Alberta 1st in federal spending growth, still a 'have' province: U of C economist
For the first time since the 1960s, Alberta received more in federal spending than its taxpayers sent to Ottawa, but so did every other province.
New data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada showed Alberta's "fiscal gap" in 2020 was a net negative in Ottawa's budget, according to numbers crunched and tweeted by an economics professor based in Calgary.
"The federal spending dramatically increased everywhere, but Alberta saw a larger increase per person than any other province," Trevor Tombe said in an interview with CTV News Edmonton.
But this doesn't necessarily qualify Alberta as a "have not" province.
That label is usually attached to provinces that receive from the equalization program, which is a part of Tombe's "fiscal gap" calculations, but not all of it.
Despite the province's GDP crashing by -7.9 per cent in 2020, Alberta still led the country in wealth generated per person at more than $65,000, just ahead of Saskatchewan.
"There's not a lot to celebrate in today's data. Every single province had their economy contract significantly," Tombe said.
"Us receiving more in federal spending, doesn't mean we are going to qualify for equalization. We don't know yet, but I would bet very strongly that we will not qualify for equalization."
Alberta, B.C. and Ontario were net contributors to fiscal transfers, while the rest were recipients, his data showed.
Tombe doesn't think this will change the "Fair Deal" push in Alberta, but said it does hurt the separatist movement, because it highlights a "pooled risk" of provinces during major world events.
"Because Alberta suffered the most and received the most in federal spending, I think it does illustrate some value of why we're in confederation," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.