The release of a number of reports by the federal Romanow  Commission has exposed its two-pronged public relations strategy: First, deny that there is a problem. Second, tag the provinces (especially Alberta) as the bad guys in health-care reform.  This…

The National Council of Welfare did the country a great service this week by releasing its annual Poverty Profile. It is a wealth of statistics that show, among other things, that the reduction in poverty during the mid- and late…

Equalization was designed to give cash to economically weaker provinces so that they would have total revenues that are comparable to a representative Canadian average. And at that task, the program works remarkably well. In doing so, however, the program…

The release of a number of reports by the federal Romanow Commission has exposed its two-pronged public relations strategy: First, deny that there is a problem. Second, tag the provinces (especially Alberta) as the bad guys in health care reform….

In this the third paper in AIMS’ Equalization Series, author Kenneth J. Boessenkool discusses how equalization, although noble in intent, actually creates incentives for less-developed provinces to raise taxes and overtax their citizens. “Taxing Incentives: How equalization distorts tax policy in recipient…