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.
Eisen on CBC Newsmaker with Harry Forestall
AIMS Director of Research Ben Eisen joins CBC host Harry Forestall to discuss his new study, coauthored with Mark Milke of the Fraser Institute, “Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Equalization Policy Crutch. In the interview with Forestall, Eisen remarks that “The argument that we make is the equalization program creates a disincentive. It’s one reason that it’s easier for governments, in this instance, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, or recipient provinces in general, not to aggressively pursue natural resource development.”
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick Rely on Equalization While Shunning Resource Development
Equalization payments are discouraging at least two provinces–Nova Scotia and New Brunswick–from developing their natural resources and generating prosperity for their residents, finds Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Equalization Policy Crutch, a new essay released jointly today by the Fraser Institute and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), two independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tanks. “Equalization makes it easier for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to forego natural resource development that would help spur economic growth while Saskatchewan, for example, is developing its natural resources and is now a net contributor to Canada’s equalization program,” said Ben Eisen, director of research and programs at AIMS.
Equalization and Resource Development in the Maritimes
AIMS Director of Research Ben Eisen and Fraser Institute Senior Fellow Mark Milke authored the study, “Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Equalization Policy Crutch” and Eisen appeared on CBC Radio Mainstreet to discuss it with host Stephanie Domet. Eisen remarks that “Keeping an open mind and a positive attitude towards resource development is one approach to driving prosperity that governments in the region should take.”