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Discuss The Pros And Cons Of Equalization Program In Canada

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A Controversial Debate: The Canadian Equalization Program As part of the Canadian Constitution in 1982, the equalization program was one of the prominent changes that was ingrained into this constitution that aimed to bring national unity among all Canadian provinces. Like many different government-mandated ideas, the equalization program was developed to help certain “poorer” provinces. More specifically, those unable to meet the national average due to economic discrepancies (Department of Finance Canada, 2023). However, unlike many other government-funded programs, this specific initiative raises concerns as to whether or not there is fairness of contribution between the different provinces. This has led to many political debates about whether …show more content…

Many of these programs are still being utilized today and still play important roles in Canada’s growing economy and society. Additionally, like many things mandated by the government, there will always be pros and cons to beneficiaries or projects that are constantly up for political debate. However, this particular constitutional program has faced many repercussions as the prominent concept of it seems to be disoriented and lost in translation. Although advocates want to abolish the specific program, it can seem to be nearly impossible for the constitutionally enshrined program to be implemented. Furthermore, this paper aims to explain the strengths and weaknesses of Canada’s equalization program, while suggesting possible updated changes to this controversial legal …show more content…

One of the first notable critiques of the program is the tension between provinces. As odd as it may be, considering the program was designed to unify the provinces together, there still is some disagreement on how funds may be distributed by the way provinces perceive it to be. Some provinces believe they are entitled to more funding and others believe they should not be contributing more than others. For instance, when there was some unsustainability with centralizing tax rentals (essentially where the provinces would give their taxation to acquire fixed payments from the federal government) as Québec was fully starting to pick up nationalism on their end (Béland et al., 2022). Another flaw in the program would be the incentives given for any fiscal responsibility that provinces may use to their advantage. While the program was designed to make sure every province/territory was equal and that no one was above another, there are certain disincentives provided that could potentially allow provinces to inflate their fiscal capacity by pursuing indubitable policies. To further elaborate, this means that there is no proper way of determining what outcome of the program could have

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