Fixing the Fiscal Imbalance

Maxime Bernier, the newly elected Conservative MP from Beauce (south of Quebec City), mused Wednesday about how the federal government could fix the fiscal imbalance. He stated that:

Or the surplus could be put back into Canadians' pockets by reducing taxes, so that provinces would then have more taxation room, to get the sums they need from the pockets of Canadians.

Brilliant! Make the provincial governments, who want more money, ask their own taxpayers for it!!! Equalization aside, the primary complaint about the fiscal imbalance is that the federal government is running massive surpluses, while the provinces are running deficits (save Alberta of course). So, leave equalization alone to start with, cut taxes and tell the provinces they have been given the option of raising provincial taxes to counteract the federal tax cuts. The net effect to taxpayers would be neutral, but the provincial leaders would have to stand up and say "We are raising your taxes".

This will likely lead to a massive cut in overall taxation, and reduction in state influence in the lives of Canadians. It would also provide an excellent opportunity for Harper's government to get the federal government out of all the areas that are constitutionally provincial juridisctions.

I dearly hope the new government does this...