I only had a quick look at the main points in today's papers. But from what I was able to gather, we agree with what the Parliamentary Budget Officer stated.
We object to cuts to both equalization and health transfers, especially given that, in 2007 or 2008, the federal Conservative government had endeavoured to correct the fiscal imbalance between the federal government and the provinces. From our standpoint, the effort wasn't entirely satisfactory, but it did represent a genuine effort on the federal government's part.
Since then, however, we have noticed that the health, social and equalization programs have been so heavily reviewed that the partial correction of the fiscal imbalance initiated in 2007 or 2008 has regressed completely. The aging population will clearly place tremendous demands on the provinces, while the federal government sits pretty.
Some ten years ago, the federal debt as a share of GDP was at 68%. Within four to five years, it is expected to drop to 25%. In short, the federal government is in great financial shape, and we believe it should sit down with the provinces to correct the fiscal imbalance.