Chretien begins forming his fascist dictatorship

[Asher]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Equalization payments are a transfer of federal money to the provinces. Provincial governments do not contribute money to the payments.

From the CBC
"Equalization payments are money [the federal government gives to poorer provinces to help narrow the gap between the "have" and "have-not" provinces."

Of course it comes from the FEDERAL Government. Duh?

It wouldn't make any sense if the Alberta government was directly giving money to Newfoundland, would it?

"The fiscal capacity of a province is a measure of its ability to raise revenues from more than 30 revenue sources." -- From Department of Finance Canada

Yes, Alberta's fiscal capacity includes oil revenues. That is the only reason why its fiscal capacity is so high. But oil revenues do not fund the equalization payments.

Bull****.
To quote the CBC:

Currently, the federal government takes back 70 cents in equalization for every dollar in energy royalties.

Since we're dealing with federal money, income taxes provide a good picture of the contribution residents of each province make to the equalization payments. We could also look at profit tax, but that would be skewed in favour of Ontario since most Canadian corporations are based in Ontario, even if they do business throughout the country.

Are you unaware of just how much money the government collects in royalties? That's where a HUGE portion of this money is coming from and you're neglecting it completely in order to make your argument work.

That's because you incorrectly believe that only Alberta and Ontario contribute to the payments. In fact, the payments come from all Canadian taxpayers. For example, money from taxpayers in Newfoundland goes to the federal government which then transfers a portion to the Nfld provincial government.

You don't seem to have comprehended what I said. Of course ALL taxpayers pay towards this equalization fund -- but if these provinces get the money BACK, PLUS additional money from the "have" provinces, it's effectively the same as only having the "have" provinces pay for it, as they don't receive equalization payments at all. It's charity.

Again, you don't understand the point of the equalization payments. Think of it as two parts of a city, one rich and one poor. The city collects money from all of its taxpayers and then spends it equally throughout all of the city.

Duh?
That's the idea, you seem to misunderstand my argument it would seem.

There are problems with the current equalization payments system, but I think a starting point is for you to understand how the system works.

I know how it works, you're taking out gigantic chunks of the picture and even then it doesn't add up for you.

Look at your previously cited figures -- they don't even add up to the payments distributed, or even come close to it.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Asher
When was the last time BC had a right wing government?

Let's see, how about for almost all of the past century.

Compared to the BC Socreds, the NDP did a fine job in BC.

Then there was the great record of the right-wing government of Grant Devine in Saskatchewan. They left a massive deficit and I think about 12 of the MLAs were convicted for corruption.

The NDP in Saskatchewan are probably the best provincial government.

The Socreds and the PCs in Alberta have done a terrible job. That's why there are only three million people there. After 50 years of massive oil revenues, pretty much all Alberta has to show for it is a bunch oil rigs.

[Asher]

Tingkai, to dispute my argument you're going to need to do the following, rather than just tell me I don't understand how it works: