China, YouTube videos from Tunisia, Britain or Argentina can be viewed the instant they are posted, even the humble and the oppressed know what life is like elsewhere.
Equalization
A Flawed Formula: In allotting equalization, no thought is given to how much it actually costs to provide basic public services
Ottawa’s equalization scheme, under which the federal government gives money to “havenot” provinces so that they can provide roughly comparable levels of public services as found in “have” provinces at roughly comparable levels of taxation, is a little more than 50 years old.
There’s a Fairer — and Cheaper — Way to Even the Provinces’ Playing Field: Canada’s equalization program should stop turning a blind eye to important differences in provincial expenditures
Equalization payments are intended to give all provinces the financial means to provide roughly equivalent services to their residents. This principle is embedded in our Constitution. But it doesn’t always work out that way. In fact, some provinces receive more than they need. Some receive too little.
Wealth Shared Unfairly, Study says;: Ottawa suppressing parts of report that shows how Ontario and B.C. are being short-changed
Ottawa is suppressing key parts of a politically explosive federal report that reveals Ontario is being shortchanged by Canada’s national wealth-sharing scheme.
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Demand Fairness from Ottawa and Edmonton
A few weeks ago, Albertans voted to reduce the inequities in the federal equalization program. The deficit between the dollars that leave to and come back from Ottawa has recently been as high as $27 billion in one year. During times of crisis, it feels like salt in...
Inflation: They Win, You Lose: Politicos, Cronies Fleece Canadians with Monetary Expansion
One of the most widespread economic myths is that inflation—the reduced purchasing power of a currency—is a win for a nation, a sign of a booming economy. For the privileged classes in government and with initial access to monetary expansion, it is a win. For everyone...
Waves of Unthinking Money
Text of David MacKinnon’s speech to the Frontier Centre on how unsustainable regional subsidies are starting to break an Ontario economy beset by severe competitive pressures.
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David MacKinnon, Retired Ontario Public Servant and Critic of Regional Subsidies
As Ontario snoozes it loses. An Ontario based critic of regional subsidies makes the case for change.
When We Stop Laughing at Belgium, We Might Want to Cry
Poor Belgium. If it didn’t exist, it would have to be invented. Somebody, after all, has to serve as the butt of jokes about intellectually-challenged clodhoppers. As the country passed its record 150th day this week without a legitimate government, it solidified its...
Equalization: Deal or No Deal? Does it Matter?
An Ontario based policy expert outlines why Ontario can no longer sustain Canada’s flawed equalization system.
Cash-addicted Atlantic premiers want equalization even if their provs become “haves”
Recently Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams and Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald have been complaining that the federal government has broken the Atlantic accord on equalization payments. The federal Conservatives' Atlantic MPs have been on the verge of a caucus...
Sweden Calls on EU to Abolish All Farm Subsidies
Sweden's Agriculture Minister Eskil Erlandsson said the government has submitted a report to the European Commission in Brussels calling for an end to all EU farm subsidies, according to reports from Swedish news agency TT and The Local. The proposal is the centre...
A Seinfeld Election
Manitoba’s 2007 election is skating around the province’s key challenge, it is an election about nothing.
Where Manitoba Stands in 2007
Manitoba’s 2007 election campaign could have been a chapter in Alice in Wonderland. While the province’s economy continues to slide, politicians are not discussing either the reasons for the slide or solutions to it.
Mafia Welfare
The disincentive problems with Italy’s equalization programs resemble our own, but with a few special twists thrown in by the Mafia and poor southerners lulled into indolence.