Make room for the rest of the premiers....
....and the biggest of the bottom feeders
Fiscal imbalance is Flaherty's biggest challenge
Updated Sun. Mar. 11 2007 1:29 PM ET
Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- Of all the competing interests Jim Flaherty must try to balance in his March 19 budget, fixing the so-called fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces could prove the toughest challenge.
The finance minister's "fix'' is expected to include at least $3.5 billion extra for the provinces: about $1 billion more in annual equalization payments, $1 billion in annual transfers for post-secondary education, an already announced $1.5-billion fund to tackle climate change, and possibly more for other infrastructure projects.
But he's sure to face the same problem his predecessors grappled with -- no matter how generous you are, you can't satisfy all the provinces.
"Certainly, the fiscal balance issue has been the persistent, ongoing issue in multiple consultations over the past year,'' Flaherty acknowledged in an interview.
"The provinces cannot agree, so it's left to the federal government to sort it out.''
The challenge is complicated by the fact that the budget could well become a spring board into an election, and mollifying the provinces could heavily influence the outcome.
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