AIMS addresses Commons Committee on Equalization
On May 8, 2002, the prestigious Commons Finance Committee organized a special roundtable on Equalization. AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley, was one of three nationally-recognized authorities invited to spend an afternoon with the Committee to discuss the workings of this huge but arcane programme. In his formal remarks to the MPs, Crowley argued that after nearly half a century and over $180 billion, equalization has become a major obstacle to our country's goal of closing the economic disparity gap between the developed and less-developed provinces. Citing examples such as Newfoundland's handling of Voisey's Bay and Nova Scotia's handling of potential offshore gas revenues, Crowley argues that equalization not only subsidizes poor economic policy and democratic irresponsibility in our government's, but also taxes productive economic activity in the least developed parts of the country.