Big Fight in Finance!

2024-02-12 12:45 PM

Fresh Reporting: Santoshi Nivarthi

Finance got heated while discussing how to utilize 7 billion dollars from a federal reserve due to the federal finance ministers lack of preparation and respect towards other delegates. Since the beginning of the finance meetings, Alberta had felt constantly shut down and ignored by the federal government, which led to Alberta’s finance minister to walk out while remarks were made about how she “won’t be missed” by the federal ministers. Delegates felt this was a huge let down from the federal government as it was their responsibility to ensure all members are heard. This belief is not only felt by the members of the Alberta government but members from Saskatchewan as well, who believe that the federal government pushed them to take charge as they had “zero communication between each other from the beginning, were unprepared, did not respect their own position papers, and would not discuss certain topics.” This is completely unexpected from the leaders of this conference.

Day 2 Financial Ministry Summary

2024-02-12 12:00 PM

Fresh Reporting: Keenjal Kamble

Finance has 7 billion dollars to spend and all of the provinces are deciding on how to split the money. Saskatchewan and Alberta were the first to propose this idea. At first they wanted to split the money evenly, but Nunavut said that the money should be split up to prioritize those who need the money the most, as percentages. Depending on what provinces required, they must discuss where the money would be going and how it will benefit other provinces. For this proposal to work, industries must connect with other provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador did not want to partake in this funding distribution. Ontario is interested in this and wants to use the split money towards mechanical manufacturing as well as resource expansion in Quebec and Saskatchewan, believing it will be of great benefit. Ontario also wants to spend money for the nuclear power plant. British Columbia wants to use the money toward oil and refining minerals with a budget allocation of 700 million toward the issue. Quebec wanted lithium for manufacturing and transportation to reduce carbon emissions. British Columbia wants to use 1 billion for higher education for the benefit of the trades. Nova Scotia and PEl want to spend more money for manufacturing. All the Territories and the First Nations want to focus on building roads and dedicate 1 billion towards it. Manitoba wants to focus on agricultural goods. It was also mentioned that the First Nations will get 2 billion dollars to focus on people living in poverty, that live on reserves and they need funding to increase income help.

Day 1 Financial Ministry Summary

2024-02-21 7:30 PM

Fresh Reporting: Claire Rees

As the meetings come to a close on the first day of Fed-Prov 2024, the Finance Ministry still has much to discuss in the coming days. With the first meeting being a perpetual fight between the provinces and territories against the federal government and their budget, eventually, the room came to a consensus that the topic was going nowhere.

Throughout the second meeting, delegations were invited to introduce proposals they had and open them up for discussion. A clear leader within the room, the Albertan Ministry quickly brought their ideas about the carbon tax to light.

Currently, in Canada, carbon pricing is a provincially set price that must meet minimum requirements set by the federal government. Alberta proposed to cut this minimum requirement while simultaneously requesting a yearly budget from the federal government to invest in “greener strategies” like nuclear energy.

Many of the delegations were for this plan. For example, the First Nations Assembly stated that with many Indigenous communities being isolated up north, the cut on carbon tax would lower gas prices and make accessibility to and from those communities easier. The main concern for this proposal, brought up by Newfoundland, was that this issue seemed to stretch too far out of the Finance Ministry's bounds. All in all, more than 75% of the delegations were in agreement, and it is set to be passed tomorrow.

The second issue discussed during the day was Alberta's concerns about equalization pay. Statistically, Alberta pays quite a fair bit towards equalization payments as a result of their abundance of natural resource exports. Due to this, the Albertan government proposed an exclusion of profit from natural resources, such as agriculture and oil, due to inconsistent supply and demand and fluctuating market prices.

They also wanted to include hydroelectricity towards the fiscal capacity, specifically targeted towards Quebec, a province that has a lot vested in this particular area. Quebec argued that water is, in fact, a natural resource whose supply can be affected by things such as droughts. This issue is to be further addressed tomorrow.

The final issue to be brought up was welfare reforms. This idea was initially proposed by the federal government in their position papers; however, Saskatchewan brought it up for further discussion. Saskatchewan proposed a reform to the system where an individual's method of income, if any, would be taken into consideration. This reform proposed that 15% of the budget, which is being allocated to individuals who are not actively looking for jobs, should instead be put into funding for those who are actively job-seeking.

Concerns brought up by the New Brunswick delegation mentioned the fact that some Canadians are simply unable to get jobs due to disabilities, addictions, and even mental health. It was agreed upon that these types of situations would be exempt from the overall proposal.

Newfoundland also raised concerns about the exact numbers and whether there was a perfect 1:1 ratio of those looking for jobs and those who are not. The overall consensus was that, with these estimated numbers, the proposal would be passed.

While a rough start, the financial ministry did manage to accomplish a few things between the delegations. With hard players like Alberta and Saskatchewan and major oppositions like Newfoundland and Quebec, the final enactments of this ministry are yet to unfold.

