Quote:
Originally Posted by Boblobla
WTF are the Marentines? Do you mean Maritimes? tbqh, we support Ontario and Quebec MUCH more then we do the small population of people that lives on the east coast...
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No, we don't.
As for "supporting the Martimes", I assume you mean through the federal equalization program. I've ranted about this in the past, but I'll repeat my points here because the myth that Albertans are somehow harmed by equalization is still prevalent.
Equalization exists solely so that the provincial governments in every region can offer comparable levels of service to their citizens regardless of revenue-generating potential. This means that poorer provinces, such as PEI, can (in theory) deliver standards of healthcare and public education that are no worse than the richer provinces such as Alberta and Ontario.
So how does this benefit Alberta? Two ways:
1) If you, as an Albertan, are visiting another province for business or pleasure, and you suffer an accident that requires medical treatment, you can be assured that you'll receive professional healthcare service on par with what you would expect at home. Without equalization, poorer provinces would have third-world healthcare.
2) Hundreds of thousands of Canadians in "have not" provinces complete their education and then move elsewhere in the country. Many of them come to Alberta. Because of equalization, Albertan taxpayers would have foot the bill for a small portion of their education, but Alberta is now reaping the rewards of being able to attract Canadian citizens who speak English as their first language and have received an education comparable to an Alberta-born resident. With our current labour shortage, surely you can see the benefit in that.
To speak from a personal example (and my story is hardly unique), I moved to Alberta from New Brunswick at the age of 22 immediately after I graduated from university. The New Brunswick taxpayers contributed tens of thousands of dollars to provide me with an education, with taxpayers in Ontario and Alberta also covering a smaller portion of that cost through equalization payments. I have never paid income taxes in New Brunswick. On the other hand, since 2002 I've paid thousands of dollars in income taxes to the Alberta government as well as contributed to the Albertan economy though both my labour output and by spending money in this province. Because of equalization, Alberta was able to receive a skilled and educated citizen. Without equalization, this province would not have as large a pool of highly-educated Canadian workers to attract to help with our labour shortage.