Latest news with #equalization
CBC
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Albertans told to stay on topic at raucous town hall
Not everyone who got up to the mic was allowed to pose their question to the Alberta Next panel. Here's one of those exchanges, followed by a question about equalization that was allowed.
National Post
21-07-2025
- Politics
- National Post
'Legalized election interference': Poilievre byelection challengers blast long-ballot protest group
Harris said he's spoken to thousands of people who live in the riding and he believes most oppose the LBC's involvement in the byelection. He adds that the out-of-province group is flummoxing his efforts to press Poilievre on matters of local and provincial importance, such freeing local egg, poulty and dairy farmers from Ottawa-imposed production quotas and ending equalization. Another third-party candidate, Abraham Grant, called the protest campaign 'visual noise designed to obfuscate and frustrate the administration of democracy.' The Calgary-based Grant leads the United Party of Canada, which advocates for provinces standing up to federal and supranational power. NDP candidate Katherine Swampy also said she was vexed by the protest group when she was collecting signatures for her nomination papers. 'I found it very difficult to collect the 100 signatures because people were either very conservative, or worried about signing for someone who is on the longest ballot,' said Swampy in an email. Swampy, who ran in the neighbouring riding of Leduc—Wetaskiwin in the recent federal election, admitted it was also hard for her to collect 100 signatures there, with Conservatives dominating the region's politics. Liberal Darcy Spady was the only candidate not to criticize the LBC for its meddling in the byelection. 'Every Canadian has the right to put their name on a ballot and run for public office,' said Spady through a spokesperson. Poilievre called the initiative a 'scam' at a recent townhall in Stettler, Alta., and suggested that the signature threshold for nominations be upped tenfold to 1,000 to make it harder for paper candidates, like the dozens running for the LBC, to get on the ballot. Federal Conservative party Leader Pierre Poilievre rides in the Calgary Stampede parade on Friday, July 4, 2025. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia LBC spokesperson Tomas Szuchewycz said in an email that Poilievre's comments show exactly why the group's work is so important. 'Ever since we started the LBC years ago we have been calling for politicians like Mr. Poilievre to step aside and recuse themselves from deciding election rules … Poilievre's proposal for a new 1,000 signature requirement would have a profound and negative impact on Canadian democracy,' said Szuchewycz. 'In most of Canada it would turn every election into a two party race, and in safe ridings, like Battle-River Crowfoot, we would likely see no election at all, races would simply be won by acclamation,' he continued. Szuchewycz wouldn't say whether he saw Critchley's open letter asking the group to stay out of the byelection. One LBC-affiliated candidate, Matthew Gillies, said he saw Critchley's letter and decided to run anyways. 'I gave (the letter) some consideration prior to my decision to become involved (but) concluded that her concerns were without merit,' said Gillies. Gillies, who lives in Ontario, said that the protest group bears no responsibility for the shortcomings of legitimate campaigns. 'Any independent candidates, whether they are truly unaffiliated, or running as a protest option against a riding associations' choice candidate, will succeed or fail based solely on the growth of their personal brand,' said Gillies. Stettler, Alta. resident Brad Wohlgemuth said he thinks the group is spoiling the democratic process. 'Most of the people I've talked to are disgusted. It's also driving some people away from voting all together; like what's the point?' he said. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.
National Post
25-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
'Cut the middle man': Alberta floats swapping equalization for more provincial tax-collecting
OTTAWA — Alberta is pitching that provinces collect more tax dollars and Ottawa less, in its latest volley against the federal equalization program. Article content The idea was put forward on Tuesday in an explanatory video posted to the website for the newly launched Alberta Next panel. Article content Article content The video proposed that the current fiscal arrangement in which Ottawa collects roughly 60 per cent of all tax revenues be flipped on its head. Article content 'What if we cut out the middleman and instead had provincial governments — that are responsible for delivering health care, education and social services — collect around 60 per cent of all taxes(?)' asked the narrator. Article content The clip draws inspiration from an unlikely source, pointing to a fiscal decentralization scheme recently floated by Quebec. Article content 'Quebec has already proposed having the federal government let provinces keep GST revenue generated in their provinces in return for ending the federal health transfer … Why not apply that same logic to all federal transfers?' Article content The three-minute video leads to an online survey on the equalization program geared to Alberta residents. Article content The idea of swapping health transfers for GST revenue was one of 42 recommendations put forward to Quebec's government last fall by a special advisory committee on constitutional issues. Article content Alberta currently receives more than $8 billion annually from Ottawa through major federal transfers. Article content Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said shortly after April's federal election that she was no longer willing to 'subsidize' larger provinces like Ontario and Quebec through the federal equalization program. Article content 'That was never the intent of equalization, and it needs to end,' Smith said in an early May address to Albertans. Article content Total equalization payments will reach a record $26.2 billion in the 2025-26 fiscal year, with Quebec taking home slightly more than half of this haul. Article content Smith has recently called for the equalization program to be downsized and reconfigured to prioritize the needs of smaller provincial economies like Manitoba and the Maritime provinces. Article content Alberta hasn't gotten an annual equalization payment since the 1964-65 fiscal year and, according to one recent study, has seen less than 0.02 per cent of all payments under the program since its inception in 1957.
National Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Don Braid: Quebec's $129-billion equalization bonanza — the idiocy is finally sinking in
Premier Danielle Smith raises hell with Ottawa over provincial grievances, to the joy of many Albertans and the discomfort of others. Article content Article content Here's one mammoth, nation-wrecking gripe: Article content Quebec has received $129.9 billion in equalization payments in the past 10 years. Article content Even Ontario receives $576 million this year and $546 million next year; preposterous handouts to Canada's largest economy by far. Article content Article content Equalization began in 1957. Alberta has reaped not a single penny since 1965. That was the one and only payment in the past 60 years. Article content Article content Saskatchewan and B.C. have received no payments for 15 years. Article content Smith demands that the four big provinces — B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec — all receive the same per-capita payments. Article content She's not saying that genuine have-not provinces should be denied, especially in Atlantic Canada. Article content Asked if they agree with her proposal, 60 per cent said yes. Article content Only 19 per cent are opposed. Twenty-one per cent are unsure. Article content That's remarkable. Majority support for reforming equalization is finally afoot in Canada. Article content Equalization was designed as a way for all provinces to provide roughly similar levels of service for their citizens. Article content Article content It has become a payoff system for keeping Quebec in Canada; and for some, an irritant that could drive Alberta out. Article content Article content This allows successive Quebec governments to suppress development and cap resource prices, to keep the money flowing. Article content It's all about fiscal capacity. Quebec has some neat tricks for keeping its own capacity artificially low. Article content Because of the equalization cushion, the Quebec National Assembly felt free to pass a resolution banning new oil or gas pipelines through the province. Article content None of this stops the insults. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet calls Canada an 'artificial country' (which is nonetheless free to supply Quebec with real western wealth). He says Alberta is a doomed petro-state. Article content Article content The Trudeau Liberals had a constitutional obligation to respond, but simply ignored the vote. Article content True reform will never happen without widespread political will. Finally, that seems to be developing.
National Post
08-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Newfoundland echoes Danielle Smith's call to fix equalization
OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is putting a new twist on an old debate over the federal equalization program, saying that the program should be re-tooled to prioritize the smaller provincial economies in Atlantic Canada. Article content Article content At least one Atlantic province, Newfoundland and Labrador, agrees that it's getting shortchanged under the program's current rules. Article content '(E)qualization is intended to ensure … fairness for all citizens. Currently, this fairness is not achieved for Newfoundland and Labrador,' Greg Gill, a spokesperson for Newfoundland's Liberal government told the National Post on Thursday. Article content Smith said in a livestreamed address on Monday that it was time for the 'big four' provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta to fend for themselves, and stop siphoning equalization dollars from smaller provincial economies like those in Atlantic Canada. Article content 'We have no issue with Alberta continuing to subsidize smaller provinces with their needs, but there is no excuse for such large and powerful economies… to be subsidizing one another,' said Smith. Article content 'That was never the intent of equalization, and it needs to end.' Article content Newfoundland's government likewise says the program shortchanges its residents in a number of ways, including by failing to account for the cost of delivering services in the far-flung, sparsely populated province. Article content '(We) service… more than 500 communities across a large, geographically dispersed, and aging population connected by almost 10,000 kilometres of roads,' wrote Gill. Article content Gill also said the current equalization formula punishes Newfoundland for developing offshore oil and other natural resources. He did not say explicitly that Newfoundland agree with Smith that the four biggest provincial economies should stop subsidizing one another through the equalization program. Article content Newfoundland filed a court challenge against the program in June 2024, arguing it doesn't fulfill its constitutional purpose in its current form. Article content Smith said in a March statement to the federal party leaders that Alberta 'is no longer agreeable to subsidizing other large provinces who are fully capable of funding themselves.' Article content Sixty-two per cent of Albertans voted in a 2021 referendum to petition Ottawa to remove equalization from the Constitution, after the question was put forward by a panel on constitutional issues launched by Smith's predecessor Jason Kenney. Article content Quebec and Ontario will take in a combined $14.15 billion of $26.17 billion earmarked for equalization payments in 2025-26, with Quebec alone getting half the total pot ($13.57 billion).