The Federal Government's Masterclass in Stripping a Tired Population of their Last Penny

2024-02-21 7:30 PM

Opinion: Deserae Gracie & Carter Hall

During the Federal-Provincial simulation, while our ministries were hard at work trying to better the lives of Canadians, our Federal Government officials in Finance and Health are attempting to pass bills that drain the money of low income households. The Health ministry has decided that they would like to implement a 3% tax on ALL food items that contain 15% added sugar or more. This tax is incredibly detrimental to families who are already struggling with high food prices and heavy inflation, especially as cheaper food items typically contain more sugar.

The Federal Government's reasoning for this sugar tax is in order to combat type 2 diabetes. However, the integrity of Saskatchewan officials resisted the misleading claims from the Federal Government who believe that “diabetes is caused by what you eat”. Saskatchewan corrected their assertion by elaborating how the true cause of diabetes is “a lifestyle” that incorporates a “lack of exercise” and other facets of healthy living. This means that despite the higher expense it forces Canadians to pay, it simply doesn’t work.

With this policy, the Federal Government aims to tax the daily lives of Canadians, as 15% added sugar is a criminally low threshold: taxing your pancakes, waffles and cereal, your trail mix, your cheese, peanut butter sandwiches and jams, your juices, and your morning bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. It is taxing family breakfasts and children’s lunches and the granola bar they have in their pocket. The policy attacks holidays like Halloween, Easter, and Christmas, and in doing so directly affects family life. This is a desperate move by the federal government which multiple provinces described as nothing more than a “cash grab”. Inflation has already dramatically increased food prices in an economy where low income families are already living paycheck-to-paycheck just to gather three bags of groceries from the store. Now, they won't even be able to afford to pay for their children’s favourite foods.

The Sugar Tax is not an effective solution. We cannot control the lives of others by threatening bankruptcy on single mothers and fathers, instead, many believe that it would be more beneficial for the Federal Government to simply put more money towards building infrastructure to educate children and adults on the effects an unhealthy lifestyle can have on your health and well being.

Rather than punishing families for buying what they want, why don’t we increase our funding in diabetes health clinics so they can have the help that we need? Why doesn’t the Federal Government direct more resources towards helping to find a cure for type two diabetes instead of sticking our heads in the sand and trying to shun people away from something that is ingrained in our communities daily lives?

Western Canada Finance Meeting Minutes: Day 1

2024-02-21 10:15 AM

Analysis: Claire Rees

The Federal Government's main focus over the course of the 2024 Fed-Prov conference is to tackle the ever present issue of inflation upon Canadian households. With inflation reaching a record high in 2022, in the aftermath of Covid-19, Canada’s national inflation rate sat at 8.1%. While this has since lowered as the severity of the pandemic has lessened, Canadians are still feeling the effects of the unaffordable state of Canada’s economy. The Federal Government's plan includes implementing a fiscal policy; a strategy to reduce the government's overall spending. They hope to lower national debt by implementing a “fiscal anchor, one which shall limit debt servicing costs to a maximum of 10% of revenue”.

The Nunavut Financial Ministry voices concerns over this fiscal restraint, stating that “due to the relative size of Nunavut, it does not allow for the economy to implement the measure of fiscal policy within the ministries”.

The Federal Government also wishes to make reforms to refugee tax exemption policy, which would include increasing the amount of time that refugees are exempt from paying taxes to 5 years instead of the current 1. This would be done in hopes of aiding refugees in creating a foundation in which they can establish lives within Canada. The Financial Government of Saskatchewan expresses deep concern over this exemption stating “the federal government can’t give exemptions to Canadian citizens, why should we be giving tax breaks to non-residents?”

British Columbia's Financial Ministry proposes an increase in tax applied to corporations. This would specifically target their industries that specialize in natural resources like forestry and mining. They wish to make “all businesses making over $500,000 in revenue get charged 3% more than before.” This would make their Provincial Corporate Tax be 15% instead of the current 12%.

Economic policies at the federal level also indirectly impact healthcare accessibility by inefficiently distributing or outright wasting financial resources without creating significant improvements in the field. The overbearing presence and failures to resolve other incredibly pressing issues like poverty, unemployment, and housing insecurity all undermine efforts to improve the overall healthcare presence in the region.

Addressing the healthcare accessibility crisis in Western Canada demands a group effort from all levels of government and collaboration with Indigenous communities, healthcare professionals, and companies. Immediate action in the form of increased funding for healthcare infrastructure and the implementation of policies that address social determinants of health is necessary to move towards redeeming Western Canada’s healthcare system and taking a heavy weight off of provincial governments who are ill-equipped to fix their healthcare issues. Additionally, supporting Indigenous-led healthcare initiatives is an essential step toward achieving equitable healthcare access for all residents of the western provinces.

Opposingly, The Financial Ministry of Alberta wishes to reduce carbon tax. They hope to “strike a balance between environmental responsibility and economic growth”. They claim that the current carbon taxes are “burdensome” on their economy and that the reduction of the tax can “alleviate the financial strain” the province faces.