Federal Relations

Canada is a great country with wonderful people. However, it is my belief that Canadian unity will be constantly undermined if we practice and institutionalize an unbalanced, undemocratic, and irresponsible brand of centralized federalism.

A decentralized government that respects the diverse cultures, resources and values of Canada’s provinces, will break down walls of suspicion and resentment, and create a stronger and more unified nation.

Part of promoting strong provinces means protecting their constitutional rights and areas of jurisdiction. As federal climate change policy continues to gain momentum, it is critical our provincial government preserve the future prosperity of Albertans by protecting our right to develop our natural resources from attempts of interference by the federal government or other provinces.

Another key area of concern is “equalization.” In 2009 alone, Alberta taxpayers sent $21 billion more to the federal government for use by other provinces than we received in return. This equates to roughly $5700 for every man, woman and child in our province – by far the largest contribution per capita in Canada. This is money that could be used here for dozens of new schools, more nurses and doctors, badly needed infrastructure, and other initiatives that would benefit our people.

The Federal equalization program was ostensibly intended to balance the quality of social programs across the Country. Instead, what has happened is that the provinces benefiting most from the program are now able to offer significantly more generous services to their citizens than the two or three provinces who actually contribute equalization dollars. It is no small irony that the biggest single beneficiary of equalization, Quebec, provides nearly free university tuition and inexpensive provincial day care, while Albertans pay high prices for, and have severe shortages of both in their own province.

The status quo is not acceptable. Equalization is an outmoded program that clearly is not working as originally intended and does not treat Albertans fairly. I will therefore be strongly advocating for the capping of Alberta’s annual equalization contribution to a much lower and fairer amount

 Albertans want to contribute to Canada as much or more than any other province. However, we are being taken advantage of…and that must be stopped.