Atlantic Canada faces higher costs due to demographics
OTTAWA — The federal government is looking at tweaking the equalization formula but will not give Atlantic Canada extra money for its aging population, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday.
Flaherty confirmed his department is doing a technical review of equalization. But he said this is done regularly and will not result in a major shakeup akin to last year’s reform of health transfers.
“We’re not looking at any substantive changes to equalization,” Flaherty said at a news conference in Ottawa.
He ruled out granting the request of Atlantic Canadian premiers to give more weight to demographics in the equalization formula.
Atlantic premiers argue that per capita systems unfairly ignore the idea that older Canadians are much more taxing on government services, particularly health care, than young Canadians are.
Atlantic Canada has a statistically older population than the national average.
Quebec MP Marc Garneau, a rumoured Liberal leadership candidate, endorsed the premiers’ view Thursday in the Globe and Mail.
“Statistics Canada projects that age differences between provinces and territories will only grow starker,” Garneau wrote.
“Government policy cannot be blind to the differential demand for public expenditures resulting from age differences between provinces and territories. This is particularly true in health-care spending.”
Garneau said a strict per capita system would lead to some provinces having low taxes and plentiful services while other provinces were faced with health-care costs pushing out spending on other government programs.
But Flaherty said he will not grant the Atlantic premiers’ request because “other provinces have other challenges.”
“Some of the provinces speak to me about the size of their aboriginal populations and what a challenge that is for them in terms of training and education and underemployment. There are lots of challenges in a complicated federation like Canada, not simply demographic challenges.”
Last December, the Conservatives announced they would shift to a per capita system for federal health transfers. That move is expected to benefit one province — Alberta, by about $1 billion.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: PAUL McLEOD
OTTAWA — The federal government is looking at tweaking the equalization formula but will not give Atlantic Canada extra money for its aging population, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday.
Flaherty confirmed his department is doing a technical review of equalization. But he said this is done regularly and will not result in a major shakeup akin to last year’s reform of health transfers.
“We’re not looking at any substantive changes to equalization,” Flaherty said at a news conference in Ottawa.
He ruled out granting the request of Atlantic Canadian premiers to give more weight to demographics in the equalization formula.
Atlantic premiers argue that per capita systems unfairly ignore the idea that older Canadians are much more taxing on government services, particularly health care, than young Canadians are.
Atlantic Canada has a statistically older population than the national average.
Quebec MP Marc Garneau, a rumoured Liberal leadership candidate, endorsed the premiers’ view Thursday in the Globe and Mail.
“Statistics Canada projects that age differences between provinces and territories will only grow starker,” Garneau wrote.
“Government policy cannot be blind to the differential demand for public expenditures resulting from age differences between provinces and territories. This is particularly true in health-care spending.”
Garneau said a strict per capita system would lead to some provinces having low taxes and plentiful services while other provinces were faced with health-care costs pushing out spending on other government programs.
But Flaherty said he will not grant the Atlantic premiers’ request because “other provinces have other challenges.”
“Some of the provinces speak to me about the size of their aboriginal populations and what a challenge that is for them in terms of training and education and underemployment. There are lots of challenges in a complicated federation like Canada, not simply demographic challenges.”
Last December, the Conservatives announced they would shift to a per capita system for federal health transfers. That move is expected to benefit one province — Alberta, by about $1 billion.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: PAUL McLEOD
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