Maritime Handouts
Unkindly, but reflecting an obvious reality, Canadians outside the Atlantic provinces have traditionally thought of the Maritimes as being populated by lazy, pogy-addicted people. Who excelled at the fine art of working for short-but-adequate periods of time, then applying for unemployment insurance. At a remunerative rate higher than elsewhere in the country, reflective of shorter working periods than elsewhere, as well. A useful routine for the lazy and the unambitious.
Why work, after all, why put yourself out, why expend unneeded energy, when you could just sit back and rake in the money anyway? It's not a matter of demeaning yourself, since after all, everyone does it. If it is that much an accepted way of life there is no reason to feel guilty about being a slacker. Above all, it works, doesn't it? Who hasn't met someone from the Maritimes who matter-of-factly mentions he's just come off a spate of work and is relaxing from the effort, on EI?
Now, suddenly, it appears to have occurred to some political elites in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that it needn't be that way, and shouldn't be that way. Where's the pride in it? Besides which, an addiction to the teats of federal hand-outs by way of the notion of provincial equality is becoming out-moded as previously entitled provinces have suddenly found themselves "have" provinces in their own right, mostly through natural endowments to be extracted and commodified.
The "dependence syndrome" has drained the Maritimes' populations of energy, innovation, ambition, entrepreneurial skills and created a population of dull do-nothings with their hands perpetually in the give-me position. But here's the other side of the story: those same provinces were once powerhouses of industry and accounted for a good portion of the production of wealth in the country.
It was a federal government plot to reduce their capability and transfer it to provinces like Ontario instead that placed the Maritimes in their now-absurd position, by convincing them that trade be transferred from their American neighbouring states to their fellow provinces. And that turned out to be one stinker of a deal. Which the feds, taking pity on the poor Maritimers, sought to amend, by the brilliant fix of transfer payments.
What a dud of an idea.
Why work, after all, why put yourself out, why expend unneeded energy, when you could just sit back and rake in the money anyway? It's not a matter of demeaning yourself, since after all, everyone does it. If it is that much an accepted way of life there is no reason to feel guilty about being a slacker. Above all, it works, doesn't it? Who hasn't met someone from the Maritimes who matter-of-factly mentions he's just come off a spate of work and is relaxing from the effort, on EI?
Now, suddenly, it appears to have occurred to some political elites in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that it needn't be that way, and shouldn't be that way. Where's the pride in it? Besides which, an addiction to the teats of federal hand-outs by way of the notion of provincial equality is becoming out-moded as previously entitled provinces have suddenly found themselves "have" provinces in their own right, mostly through natural endowments to be extracted and commodified.
The "dependence syndrome" has drained the Maritimes' populations of energy, innovation, ambition, entrepreneurial skills and created a population of dull do-nothings with their hands perpetually in the give-me position. But here's the other side of the story: those same provinces were once powerhouses of industry and accounted for a good portion of the production of wealth in the country.
It was a federal government plot to reduce their capability and transfer it to provinces like Ontario instead that placed the Maritimes in their now-absurd position, by convincing them that trade be transferred from their American neighbouring states to their fellow provinces. And that turned out to be one stinker of a deal. Which the feds, taking pity on the poor Maritimers, sought to amend, by the brilliant fix of transfer payments.
What a dud of an idea.
posted by Pieface @ 8:16 PM
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