@Federations e-newsletter

Rich provinces and states versus the poor: what's being done in equalization?

Richer parts of the country subsidize government services in the poorer parts of the country. This scenario happens in many of the 25 federal countries around the world.

But how should richer provinces and states help equalize government services in their poorer neighbours? This is the subject of a lively debate in Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, and other federal countries.

The Forum of Federations' organized a conference on the subject and commissioned 10 papers on the practice worldwide, available on our online library on federalism.

A presentation from Canada's Privy Council Office on the subject at the International Counference on Federalism in Switzerland in 2002 showed the Canadian government's approach. Recent talks in Ottawa, Canada's capital, showed a split between the have and the have-not provinces.