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Canada is rigged. Now the fix is in for another five years.

Rarely has there been a sneakier ploy than the Trudeau government’s unilateral renewal of the current equalization system without formal notice to provinces or the public.

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The closest for sheer nose-thumbing gall may be the 1980 meeting of Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet in Lake Louise, to discuss details of the National Energy Program.

The equalization dodge comes in federal Bill C-74, a wide-ranging implementation of budget details.

You almost need a sniffer dog to find this little section. But it’s there. And it keeps the current equalization system in place from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2024.

April Fool, Western Canada.

Alberta is crawling out of a devastating recession that at one point slashed $6.9 billion from provincial revenue.

But Alberta gets no equalization payment because of our relatively high “fiscal capacity.”

Quebec, which is doing quite well these days, receives $11.8 billion.