New Brunswick has officially assumed the title of Canada’s poorest province and will begin receiving the most funding per capita from the federal government’s equalization support program, starting in April.
The bottom ranking and the poor economic numbers that caused it are unlocking significant new federal financial support for New Brunswick, but that is cold comfort for ending the longtime reign of Prince Edward Island as Canada’s neediest province, according to New Brunswick Finance Minister Ernie Steeves.
“Wow. That’s tough to take,” said Steeves in an interview Tuesday.
“When your transfer payments go up, it’s a sign your economy is weak. I’m not crazy about that. We want New Brunswick to be a have province, not a have-not province.”
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau met with provincial ministers and finance officials this week. His department released figures showing New Brunswick would receive the highest per-capita amount of equalization payments next year, replacing P.E.I. as Canada’s most have-not province. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
The federal Finance Department released figures late Monday of what equalization-receiving provinces will qualify for in funding next year.
New Brunswick’s share is jumping 9.2 per cent to $2.21 billion, the largest increase among receiving provinces.
A sign of the times
The new amount is calculated by Ottawa to be worth $2,826 per person in New Brunswick, the most ever paid to a province, and a razor-thin $1 per person more than P.E.I. will receive.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for both provinces.
Last year, P.E.I. received $65 per person more in equalization than New Brunswick and, as recently as three years ago, was receiving $301 per person more — a sign of how quickly P.E.I.’s economy has closed in and, for its size, surpassed New Brunswick’s.
Equalization is a $20.6-billion federal program designed to help poorer provinces provide comparable levels of service to citizens at similar levels of taxation to richer provinces.
Payments are determined by a complex mathematical formula that measures the revenue-generating ability of each province against a national standard. Those with a below average ability to raise money for themselves qualify for funding.
New Brunswick will receive a record $2.21 billion in equalization funding from Ottawa next year to pay for basic government services, like heath care and education, that it cannot afford to pay for on its own. Pictured is the Saint John Regional Hospital. (Wikipedia)
Quebec receives the most money from the program — $13.25 billion next year — but at $1,547 per person in Quebec, it’s 45 per cent less than what New Brunswick will get.
Equalization amounts per person:
New Brunswick: $2,826
Prince Edward Island: $2,825
Nova Scotia. $2,184
Manitoba: $1,815
Quebec: $1,547
The three territories do not receive equalization, but have a separate financing formula with the federal government.
New Brunswick hike ‘stood out,’ says prof
Trevor Tombe, an economics professor at the University of Calgary and one of Canada’s leading experts on equalization, said the $187-million jump in New Brunswick’s equalization allotment next year is remarkable, but the causes will take some time to analyze.
“The increase in New Brunswick is actually something that stood out,” said Tombe. “lt’ll be interesting to dig deeper to see what’s driving that specific change.”
The equalization formula uses three years of data and, according to Tombe, next year’s payments are based on provincial economic performance recorded between April 2016 and March 2019.
New Brunswick’s GDP growth over those three years was an estimated 3.7 per cent. That’s the weakest among equalization-receiving provinces, less than the national average and well below the 10 per cent growth recorded in P.E.I..
New Brunswick has long vowed to get itself off equalization. In 2006, former premier Shawn Graham set a “self-sufficiency” goal to be free of equalization payments by 2026. Instead amounts owing to New Brunswick have grown by $900 million, including by $550 million in just the last three years.
Steeves said being a “have” province is still New Brunswick’s goal even though, as Canada’s poorest provincial jurisdiction now, the need for equalization is undeniable.
“We want to be the ones that help everybody else, but right now we do need the help,” said Steeves.
“We’re trying to get our debt back in place where it should be and get it lowered so that we won’t need as much help. But right now we are reliant on Canada and Canadians.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
