Unequalization

If there ever was any rhyme or reason to the Cons' selective recognition of deals made before their took power, they've shattered any sense of internal coherence with their latest declaration about federal/provincial funding:

Canada's intergovernmental affairs minister says the Conservative government remains committed to the deals its predecessors made with the Maritimes and Ontario, but future funding commitments will be designed to benefit provinces equally.

Speaking at a luncheon Wednesday at the Economic Club of Toronto, Michael Chong said a long-term framework to address the fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces is in the works and will focus primarily on post-secondary education and infrastructure needs...

Chong said the "one-off" deals made with province's (sic) like Ontario are unfair, although he said his government is prepared to honour them.

It's not the least bit clear why the Cons would be willing to follow through on deals which they themselves consider to be unfair, particularly given their trigger-happy approach to other agreements such as the Kelowna Accord which couldn't reasonably face the same criticism. And the willingness to honour the equalization side deals is particularly bizarre when the probable effect is to give the provinces affected absolutely no incentive to cooperate when it comes to working out a new fiscal structure.

Meanwhile, those provinces who didn't get a signature on the dotted line before the election are left yet again without any prospect of improved funding - presumably as a prelude to the Cons ignoring yet another call for fairness between the provinces. And PMS shouldn't be surprised if Saskatchewan would rather change the channel than stay tuned to yet another program of excuses.