In a story about the Council of the Federation meeting that ended today in Montreal, a Canadian Press wire story reported:
Equalization is a constitutionally enshrined program aimed at ensuring poor provinces can offer similar services at taxation levels comparable to those of the wealthy provinces.
This statement is factually inaccurate, but it is a common mistake that is often repeated. (See Brian Lee Crowley's oped here.)
No, equalization is not a "constitutionally enrished program." What is constitutionally-enshrined is the principle of equalization:
36. (2) Parliament and the government of Canada are committed to the principle of making equalization payments to ensure that provincial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say how the program should be administered or run, how much poorer provinces should get or even how the amount should be calculated.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:12 AM
