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rfmcdonaldThe ongoing uproar in Ontario about the federal equalization system--the federally-run system of monetary transfers from wealthier provinces (i.e. Ontario and Alberta) to poorer ones, with the aim of ensuring a uniform high quality of public services across Canada--has caught the attention of Canadians outside of the province. The sentiment of (non-Albertan) Canadians seems to be reproduced in this editorial, reprinted in the Toronto Star and originally from the Winnipeg Free Press.
It isn't stretching too much to say that Ontario is to the Canadian federal state what the Russian SFSR was to the Soviet federal state, that is, Ontario is far and away the larger Canadian federal unit by population, the single largest provincial aggregation of wealth and one of the richest provinces per capita, and the territorial nucleus of Canada. A Canada is imaginable without British Columbia, or Atlantic Canada, or even without Québec. Without Ontario, though, Canada would be defunct.
I favour equalization, of course. I think that better use can be made of the funds on the part of the receiving provinces, but maintaining uniformly high standards of public service (education, health, now daycare) across the country is critical for citizenship in the Canadian political community (as opposed to separate provincial communities) to mean anything. I just wonder how, if at all, Ontarian grievances can be assuaged.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will launch a strong campaign, he announced, objecting to the federal government's offshore oil revenue deal with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Ontario is paying too much to Ottawa and getting too little in return, he complained, and now they're giving two Atlantic provinces more than they used to and it's just ... not ... fair!
McGuinty's argument will have to be a great deal stronger than that before it wins significant sympathy in the rest of the country. It seems to people in other provinces that Canada is run primarily for the benefit of Ontario. Federal taxes collected all over the country pour into Ottawa, a city in Ontario that has grown from a lumber camp to a great metropolis by sucking up the wealth of the nation.
Federal trade policy gave Ontario the auto industry on which it still lives. The federally built St. Lawrence Seaway gave it the ocean access that keeps its mines and mills in business.
McGuinty does not wish to discuss the immense benefits Ontario has derived from being part of Canada — benefits that have made it by far the richest and most populous province. He wishes only to discuss how much tax the federal government collects in Ontario and how much it spends there. Since Canada has a progressive tax system and Canada's wealth is heavily concentrated in Ontario, it is obvious that the federal revenues are going to be drawn disproportionately from Ontario. And since national policy is to redistribute wealth, Ontario is going to deposit more than it withdraws.
It isn't stretching too much to say that Ontario is to the Canadian federal state what the Russian SFSR was to the Soviet federal state, that is, Ontario is far and away the larger Canadian federal unit by population, the single largest provincial aggregation of wealth and one of the richest provinces per capita, and the territorial nucleus of Canada. A Canada is imaginable without British Columbia, or Atlantic Canada, or even without Québec. Without Ontario, though, Canada would be defunct.
I favour equalization, of course. I think that better use can be made of the funds on the part of the receiving provinces, but maintaining uniformly high standards of public service (education, health, now daycare) across the country is critical for citizenship in the Canadian political community (as opposed to separate provincial communities) to mean anything. I just wonder how, if at all, Ontarian grievances can be assuaged.
