labradore

"We can't allow things that are inaccurate to stand." — The Word of Our Dan, February 19, 2008.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Enough already

Burf Ploughman has a good idea:
When are we going to put an end to this unfortunate and demeaning phrase which classifies citizens as "have" and others as "have not"? We must be the only country in the world that uses this terminology.

Here's an even better one.

Take the obsessive discussions over
(A) whether the provincial treasury does or doesn't qualify for equalization;

(B) which provinces do or don't qualify for equalization, and how much they receive;

(C) the quest to maximize the amount and the duration of equalization payments (all the while professing that we don't want equalization); and

(D) finding new and novel maths to argue the case that the equalization program — whether the province receives the payment or doesn't — amounts to a "ripoff";

and remove them, the whole lot, as the pivot around which all federal and provincial political discourse in Newfoundland and Labrador has ultimately revolved for the past two decades.

1 Comments:

At 9:17 AM, November 17, 2008 , Blogger babe in boyland said...

true dat, burf. at any given time, 8 out of 10 canadian provinces receive equalization. ive never heard another province characterized or characterize itself as 'have not'. why do we?

and heres a thought - what will happen if newfoundland and labrador starts receiving equalization again (lots of provinces pop in and out of the program)? will the days of newfie jokes be back? will we be on our own two knees instead of our own two feet?

its a dangerous business to tie provincial self-esteem to whether or not the province avails of a federal funding program available to and availed of by all provinces at one time or other.

 

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