Premier Jason Kenney (Photo supplied by the Government of Alberta)

By Chris Brown

TO BE ON MUNICIPAL ELECTION BALLOT

Referendum question on equalization introduced in Alberta legislature

Jun 7, 2021 | 4:30 PM

Premier Jason Kenney introduced a motion in the legislature Monday to put a referendum question on equalization on the ballot of municipal elections this fall.

Kenney says Albertans will be heard through a clear, concise referendum question.

The question will read “Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982—Parliament and the government of Canada’s commitment to the principle of making equalization payments—be removed from the Constitution?”

Kenney said that in the 2019 election, “Albertans decided they’d had enough.” He added equalization was one of the major concerns he heard about from voters while on the campaign trail.

In the event of a “yes” vote, Kenney said the next step would be to ask the federal government to ratify the Constitution.

He also acknowledged that Alberta can not change the Constitution on its own, and that “we should not expect that a yes vote is going to unilaterally change equalization.”

The equalization program is a federal program that aims to address financial disparities between provinces by providing financial assistance to any province faced with a year-over-year decline in its non-resource revenues greater than five per cent.

The federal government says declines in resource revenue is taken into account only if, and to the extent that, the annual revenue decline exceeds 50 per cent.

A province can also only apply for and receive a maximum of $60 per person.

According to the province, between 2014 and 2019 Albertans made a net contribution of more than $100 billion to the federal government through federal taxes that helped build critical infrastructure.

A referendum on equalization was a key recommendation of the Fair Deal Panel.

“Alberta averages almost $20 billion annually in net contributions to Confederation,” said panel member Tany Yao, MLA for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, in a statement.

“Almost 10,000 Canadians commute from across Canada to work in the oilsands alone. Alberta certainly doesn’t appear to be getting treated fairly and I’m very happy that our government is listening to those that spoke at our Fair Deal consultations.”

(With files from Shaun Penner / EverythingGP)