Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall wants cuts to the federal equalization program, suggesting some of the have-not provinces are getting too much money that could be better spent elsewhere. 651 more words
Tags » Equalization Payments
The federal government quietly renewed its equalization formula — which is used to calculate payments to those provincial governments that are deemed to be below par, in terms of their ability to raise revenues at comparable tax rates — in the 2014-15 budget, with surprisingly little fanfare. 882 more words
To many observers, Canada’s equalization system — with its side deals, federal unilateralism and complex formulas — is broken. Major reform is long overdue.
But for proponents of reform, the new provisions to the Fiscal Arrangements Act that took effect earlier this year marked yet another disappointment. 911 more words
The federal equalization program is intended to reduce the differences in fiscal capacity across provinces, so that Canadians living in a province with a small or slowly growing tax base can have adequate health care, education and other public services at tax rates comparable to those in other provinces. 597 more words
ABOVE: Premier Kathleen Wynne is taking aim at the federal budget as she prepares for an upcoming provincial election. Global’s Alan Carter has the story. 646 more words
This morning a research paper that I contributed to was released by the Fraser Institute. You can find the research paper here. The report examines the impact of province subsidies that are embedded in federal government programs and how they are distributed across the country.