The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Pierre Trudeau was in his first term as Prime Minister the last time Ottawa's funding of Saskatchewan was as insufficient as it is today, in the view of Queens University economist Thomas J. Courchene. In a new paper, Courchene argues that it's been 35 years since the Prairie Province has been this unfairly treated through the federal government's equalization formula. Equalization payments are given to the provinces to help bridge the financial gaps between them. Saskatchewan Finance Minister Harry Van Mulligen told reporters that he hopes Courchene's work will help bring the situation to Ottawa's attention. Courchene's paper is titled Confiscatory Equalization: The Intriguing Case of Saskatchewan's Vanishing Energy Revenues. The paper may be viewed online at: http://www.irpp.org/fasttrak
