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Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada

Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada

Political and Economic Dimensions

by Daniel Béland, André Lecours, Gregory Marchildon, Haizhen Mou and Rose Olfert

Published by: University of Toronto Press

Digital download
9781442635449
Published: August 2017

Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada aims to increase public understanding of equalization and fiscal federalism by providing a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective on the history, politics, and economics of equalization policy in Canada. The authors provide a brief history, an analysis of the politics of equalization as witnessed over the last fifteen years, and a discussion of key economic debates concerning the role of the program and its effects. They also explore the relationship between equalization and other components of fiscal federalism, particularly the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer. The result is an analysis that draws from the best scholarship available in the fields of economics, economic history, political science, political sociology, and public policy.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
The Authors
Introduction

1. Equalization in Comparative and Historical Perspective
2. The Politics of Equalization
3. The Economics of Equalization
4. Equalization and the Federal Transfer System

Conclusion
Data Appendix
Index

Daniel Béland is Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University.

André Lecours is full professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Gregory P. Marchildon is a professor emeritus at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto and the founding director of the North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.

Haizhen Mou is a professor at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan.

M. Rose Olfert is Professor Emerita at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

“I highly recommend the book to anyone (academics, students and citizens) learning about equalization for the first time. I also recommend it to experts looking to refine or consolidate their learning, because nowhere else will they find so much about the program in just 114 pages. Finally, I recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary equalization policy debates.”
~Kyle Hanniman, Canadian Journal of Political Science