British Columbia’s premier says he wants to “support” Newfoundland and Labrador, which plans to sue Ottawa over the federal equalization program that transfers money from richer provinces to poorer ones. A formula he calls “completely absurd.”
David Eby told reporters Monday he hopes to have an announcement on the matter before the end of the three-day meeting of Canadian premiers in Halifax, which is scheduled to conclude Wednesday.
Mr. Eby says B.C. taxpayers are being disadvantaged by the equalization formula, which is Ottawa’s attempt to reduce regional wealth disparities across the country.
“What really frustrates me, and it’s an issue I bring to the table [du Conseil de la fédération] and generally speaking, it’s that British Columbia taxpayers are sending taxpayer dollars to Ontario through equalization. That’s completely absurd. Ontario has no problem providing schools or hospitals,” Eby argued.
British Columbia has not received equalization payments in more than a decade.
Mr. Eby added that equalization “has delivered $1 billion to Ontario over the last two years, while British Columbia has not received equalization. Our taxpayers are struggling, like everyone else, with affordability issues.”
On May 30, Newfoundland and Labrador announced that the province would file a constitutional challenge against Ottawa over the program “in the coming weeks.”
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has argued that the formula was flawed and that the province could have received between $450 million and $1.2 billion in each of the past five years instead of receiving nothing.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey said Monday that despite his province’s legal challenge, he hopes upcoming negotiations with the federal government will allow both sides to avoid legal action.
“But again, we are firm in our proposition that the formula [de péréquation] “It’s not applied equally. It doesn’t take into account the cost of delivering services. Therefore, it doesn’t reflect the spirit of what was signed into the Constitution,” Furey told reporters in Halifax on Monday.
Mr. Furey said he had “good meetings” about equalization with Mr. Eby, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, who has already expressed a willingness to join Newfoundland and Labrador’s legal action.
Mr. Eby would not confirm today whether his province would join the lawsuit, but he said the status quo is “totally unacceptable.”
“I’m always frustrated with the federal government for offering programs to other provinces that aren’t available in B.C.,” he said, adding that Ottawa has announced it will spend $1.2 billion on a hospital that serves First Nations in northern Ontario.
“Let me tell you, we could certainly use investments like that in British Columbia,” he said.