In this paper, Kenneth Boessenkool, a private policy analyst and commentator, makes the case for a practical change to the current equalization program: removing non-renewable natural resource revenue from the formula used to calculate equalization.
The paper by Professor Paul Hobson of Acadia University begins by reviewing the equity and efficiency rationale for equalization based on a simple theoretical model with costless migration and provinces that differ only in their endowments of natural resources.
This paper by Professor Paul Boothe of the University of Alberta focuses on a specific reform proposal. Boothe begins by reviewing a number of concerns with the current program related to its affordability/sustainability, its adequacy to meet its constitutional mandate, its transparency and accountability and its volatility.
Annette Ryan of the Prince Edward Island Department of Finance responds to critics of Equalization, arguing it is unfair to expect equalization to reduce inter-provincial disparity when no one argues that within-province transfers should eliminate all intra-province disparities.
For the third time in six years, Atlantic Canada’s public policy think tank has been honoured by the international think tank community. At a ceremony last Wednesday evening in Philadelphia, AIMS was awarded one of the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Awards for 2002 (Innovative Projects Category), for the Institute’s Equalization Initiative. The Fisher [...]
In this paper, the "father of equalization" Professor James Buchanan returns to his original contribution to our knowledge of federalism and adds the perspective for which he is most famous: public choice.
Ottawa Citizen writer Bruce Ward recently described the final episode of the Random Passage series as “The struggle of Irish immigrants in Newfoundland before the invention of government handouts.” Needless to say, this comment elicited a storm of negative responses from Newfoundlanders. In this reply piece, again in the Ottawa Citizen, Peter Fenwick, AIMS' regular contributor from Newfoundland and Labrador and former Director of Communications at the Institute, takes the Newfoundland government to task for perpetuating the negative stereotype that Ward was repeating. Fenwick argues that Newfoundlanders are struggling to reduce their dependence but their provincial government undoes much of their hard work in the eyes of the rest of the country with make-work projects and other policies little suited to a modern economy. Publication: OC, February 8, 2002
In the November/December 2001 edition of The Taxpayer Magazine, Brian Lee Crowley, AIMS President, continues to point-out the problems with Equalization. He emphasizes that after 44 years and close to $200 billion in equalization spending, the Atlantic provinces are only barely more able to meet the needs of their citizens with their own revenue sources than they were when equalization was introduced in 1957. In addition, the incentives attached to equalization can penalize the poorer provinces for developing their economy and encourage them to settle for permanent reliance on federal transfers. The article then outlines two positive suggestions on what can be done to break this provincial “welfare trap”.
In this op-ed piece from the National Post, AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley partners with Peter Holle, the President of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and Michel Kelly-Gagnon, the Executive Director of the Montreal Economic Institute to discuss the potential benefits of targeting equalization at individuals rather than provinces.
In this column from the National Post, William Watson considers the message delivered by Nobel Laureate James Buchanan at a conference hosted by AIMS, the Montreal Economic Institute and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Held in Montreal on October 25, 2001, the conference considered whether equalization is really a helping hand or simply a welfare trap for provinces. After considering Buchanan’s fears that equalization programmes can be captured and destroyed by politics and bad design, Watson observes that, “If equalization weren't already in place, perhaps we wouldn't feel the need to invent it.” Publication: NP, October 27, 2001