Canada is a nation that believes in equality and it has proven it by devoting decades to a bizarre concept of redistribution of wealth that borders on insanity. Through various transfer payments from the federal government, both national unity and fair distribution of wealth are meant to be improved across all provinces. The problem is that it hasn't worked.
One of the largest recipients of transfer payments is the province of Quebec. This year it will receive just over $7 billion in equalization payments plus an additional $10 billion in transfers for healthcare and other social programs. This represents 25% of Quebec's annual budget but despite this injection of federal money, the province still has a budget deficit. Over and above the transfer payments, the federal government also covers the cost of Old Age Security and Employment Insurance.
Despite this, there is still a significant resentment in Quebec directed towards the federal government specifically and the rest of Canada in general. It's clear that wealth redistribution has purchased neither cooperative federalism nor fiscal responsibility in la belle province.
It isn't merely Quebec, however. The Maritimes benefits from the Canadian idea of redistributing wealth and the uneven application of social programs. In the Maritimes, EI is almost a second job for some and is seen as necessary to allow people to continue in seasonal occupations that cannot sustain them independently over an entire year.
Nationally, the idea of transfer payments on the scale applied in Canada simply hasn't worked. It has penalized successful provinces while rewarding poor economic management in others. It is a solution that only politicians, looking to get elected, could develop.
