Ontario to lose equalization payments as Alberta’s economic fortunes fall
Karen Howlett and Jane Taber
A Reset is Needed in Atlantic Canada
AIMS Fellow David MacKinnon suggests that the new government in Ottawa has a unique opportunity to help reset the region out of dependency and into the path of prosperity.
Wealth redistribution has hurt some provinces, says former bureaucrat
Election campaign should focus more on Canada's crumbling "fiscal architecture" among other important, yet ignored, concerns, says AIMS Fellow David McKinnon. By: Robert Benzie
Western premier says scales tipped against rich provinces
Appeared in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal.
Radio: Declining Equalization Payments
All three maritime provinces rely heavily on equalization payments from the federal government to fund their programs. Ontario's emergence as a "have-not" province however has placed pressure on the equalization system and is leading to reduced equalization payments as a share of GDP in all three provinces. Last year, approximately two-thirds of all [...]
Radio: Canada’s Equalization Program Needs To Be Reformed
Canada's equalization program is motivated by good intentions. However, it creates perverse incentives for provincial governments to shun sensible economic opportunities. For example, although natural resource development is an important driver of economic growth in Canada and despite several studies that point towards the economic benefit of shale gas development, provincial governments in [...]
These Provinces Can Expect More Unemployment, Less Investment, and Lower Income
AIMS Director of Research Ben Eisen and Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Mark Milke discuss their new paper "Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Equalization Policy Crutch" and argue that evidence from across North America indicates that natural resource development is an important driver of economic growth.
Think-tanks Examine Equalization Payments
The Fraser Institute and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies will release a new essay on Tuesday about equalization payments, natural resource development, and the economic malaise in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and veteran provincial affairs reporter Chris Morris will be on hand to break it down and deliver it to the Telegraph Journal. The essay, “Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Equalization Policy Crutch” examines the effect of the federal equalization program on the two most populous Atlantic provinces.
Encouraging NB and NS Not to Shun Resource Development and Rely on Equalization Payments
The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies releasing an essay with the Fraser Institute on how New Brunswick and Nova Scotia rely on equalization payments yet shun natural resource development.
Study’s Author Discusses Pro-fracking Stance
AIMS Director of Research Ben Eisen joins CTV Atlantic host Steve Murphy to discuss his new study, coauthored with Mark Milke of the Fraser Institute, “Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Equalization Policy Crutch.” In the “One-on-one” interview with Murphy, Eisen remarks that “Equalization creates perverse incentives with respect to natural resource development, and frankly, some other kinds of economic development. We’re suggesting that the formula needs to be changed, and the policy needs to be changed, so that there aren’t these disincentives that discourage generating own-source revenue.”