This morning's Halifax Chronicle Herald quotes Nova Scotia's Finance Minister as saying she is worried that the province won't be able to balance next year's budget. Provincial officials, she says, are crunching numbers from Ottawa that will tell the tale.
The huge unspoken gap in this story is how much money Ottawa is losing because it does not have a grip on the growing use of tax havens. Statistics Canada points out that in 2011 $130 billion went to the top five tax havens. Most of it untaxed.
Do the math. That leaves provincial coffers out billions of dollars. Nova Scotia is not alone.
When the premiers met in Halifax in November, C4TF and Nova Scotians for Tax Fairness put the question to them and pointed out that provinces do have a say in how the Canada Revenue Agency Management Board works. And Atlantic Canadian Senator Percy Downe called on the Prime Minister to shake up the CRA and appoint a "heavy hitter" senior manager.
It is one thing to tighten your belt because of an economic downturn. Cutting education, health and other provincial programs because of an outdated and unfair tax system is just plain bad management.