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"A collaborative political resource." |
Will Albertans stand up to Quebec?
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Race
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| Contributor | Jason |
| Last Edited | Jason Apr 12, 2012 06:03am |
| Category | Speculative |
| News Date | Apr 11, 2012 08:00pm |
| Description | All Canadians, especially Quebecers, should be watching the results of Alberta elections April 23. The richest province in the country is not only on the verge of ending an uninterrupted 41-year Progressive Conservative reign but also redefining Canadian federalism.
The charismatic leader of the Wildrose party, Danielle Smith, is currently leading in the polls, ahead of Alison Redford’s Progressive Conservatives.
Alberta sends $21 billion a year more to Ottawa than it gets in return from the federal government, which translates to $5,700 for each man, woman and child.
The main beneficiary of such a generous contribution is indeed Quebec, which alone receives $7.4 billion of the $15.4-billion equalization envelope, the equivalent of 48% of the program. In fact, over the past decade, the sum of federal transfer payments to Quebec went from $8.9 billion to $15.1 billion a year, an increase of 69%.
Smith reminds us that all these transfers of wealth among provinces were initially put in place to equalize the quality of our social programs all across Canada.
The Wildrose leader doesn’t understand why today the Quebec government accepts so much money from the West to provide the lowest university tuition fees in North America, $7-a-day daycare, universal public drug insurance and generous parental leaves, while Albertans are working their fannies off and cannot afford such luxuries at taxpayer expense. |
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