Equalization is at the best of times a complicated and polarizing question. It’s even harder to stomach such a vote right now; one that was promoted by the Albertan UCP party and their leader Jason Kenney.
Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
In politics, timing is everything. And, if you support Alberta’s “Fair Deal” initiatives, the timing for the province’s equalization referendum is close to a worst-case scenario.
The vote, which will be held on Oct. 18 in conjunction with municipal elections, was scheduled way back in the 2019 United Conservative Party platform. It was confirmed earlier this year, when vaccine optimism reigned and the province believed the worst of COVID-19 would be behind us by now. The UCP government thought Albertans would be focused on high oil and gas prices, or long-standing federal-provincial grievances.
But instead, the province is in the throes of a Delta-driven fourth wave – one many blame on the UCP’s premature push to remove health restrictions and COVID-19 measures this summer. Albertans are about to be subject to the surreal experience of voting on a question that seeks to end equalization – to unwind one of the key ties that binds Canada – at the same moment intensive-care unit staff from the Canadian Armed Forces, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Red Cross are here to shore up the province’s overwhelmed hospitals.
Alberta’s battle on equalization has also become so intertwined with Premier Jason Kenney’s political persona that the question will be seen by some as an unofficial referendum on his leadership. Mr. Kenney’s pandemic-era polling numbers are approaching those of Donald Trump in Mexico (circa 2017). Supporters of the referendum are worried that provincial distaste for Mr. Kenney will taint the outcome by dampening enthusiasm even among those who would back the measure in more normal times.
The UCP is still putting up yard signs and handing out bumper stickers. But there haven’t been major public appeals from the Premier and his cabinet, as envisioned months ago. On Thursday, Mr. Kenney said his government is focused on the “task at hand,” meaningthe COVID-19 emergency. But it’s doubtful anyone in favour of the vote would want him to be leading the parade, anyway.
The exact wording of the question is: “Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 – Parliament and the government of Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments – be removed from the constitution?”
Those who back thevote are trying to emphasize that the referendum question goes beyond one man.
“Vote Yes in the equalization referendum,” Alberta Proud, one of a handful third-party advertisers supporting the question, said on social-media platforms this week.
“A ‘No’ vote on the referendum will compromise the negotiating position of any Alberta Premier for a generation.”
Because the Alberta government has decided to put this issue to a vote – turning national attention toward the province – the stakes are high. Although the question explicitly asks whether equalization should exist, proponents of the referendum (including the Premier) argue that no one should take it that literally.
It’s not really about opening up a series of painful constitutional discussions about the existence of a program designed to make sure every Canadian gets roughly comparable public services, Mr. Kenney and others say. It’s about provincial leverage in negotiations with Ottawa. Have no doubt, the referendum is a high-priced, attention-grabbing political stunt.
But even if it’s gimmicky, Alberta could arguably use some leverage. The province is no longer an economic powerhouse that draws people and investment with ease. It has little representation within the governing federal Liberal ranks. Federal seat distributions aren’t equitable, and Alberta would have more MPs if the country’s electoral system more closely followed the principle of representation by population. Many Albertans feel that while other provinces and Ottawa have no trouble taking fossil fuel money, those other governments are detached from – and sometimes hostile to – the reality that Canada’s (highly regional) industry makes it one of the world’s biggest oil producers.
Bill Bewick, a political consultant who heads another “yes” group, Fairness Alberta, says anything but an affirmative vote is accepting the status quo in Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa. Ignoring resentments in Alberta could lead to greater national unity issues, he argues. That’s a sentiment I first heard from Mr. Bewick’s former boss, longtime Kenney rival Brian Jean, who in 2017 told me that such referendums are a necessary release valve for Alberta frustrations.
But these referendums can also reinforce political divisions. Many Albertans might believe the province has some power to remove equalization from the Constitution, and could be frustrated to find out it does not. Many other Canadians, including federal Conservatives from other parts of the country, find the fact the question is being asked in an economically troubled-but-still-rich province distasteful.
The question of equalization in Alberta is about much more than a single federal program. It’s an issue inextricably linked to the oil-rich province’s anxieties in a rapidly changing world of energy. In a debate about equalization hosted by a group called New West this week, University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe noted that voting “yes” on this question means many different things to different people. “There’s not a lot of consistency about what Alberta even wants,” he said.
Albertans are facing fraught municipal elections where respected mayoral incumbents in both of the province’s largest cities are departing. The province is still weeks or months away from any easing of pandemic dread.
“Society goes on. The economy has to function. And our democracy has to continue to work,” Mr. Kenney said on Thursday. But equalization is at the best of times a complicated and polarizing question. It’s even harder to stomach such a vote right now.
Given the COVID-19 circumstances, and the related dislike of the Premier and the UCP government, the timing could be a major assist to those who want Alberta’s equalization referendum to go down in flames.
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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
