This news caught me by surprise: the government of Quebec has run a surplus. This hasn’t happened in my entire lifetime. The city of Montreal has a huge surplus, too.
Compare that to Alberta, and even Ontario, which now has the largest debt in the world of any jurisdiction that isn’t its own country.
And Quebec is in the black?
So can we stop paying them equalization payments now? Quebec has received billions of dollars a year in subsidies from other provinces, particularly Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Well, no.
Because Alberta’s socialist finance minister, Joe Ceci, doesn’t want to stop paying.
Ceci is a socialist (and he’s a social worker, who always make the best finance ministers), so of course he wants maximum tax dollars for him and his public sector union friends.
He’d actually rather have money leave Alberta than stay there...
NEXT: Vincent Geloso, an economist from the Montreal Economic Institute, talks about Quebec's surplus, and what it means for the province — and the country.
THEN: Duane Bratt, Political Science Professor from Mount Royal University, joins me to discuss Jason Kenney's run for leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party.
So you see the smaller pop ends up supporting the large population, because it’s just not big enough or should I say sovereign enough. In the end I guess it will come down to how long we want to put up with this bull, cause to me it sounds like slavery with extra steps.
;)
Yep, I think Baby Doc’s comment that Quebec is Canada was mistranslated from Quebec uses Canada.
So how can they possibly be a have not province like PEI. At least PEI makes sense because it has the population of a small city in BC with less resources.
No but seriouslys Andrews, to whats year weres you referring about per capita revenue in Ontario? "
Any recent year works. 2015-16 works great. Divide total revenues by total population. Which province is lower than Ontario? You won’t find any. BC is second place, but even that province takes in something like a thousand dollars more per capita than Ontario does. “Conservative” Saskatchewan is several thousand more than Ontario and running a comparable deficit at the same time.
You’re right, Netterville. Fiscal capacity is totally and utterly independent from GDP. The two are totally, completely not slightly different calculations of teh* same thing.
*Oh, look, “teh”. Clearly I am wrong LOL.
But the irony was rich, claiming he is a scientist while spelling it wrong!
Andrew, there is “approximately” about upon which the calculation is made. It has nothing at all whatsoever to do with the GDP of the province.
Andrew decided to further dig himself into a hole by saying, "Although it is correct they don’t use actual GDP numbers, both equalization and GDP calculations are based on similar datasets. "
No Andrew, wrong again. The dataset of the various taxes taken from the tax payer and natural resource royalty income taken from the resource extraction corporations is a completely different dataset from the GDP dataset which derives its’ value from the provincial sale of finished products and services.
Not the same datasets at all. This is why socialists like Andrew Stephenson completely trash the economies over which they have control, because they cannot understand how financial assets versed taxation assets are calculated
http://www.therebel.media/press_progress_launches_kenneywatch_day_three_of_epic_cry_baby_left_wing_freakout_in_alberta
W… Wait. Yooooooou… that was ANOTHER typo test and I failed again. Aw man! I’m not a scientists, not a scientists!
“Sometimes I deliberately include typos to pick out the trolls who dislike my comments but who can’t actually provide a factual rebuttal. It gives an indication of the petty and dumb sorts that successful people can ignore. It’s surprisingly effective :) "
LOL
My apologys Andews, I hads nos ideas.
So people who nit pick on typos are petty and dumb. I’ll keeps that in mind Andrew. Thanks yous sir:
http://www.therebel.media/chevron_exxon_invest_36_billion_in_kazakhstan_instead_of_alberta
Andrew Stephenson said:
““lawrence o’byrne commented 2 hours ago
stephenson ,the only trash is your BS comment, like i said go to the CBC site ,your an idiotic troll "
*you’re.
:) "
Hey Andrew, It’s “they’re” not “they re.”
http://www.therebel.media/ezra_levant_july_7
As I said in my comment, the superlative originates in the simple fact that Ontario is the single biggest government of its type on the planet. The closest comparison is actually Quebec, and they have millions fewer people.
Unless, of course, you can think of a better comparison point. As I said, the potential competitors are overwhelmingly in the third world (and often don’t have published debt figures, or are American states (which are much less involved entities, such that California, which has three times the population of Ontario, has a smaller government). Can you go through that list and name which single government there would be most comparable with Ontario, if you disagree with my assessment of Quebec as such?
That would be why I put the caveat “approximately” in my claim, as an acknowledgement of the gross oversimplification of my comments. Although it is correct they don’t use actual GDP numbers, both equalization and GDP calculations are based on similar datasets.
“but that’s why I’m a scientists and you are a bag boy at the grocery store. "
It’s “scientist” Andrew. Uuuum. Yah. Are you sure you’re a scientists… I mean scientist Andrew? "
Sometimes I deliberately include typos to pick out the trolls who dislike my comments but who can’t actually provide a factual rebuttal. It gives an indication of the petty and dumb sorts that successful people can ignore. It’s surprisingly effective :)
Ah the eternal love and lack of contempt of lefties for the working man. Stupid conservatives always looking down on people!
It’s “scientist” Andrew. Uuuum. Yah. Are you sure you’re a scientists… I mean scientist Andrew?
Andrew said it is based upon the provincial GDP. Wrong. The Gross Domestic Product is the monetary value of finished goods and services.
The Provincial Equalization is calculated upon five categories: personal income taxes, business income taxes, consumption taxes, property taxes and natural resource revenues.
Even natural resource revenues does not qualify as finished goods or services.
Here is the proof of what I have said;
http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/ResearchPublications/2008-20-e.htm
Second, Harper made sure Quebec got those F35 Jobs building parts for the Jet. And their Aerospace Industry is doing well and the Gov’t has been funding that.
Third, how many years can they go on with getting next to free hydro and not do well. They get cheep gas because of the market condition and next to free hydro.
Fourth, I don’t know how much this has to do with it, but with a separatist Gov’t out of the way the place must be doing better emotionally which will bring the economy up. And after all that stimulus that Harper put in when it really was Ontario and Alberta that got kicked in the teeth, its no wonder that Quebec is doing well, they didn’t take the biggest part of the hit and still got a large portion of stimulus money.
Soon enough the equalization will change to match the situation on the ground.