smitty66 said:
Cdn Blackshirt
You do make some valid points, but do you seroiusly think that for example Alberta developed it's oil industry all on it's own without any Federal Assisstance? Was it always a have province? If not who supported it on is rise to prominence? Do you think that "if" NS and Nfld were given the chance to develop their respective Offshore Oil Industries that the equalization formulas would stay the same?
Also you have far too many generalizations about the East Coast and the people that live here. Years ago when the fisheries was the primary employer for the majority of the population some may have been true, but today's reality is that most people are employed in a variety of other fields. And the trend over the past few years has been, if I can't find something here, maybe I'll go to Alberta, Ontario, BC etc. So much for people sitting around on their Keister's collecting E.I.
I am not saying that the equalization formulas should be written in stone for ever, but if the provinces were given the incentive of existing equalization payments for X number of years, after that let the chips fall as they may, could give the provincial governments the kick in the pants they need to get things in order.
Cheers
I just want to elaborate on a couple of key items because I'm not blaming individuals - I'm blaming systems that exist in specific regions.
Systemic Problem #1: The Equalization Calculation because it measures dollars only, as opposed to the dollars required to deliver an equal basket of goods in each province is inherently flawed and because of it, it's not equal at all. Ontario and Alberta actually get worse services than those provinces they send billions of dollars to.
Systemic Problem #2: If you want someone or some group to do something positive, the last thing you should do is provide supports for them to do nothing. If you look at any example of welfare systems (and in this case long-term EI) for the able-bodied, it invariably leads to people taking advantage. Remove that set of overly generous supports, and people will make work
because they have to.
Systemic Problem #3: In any entity other than government, there's a requirement to measure your return on investment with money. Until we begin doing that at the Provincial Level there can be ZERO accountability.
Matthew's Solutions to the above:
1) Immediately transition the "Equalization" calculation from a flat dollar rate to a "cost of providing a set basket of services" model and then publish the numbers so it's 100% transparent.
2) Federally make an announcement that EI payments will be scaled back over the next 24-months reducing maximum benefits duration by 50%.
3) Create a Federal Measurement model for delivery of social services. Any province providing data will get a top-up and any province not providing data will be penalized. Again, all data must be published. The fact all the provinces now use the same old scapegoat and blame Ottawa for the lack of services when they don't even themselves know what's going on is beyond negligent.
Additional Solutions:
1) I put China, South Korea and Japan (amongst others) on notice that unless reciprocity in trade access, investment access and currency manipulation (China-specific - Minimum exchange rate should be 5 Yuan:$1 CAD) ceases within 12-months, that duties will begin to be applied to all goods as of August 1, 2008.
2) I would immediately put an all-out push on membership into the EU. Based on comparative social nets, it's where we'd compete best. If we bring the United States with us, great. If not, it's their loss....
3) Federally, I'd continue increasing the working tax credit year-over-year as the cost of earning income is much higher than sitting at home waiting for a cheque to arrive in the mail. There's people's commutes to/from work. Eating at work. Etc. Again, this goes back to incentivizing work, and disincentivizing benefits and watching TV on the couch.
4) I would immediately merge all the Federally-funded Regional Investment Entities and create one single National Strategic Investment Board. The number of bureaucrats would be brought almost to zero (which [gasp] mean lots of layoffs in the Federal Government which is horribly bloated). The strategic council would be manned primarily by businessmen like retired CEO's etc. Specifically, I'm thinking of guys like Gwynn Morgan who retired from Encana and Jim Buckey who is retiring from Talisman, as well as targeting some guys from the Mining, Manufacturing and Tourism Sectors. Their role would be to provide tax and education recommendations for nation-wide economic growth. Their prioritization would be on building blue prints one province at a time from the province with the highest unemployment, to the one with the lowest. A strategic score card would be provided for each province based on a 10-year plan. Federal incentives would be indirect and instead of direct support for areas of provincial responsibility (such as higher education or resource royalties), the Feds would provide debt elimination based on meeting the targets specified, as well as guaranteeing low interest loans on infrastructure projects as required to meet that plan.
Bottom Line: We have failed systems, and we need to be doing a lot more than keeping the status quo and hoping for the best.
Hope that helps....
Cheers Smitty, Matthew.
