Country needs a new confederation

By medicinehatnews on April 3, 2019.

The recent Liberal budget includes $3.9 billion to compensate the dairy industry for the milk products which will be allowed to enter Canada from United States in the new trade agreement. Since some 70 per cent of Canada’s dairy production is in Quebec, those farmers will receive federal welfare of more than $2.7 billion. 

Stephen Harper in his recent book “Right Here, Right Now” addresses the dairy industry and supply management. He argues that the smaller Canadian dairy farmers could not be competitive with the larger producers from the U.S. under the free trade agreement. Supply management ensures their survival.

Yet, he explains in the same chapter what happened to the wine industry in British Columbia and Ontario with the signing of NAFTA. The producers reorganized to survive by changing their production to a high-quality product and by becoming competitive with U.S. wines. Today the wine industry in Canada flourishes in competition with U.S. products and in the international market.

Why such different experiences in the same country? Quebec is a favourite in Ottawa and it receives special consideration regardless of the party governing the country. Quebec does not have to become efficient and competitive for it will be supported and exempted to receive federal largesse, like Bombardier and SNC-Lavalin. The federal equalization formula has been fudged so that Quebec with 24 per cent of the nation’s population receives at least 60 per cent of the monies.

Quebec opposes Energy East to prevent the shipment of Alberta oil to Canada’s largest refinery in New Brunswick. Premier Francois Legault doesn’t want Alberta’s “dirty oil” passing through his province, but he has no qualms accepting from Ottawa equalization which is largely funded from tax revenue from “dirty Alberta oil.” Newfoundland has had to sell its hydro power from Churchill Falls to Quebec at a ridiculously low rate ($2 per megawatt hour) for passage and then Quebec resells to the U.S. market at 20-40 times the purchase rate. Quebec will not renegotiate this agreement and its reluctance has been supported all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Unquestionably today Canada is a very troubled nation. The main issue facing us now is the need for a new and completely different confederation. The current model was designed in 1867 to work for Upper (Ontario) and Lower (Quebec) Canada. Real, sustained progress will only happen in the regions when fundamental changes to this out-dated model are made.

The distressing reality is that the current provincial election and the forthcoming federal election will hardly address this issue. If it perchance is raised, of course, the national media including the CBC and other supporters of the status quo will immediately scream “separatism” to shut up these disenchanted Canadians, except the time has long passed for that.

Larry Samcoe
Medicine Hat

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