VANCOUVER — British Columbia Premier David Eby, who says funding from the federal government is unfair, has found a new ally: Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr. Eby received the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Andrew Furey, in Vancouver on Thursday. He said British Columbia is considering joining the Furey government’s legal challenge to federal equalization payments in an effort to get “fair treatment” from Ottawa.
British Columbia’s premier has sharply criticized federal funding that he sees as unfair to Western Canada, pointing to the lack of money for projects such as flood prevention, while Quebec and Ontario benefit from “special treatment”, according to him.
Mr. Furey says he discussed the equalization issue at length with Mr. Eby during his visit to British Columbia, saying the formula is “fundamentally broken for Canadians right now.”
He says the legal challenge is necessary because “a court has to assess how this is applied in jurisdictions like British Columbia and all the provinces.”
Mr. Eby and federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller exchanged comments this week after Mr. Eby told the Western Premiers’ Conference that Ottawa was “flooding” Ontario and the Quebec money, referring in particular to the $750 million granted to Quebec in the face of increased immigration.
Minister Miller said British Columbia should welcome more asylum seekers.
British Columbia hopes, among other things, to receive federal funding for its project to replace the George Massey tunnel in the Vancouver metropolitan area, estimated at $4.15 billion, for which no precise figure on Ottawa’s contribution is available. was fixed.
Mr. Furey’s visit to British Columbia followed a stop by Mr. Eby in Saint John last November, during which both sides signed a commitment to work to advance energy technologies own.
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