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EQUALIZATION/ TRANSFER PAYMENTS The Equalization Program is a federal transfer designed to ensure that each province can provide comparable levels of services at comparable levels of taxation. The program is intended to ensure that a province with a lagging economy and relatively low revenues can provide the same services as a province with a healthy economy and relatively high revenues. In other words, it takes money from provinces with healthy economies and transfers it to provinces with lagging economies. These payments are unconditional, which allows the province to direct the money to its highest spending priority. Just to give you an idea of how this program affects you as an Albertan, digest this: Since 1961 to 2002 Albertans have paid an extra $244 billion to Ottawa. At the same time, Quebec received $217 billion (while threatening to separate). It would appear it pays much better to be un-Canadian than pro-Canadian. Last year alone Albertans paid an extra $14 billion to Ottawa in extra federal taxation. That is approximately $4,000 for every man, women and child in Alberta or $16,000 for a family of four. Once Quebec once again was the overall winner, Last your Quebec received an extra $6.5 billion in hand-outs from the flawed Equalization Program. Now Stephen Harper wants to use our money to buy votes in Quebec by giving an extra $1.5 billion under this program for a total of $8 billion in 2007. The only other province considered a “have province” under equalization is Ontario. Since 2002 Ontario's share in extra taxation has increased to $22 billion, but that is only approximately $2,400 per capita as compared to Alberta's contribution which is upwards to $4,000 per capita. The tax payers of Ontario were in line to pay on extra $26 billion but Ontario’s liberal government balked and the total was reduced to $22 billion. The existing Equalization Formula is being renegotiated as you read this. Some people, mostly socialists, will continue to look at Equalization/Transfer payments as a good deal for all Canada. However, is it fair to Albertans to have to pay for the past socialist experience in British Columbia and NDP experience in Ontario? Is it fair for Albertans to continue to pay for Quebec’s romance with separatism, which chased industry out of that province? The experiment with federal and provincial socialist governments in Canada and separatism in Quebec continue to cost Albertans dearly. It has become evident to a good many Albertans that adopting the Alberta Agenda is the only reasonable and commonsense way for Alberta to bring an end to Ottawa’s dominance over Albertans. Questioning the Legality of Equalization Energy, Fiscal Balances and National Sharing
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