Saskatchewan applying for intervener status in Newfoundland equalization payment court case

WATCH: The province has applied for intervenor status in a challenge against the federal equalization payment formula from Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Saskatchewan government says it has applied for intervener status in the challenge against the federal equalization payment formula from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Last June, Newfoundland and Labrador filed a statement of claim in the province’s supreme court.

The Government of Saskatchewan has long claimed it is unfair to include resource revenue in the formula and will have its intervener application heard on Oct. 20 at the Supreme Court of Canada.

The current equalization formula does not provide any payments to Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia.

Quebec receives the largest payment, at more than $13.5 billion – while Newfoundland and Labrador receive about $113 million.

However, the Atlantic province’s 541,000 residents receive the largest payment when measured per-capita.

“I’ve talked with Premier [Andrew] Fuery numerous times about the case that Newfoundland is bringing forward, as you know, Newfoundland, like Saskatchewan, is a contributing province in the nation. Equalization largely needs to have a look and I’ve said let’s have a non-partisan look at the program,” Premier Scott Moe told reporters Wednesday.

The premier has argued that the current formula is unfair, considering Saskatchewan has similar resources to Manitoba and does not receive payments while its neighbour to the east does.

“If it is really about equalizing taxes and services across the nation, I think it’s starting to go beyond that. You need to look no further than Manitoba and Saskatchewan,” Moe said.

According to Moe, Manitoba receives $4.7 billion per year in equalization payments.

Moe also pointed to Manitoba choosing to gut its provincial gas tax. Something Saskatchewan has not done.

“Saskatchewan receives no equalization and has very similar resource wealth and very similar suite of services, so now we have in this instance a province that is receiving close to five billion [dollars] annually in equalization payments and having the ability through those payments to reduce taxes lower than the province is contributing and so it’s a flawed program,” Moe said.

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Moe suggested that a non-partisan committee would be able to find if the program is achieving what it was set out to.

The program is aimed to create equal opportunity and services for all parts of Canada.

“I don’t think anyone is objecting to a strong nation and even contributing to equal treatment across the nation, whether it be access to healthcare, tax rates that we incur,” Moe said.

The premier added that he feels Newfoundland is bringing forward a “different sort of a conversation” of the flaws in the formula.

“So, we’re happy to intervene, because it is a program that does need to have a look and I would suggest that the courts will have a look at that,” he explained.

“But more broadly there could be some type of non-partisan committee that could look and say; ‘Is this really achieving what it’s set out to achieve?’”

-- With files from The Canadian Press and Wayne Mantyka.