Calvert, Williams to campaign across Canada in equalization fight

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This article was published 18/12/2006 (6962 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. (CP) – Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams and Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert will campaign in each other’s provinces in an attempt to build support for their fight with Ottawa over the federal equalization program.

The two premiers are opposed to the inclusion of non-renewable resource revenue in a revised equalization formula, which could hurt each province’s bottom line.

“We intend to criss-cross the nation and talk about this issue,” Williams said Monday. “We’re prepared to crank it up if necessary.”

Saskatchewan Government Relations Minister Harry Van Mulligen was less adamant, saying Calvert only plans to visit Newfoundland for now and is not embarking on a road trip just yet.

“It may well be that Premier Williams has other speaking opportunities and it also may be that Premier Calvert will be identifying other speaking opportunities as well,” Van Mulligen said.

“But at this point there’s an agreement that the premiers will speak in each other’s province to underscore the message.”

Van Mulligen said he believed that would happen in the next one to two months, prior to the tabling of the federal budget in February.

Other provinces, such as Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, want non-renewable resource revenue included in a new formula, which is used to calculate equalization payments for each of the so-called have-not provinces.

Williams is also asking his province’s seven MPs for their unequivocal support in the province’s position. Calvert has done the same with Saskatchewan’s MPs.

Provincial and territorial finance ministers met with their federal counterpart, Jim Flaherty, last week in Vancouver to discuss the issue, but no consensus was reached.

“As I told the finance ministers on Friday, we have not come to conclusions about the equalization or transfer payments,” Flaherty said Monday after a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade. “There are fundamental differences of opinion among the provinces, particularly with respect to what should or should not be included in the equalization formula.

“If premiers can work on getting consensus and if they can achieve consensus amongst their brother and sister provinces, good for them, and I welcome them to try.”

In the end, however, Flaherty said equalization is a federal program.

“And if there is not consensus among the provinces then the federal government has to fulfil its constitutional mandate.”

Williams said Monday he was frustrated by the lack of consensus following last week’s meeting.

“It’s probably annoying that people get dragged all the way across the country this time and . . . there’s really no change in position,” Williams said, warning that the consequences for Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be “dire” if Newfoundland loses out in a new equalization formula.

Williams insisted the federal government could devise a formula that would satisfy all premiers, but suggested it may involve side deals for specific provinces and territories.

“All the time you’ll see certain things being done for the province of Quebec or things done for Ontario or things being done for B.C.,” Williams said.

“Now everybody says one-off deals aren’t the way to go, but this is a diverse country, the requirements are different at different times and (for) different provinces, and we fully appreciate that.”

Williams and provincial Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan also stressed their opposition to a cap on equalization payments, arguing that it would inhibit the province’s fiscal growth.

“A cap limits our ability to be able to make up lost ground,” Sullivan said, referring to Newfoundland’s staggering net debt of nearly $12 billion, the country’s highest per capita.

Based on population distribution, Newfoundland and Labrador is the most difficult province in which to deliver services such as health care and education, Sullivan added.

The $12-billion equalization program is designed to help poorer provinces provide government services and programs to a national standard.

Equalization reform was part of the Conservative government’s election promise to fix the so-called fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces. The other key aspect is to boost per capita transfer payments to all provinces for health, post-secondary education and other social services.

Flaherty has promised to deliver his remedy for the fiscal imbalance in his next budget, which could trigger a spring election.