tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988599552908585128.post6428169758642747483..comments2023-10-16T01:09:58.286-07:00Comments on BC Iconoclast: What does the federal government really need to do?Bernardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15951619465188564252noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988599552908585128.post-776576098477282582011-03-14T17:40:17.709-07:002011-03-14T17:40:17.709-07:00The territories have major issues with stable tax ...The territories have major issues with stable tax revenues due to the massive dependence on resource extraction. <br /><br />Example, 32 commmunities for a total of about 42,000 people in NWT rely on about 90 per cent of their economy on three diamond mines. The is a jagged decade left in the expected lifetime of those mines, the 4 mines possibly coming on line in the next 5 years are equivalent to one of the big three currently open. Nunavut watched its economy jump by almost a quarter last year with their new gold mine. Plus Nunavut is determined to maintain their language - a lovely cultural idea, fiscally it is nearly suicidal given the low rates of Inuit english language literacy. <br /><br />The territories would have terrible transition problems to full province hood. The current push in NWT for devolution of federal powers might be the right course, but INAC is intractable as always.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988599552908585128.post-25033138303244194992011-03-13T22:18:48.889-07:002011-03-13T22:18:48.889-07:00A few more ideas:
One of the real "acid"...A few more ideas:<br /><br />One of the real "acid" tests in my mind would be at the very least limiting the role of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation in mortgage insurance. First and foremost under any literal interpretation of the Constitution housing is quite clearly within the realm of property and civil rights. Second CMHC is exempted from provincial insurance regulations that its private sector(albeit heaviliy aided by the feds)competitors such as Genworth and Canada Guaranty have to comply with. Additionally several countries such as Australia and New Zealand have been quite sucessful without any government aid for the housing sector.<br /><br />What makes CMHC so interesting is BC benefits from it more than any other federal govt program whereas other provinces such as Manitoba, Quebec, and the Maritimes with much lower rates of home ownership and more affordable housing to begin with benefit much less. Now one can argue the afforementioned provinces benefit from a lot of other federal government programs on the otherhand most other programs have explicit costs whereas no one is quite sure how much financial risk the federal government takes on through CMHC.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03894651289037073128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988599552908585128.post-15407768992014241632011-03-13T16:06:06.904-07:002011-03-13T16:06:06.904-07:00A couple of thoughts
RCMP- I agree totally with d...A couple of thoughts<br /><br />RCMP- I agree totally with devolving this function to the provinces who currently don't have police forces. Some small provinces may want to keep it no matter what but I don't see any reason for BC to keep on using it.<br /><br />National Parks- I don't think any politician would support devolving the "big" and prominent parks such as Jasper, Banff, or Waterton to the provinces nor in particular would Alberta wan't to manage them. Remember too the federal government picks up all the maintenance costs of the Trans Canada highway within the Rocky Mountain Parks. I agree though the national park system should be expanded only sparingly. I also suspect there is a bit of an BC Alberta divide on this one as in my opinion the feds do a better job of running the Alberta parks than the BC ones especially Banff vs Yoho.<br /><br />Another one you forgot the National Capital Commission. While Ontario and Quebec have in the past complained about their jurisdiction being stepped on by the NCC they don't seem to complain when the feds pick 50% of road construction costs within the National Capital Region.<br /><br />EI and Old Age Security- The feds specifically obtained powers in these areas many years ago I don't see them giving them up easily. The CPP on the otherhand is up to the provinces whether they want in or out so far only Quebec has wanted out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988599552908585128.post-5859284766790998162011-03-13T13:07:23.380-07:002011-03-13T13:07:23.380-07:00I enjoyed this post very much, and it's gratif...I enjoyed this post very much, and it's gratifying to see your more libertarian side at work. I think your proposals are sound as initial steps, but are only a beginning to the devolution and decentralization of power that must occur in response to increasing competitive pressures that come with the benefits of participation in increasingly larger and more diverse markets.<br /><br />http://www.libertarianbookclub.com/Dave Killionhttp://www.libertarianbookclub.com/noreply@blogger.com