Moldy Peaches

The fiscal imbalance sure has been hard on the province of Québec. That likely explains why the Québec government is increasing its presence abroad - opening new offices in India and Brazil, beefing up delegations in China, Europe and the United States, and planning a bigger role in international organizations.

This desire for growth is just a small part of a new document released this week by the Government of Québec. Québec’s new international policy identifies the broad objectives that will guide the government’s efforts and sets ten priorities for action. The province is seeking to flex its muscle and the Harper government seems perfectly content on rolling over to La Belle province.

Now, just to be clear. Québec is great place to visit. Nice place to raise small children. The tax system is punishing, however, most people there seem indifferent to it. It is likely a result of the nice handout from the Rest of Canada. The checklist of programs partially or fully funded by other Canadian provinces continues to grow and now includes:

There might be a fiscal issue between provinces and the federal government, but the problem does not hurt Québec. The province makes off like a bandit under the current system or likely will in the future system.