With little fanfare, the federal government recently announced the equalization payments to less fortunate provinces would remain the same over the next five years.
Premier Brian Gallant says he’s glad New Brunswick will get the same amount and it won’t decrease despite calls from Alberta and Saskatchewan that it should be reformed and even cut in half.
“For us, it was very important to keep the same formula. That would be a very significant difference if we would have taken some of the changes that were being debated by certain premiers. It would have had a very negative impact on New Brunswick and the quality of life of New Brunswickers,” he notes.
New Brunswick is one of six provinces eligible to receive funding under the equalization program.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador are the four provinces not eligible for equalization.
The program is designed to enable “have not” provinces to provide public services that are comparable to those in other provinces.
