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Finance Minister Flaherty To Provinces: Need Money? Raise Provincial Taxes |
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Written by Staff
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Tuesday, 27 June 2006 |
At a time when provinces are attempting to negotiate fairer and more lucrative equalization deals as well as an increase in per-capita transfers, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's message to the premiers is blunt - you need money for better health care and more effective education? Raise your taxes. Flaherty's message comes on the heels of a report from Ottawa that the country's consolidated surplus of $26 billion is at its second highest level since 1986.
At least one provincial finance minister is voicing concern that the feds are reneging on an important campaign promise to fix fiscal imbalance. Saskatchewan's Andrew Thomson told reporters, "They now appear to be backing down on this," and compares Flaherty's remarks to a game of "cat and mouse".
Flaherty's remarks come on day two of a federal and provincial ministerial retreat at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario. Topping the agenda will be discussions and negotiations on the best way to address the country's fiscal imbalances. Flaherty predicted a week ago that he believes the possiblity of ten provinces and two territories coming to any kind of agreement will be next to impossible when it concerns equalization - how Ottawa share's its wealth with poorer provinces - and on Monday warned the provinces if they could not come to an agreement, Ottawa would be forced to implement it's own deal.
Earlier today Flaherty admonished the provinces for expecting billions of dollars from Ottawa by saying, "It's not the responsibility of the federal government to tax Canadians in order to fund provincial programs that provinces choose to conduct. That's their jurisdiction and they have the taxation revenue sources that we have." |
