Saskatchewan has been treated unfairly in equalization under successive federal governments, Sask. Party
REGINA – With a federal election looming, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck called on federal party leaders to commit to changing the unfair equalization formula.
Saskatchewan has received zero equalization dollars over the past 17 years while Quebec has received over $100 billion.
“Saskatchewan is ranked last place in Canada on healthcare and education, yet equalization is unfairly bankrolling new hospitals, schools and roads in Toronto and Quebec. That makes zero sense,” said Beck.
“Fixing equalization will make Saskatchewan, and Canadian Confederation, stronger.”
Beck and Trent Wotherspoon, Saskatchewan NDP Finance Shadow Minister, sent letters to Pierre Poilievre, Jagmeet Singh, Yves-François Blanchet, and those running to lead the Liberal Party of Canada, urging all to take a public stance on equalization.
Beck and Wotherspoon called on federal leaders to commit to fixing this formula and to ensure equitable treatment of all natural resource revenues — renewable and non-renewable, including hydroelectric power — to make it fairer and constitutional, something the previous Saskatchewan NDP government took Ottawa to court over.
The Sask. Party’s decision to scrap the Saskatchewan NDP’s court challenge — calling it “the elephant in the room” — has resulted in billions of Saskatchewan resource dollars flowing out of province since 2008.
“Equalization is an important issue for our province and anyone putting their name forward as Prime Minister needs to be crystal clear about where they stand on it,” Beck said.
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