Equalization Payments or Colonial Rule?

Can things get much worse in this poor excuse for a Colonial system some people call the Country of Canada? You bet they can and if Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has its way they most assuredly will.

Media reports this week indicated that the Conservative’s are looking at a plan for revamping equalization transfers that completely ignores the written promises Stephen Harper made during his election campaign. During the campaign Harper promised both Saskatchewan and Newfoundland & Labrador that all non-renewable resource revenue would be exempted from equalization calculations. The Tories also promised that no province would end up worse off as a result any changes. It appears that both promises are about to be brushed aside in an all out effort to win political support in seat rich Ontario and Quebec, the center of the Empire.

Under the plan, Ontario and Quebec, the two most politically valuable provinces for any government leading into an election, would be the big winners, receiving about one billion each in extra funding. A further billion would be divided among the remaining provinces however this would exclude Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s newest and poorest colony.

Under the new plan, the province of Saskatchewan would gain about 10% of what it expected had Stephen Harper kept his promises. Nearly all the other provinces will receive some extra funding including the so called “have” provinces like Ontario and Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador on the other hand will have its meager payments cut by about $100 million dollars, making it the only part of Canada to actually lose money.

Once again we are presented with a clear example of the colonialist leadership of Canada determining the value of its outpost colonies on which ones have the greatest political potential rather than identifying the financial and social realities of the empire.

The intent of equalization is to distribute funding in such a way that all members of the dominion have an equal opportunity to provide services such as health care and education. Instead it is fast becoming a means for the Conservative government to buy votes in the larger provinces and ensure their longevity. How else can anyone describe a plan that provides more money to richer provinces (with more federal ridings) and cutting funding too the poorer provinces that need it most?

Since the day Newfoundland and Labrador forced Ottawa into signing a fair and just offshore revenue deal, some have said that we would eventually have to pay a price for speaking out. It looks like that prophecy is about to be fulfilled in spades. Thank-you Stephen Harper for confirming my belief that all political leaders in this Country are nothing more than opportunistic, two faced little cockroaches concerned with nothing but their own personal success. It’s good to see I haven’t been mistaken all these years.