Following last week's cabinet shuffle in Ottawa, La Presse's editorialist-in-chief François Cardinal complained that Stéphane Dion's departure was a big loss for Quebec. Not because Dion was good at his job as foreign affairs minister. Not because his renown reflected well on Quebec. Rather because, according to him, Dion was one of the few important ministers who could knock at the prime minister's door and pressure him to make a decision favourable to Quebec on various files.

From subsidies to Bombardier to increased health transfers and Ottawa's contribution to Montreal's transport infrastructure, there are several files where more federal money would be welcome in the province. As the editorialist noted, citing historical examples from previous governments, the presence of strong ministers often results in a province or a city being "showered with dollars."

To me, that's not a good reason to have strong ministers -- it's the worst!

Each region can point towards many examples to bolster claims that the way the pot is being divided is unfair.

This is based on the view that the federal government is essentially a big pile of cash and that every region and special interest group should try to grab as much of it as possible for its own benefit.

One of the arguments of those who defend this perspective or say it is inevitable is that we need our share of the loot because others got theirs and the money will be spent anyway. "Manitoba got such and such investment," "Toronto benefited for this program," or "Nova Scotia got that amount of money." If we don't lobby hard enough, the money will again go to them instead of to us.

Since Ottawa has been throwing money in all directions for decades, it is very difficult to argue with that view. Each region can point towards many examples to bolster claims that the way the pot is being divided is unfair.

So, to calm down frustrations and buy support in vote-rich regions, governments double down on the spending. Each passing decade, the federal government spends more and more on equalization, on health transfers, on large regional infrastructure projects, and other programs. They send hordes of ministers and MPs to cut ribbons and make sure local populations are aware of their "generosity."

This is the dynamic that has brought us to today's intolerable situation of having a huge government that spends money it doesn't have on everything. And the Trudeau government is making things even worse.