Lorne Gunter answers Alan’s comment

Canadian Political Blogger #6! (and Good Egg) Alan McLeod comments,

Yes, it would be tragic if someone other than Ontario paid more than its fair share to maintain the Confederation.

Having friends in high places has propelled me to the #19 spot and so I was delighted to see that Lorne Gunter has responded to Alan over at the National Post:

The share of the green taxes he wishes to impose on Alberta and Saskatchewan would work out to nearly $1,500 per capita, or $6,000 per family. In the rest of the country, the load would be just $325 per person or $1,300 a family.

And it’s not as though Albertans, in particular, aren’t making a disproportionate contribution to federal finances already.

In addition to fuelling the federal budget surplus, Albertans contribute about $4,000 more per person to federal finances than they receive back in federal program spending. By comparison, the fiscal deficit Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty frequently speaks of for his province is just over $1,500 per person per year, and Green Shift wouldn’t raise that to $2,000. national post

Trust me Alan, if Dion is elected and tries to pull this stunt the anger out here is going to make NEP I look timid. And this time there is a real capacity to go it alone.

Written by jay on July 14th, 2008 with 24 comments.
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