Readers raise concerns about unfairness in the equalization formula, inaccuracy in small sampling statistics and undue Donald Trump influence.
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Murray Mandryk’s column in the Leader-Post’s Jan. 11 edition entitled “Old problems like equalization will remain long after Trudeau” suggests that the federal equalization formula is too difficult a structure to solve or change.
The equalization formula created in 1957, was designed to distribute wealth from the richest provinces to areas of Canada that were not as prosperous. Consider the Atlantic region of Canada as a traditional example.
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The plan considered wealth from oil and gas being used to produce energy plus other resources. Hydroelectricity has not been considered in the equalization formula. Why not? Hydroelectric, too, is a source of energy.
Ontario and Quebec produce a lot of hydroelectricity and in this fiscal year Ontario received $54.6 million dollars and Quebec gained $13.6 billion.
This equalization formula is grossly unfair. The two most populated and prosperous provinces are receiving handouts. Moreover, Quebec always receives billions of dollars, annually.
The equalization fund was to be examined and revised in 2024, but the federal government postponed any discussion until 2029 — no doubt, because political support would have been lost. Once again, political expediency sidestepped common sense and reality.
Ever since the early settlement of the West, wealth from the Prairies has been drained away to benefit Eastern Canada.
Ernest Boehnert, Regina
Be wary of highway fatality stats
Statistically, Saskatchewan’s population is too small to accurately measure collisions and fatalities on our roads and highways.
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As a former director of communications for Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation, this was something I learned from our statistician when I noticed a high degree of variability in the Traffic Accident Information System Report (TAIS).
The 2024 drop in fatalities from drug overdose likely suffers from this sampling reality. National averages are very accurate, so that is a better guide in years when this anomaly appears. A story on statistical anomalies would be a good read and help readers digest statistics.
One good reference book is Numbers Don’t Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World by Vaclav Smil — a professor at the University of Manitoba, whose knowledge is often used by Bill Gates. Saskatchewan stories have kept us subscribing to the Leader-Post for 42 years.
Jack Upshall, Regina
Trump not a good influence
The word influencer, which means a person who influences others, seems to be mentioned more and more often these days. Judging from the media coverage U.S. President Donald Trump gets, he is unquestionably a global influencer.
When he dies, I believe there will be a huge, perhaps unruly, crowd in attendance to watch his body being lowered into the ground. A few of those people will be mourners, but the vast majority will be there to ensure he is no longer influencing.
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Lloyd Atkins, Vernon, B.C.
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