Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.6
PROVINCIAL BUDGET DEFICITS 2012-2013
Surplus (Deicit)—
$Million
% of GDP
Newfoundland and Labrador
−258
25.0
Prince Edward Island
−75
35.6
Nova Scotia
−211
34.8
New Brunswick
−183
34.1
Quebec
−1500
35.2
Ontario
−15,300
37.2
Manitoba
−460
27.4
Saskatchewan
95
11.9
Alberta
−886
4.1
British Columbia
−968
26.2
Yukon
80
na
Northwest Territories
17
16.4
Nunavut
38
na
Source
: www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/budgets-provinces/.
by an average of C$5.2 billion per year in order to return the government to
the black by 2015.
Pressure to balance the iscal budget will make it increasingly diicult for
the federal government to inance any sort of transition away from fossil
fuel-powered electricity generation. his leaves most of the hard work up to the
provincial governments or private industry. As Table 8.6 illustrates, however,
other than Saskatchewan and Canada's northern territories, all other provin-
cial governments are also struggling to manage annual iscal budget deicits.
In short, on the heels of the recent global economic downturn, all of Canada's
provinces are inding it diicult to balance budgets and will, therefore, be hard
pressed to catalyze change in their respective electricity iefdoms.
8.6.4 Policy Regime
Given the constitutionally guaranteed sovereignty that provinces enjoy over
natural resource governance and electricity generation, it should come as no
surprise that the federal government exhibits a proclivity toward “sermons
and carrots over sticks”
64
in regard to selection of policy instruments for
inluencing developments in Canada's electricity sector.
In terms of sermons, the federal government, through the Ministry of
Natural Resources, exerts soft power by coordinating the annual meeting of
