Paying The Bills

There's a familiar essence to the story emanating from the European Union's determination to save itself by hauling Greece from economic collapse. Of course, to do so is to create an additional burden on those states which have invested themselves with reasonable management of their economies. Germany, however, appears prepared to pull the plug. If not that, then to create an unwholesome aggravating dissent over straining its recession-stressed economy to aid feckless Greece back into the fold of expected financial management.

Greece has been extremely generous to its workers, with regular pay raises, generous holiday times and handily overlooking the fact that the vast majority of Greek workers somehow manage to overlook paying their taxes. With a slender tax base as a result, it's little wonder that, adding the two together the government has managed a whopping deficit. And little wonder that the EU has pressured the Greek government to rein in its unbalanced budget. In response to which Greece has embarked on a program of sweeping austerity measures.

Under which pensions will be frozen, civil service bonuses and will be slashed and new sales taxes imposed on fuel, tobacco and alcohol. This has proven to be incendiarily unpopular with Greek workers and their unions have pledged to fight these measures, and exhort their members to get out there and strike. And they've responded with alacrity, effectively closing down business as usual in the country, amid vociferous denunciations of the government and the effrontery of the EU.

Kind of rings a bell. You'd think this was the Dominion of Canada, with the federation of provinces, some wealthy, most not, signing on in a frail historical moment of brotherhood to the federal government's scheme of transferring money derived from taxes from those provinces which are deemed to be wealthy to those considered decidedly not. This made Canadians proud, that provinces that traditionally did well for themselves, primarily Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia, willingly sacrificed so that the 'have-not' provinces could provide for their citizens services comparable to their own. Equalizing unbalanced GDP.

And it did work very nicely for a while. Then Saskatchewan and Newfoundland became wealthy provinces and Newfoundland for one, thought it could retain the transfer payments, along with its newfound oil wealth. An abrasive attitude, to be sure. And Ontarians, traditionally one of the three high GDP provinces suddenly found itself edging over into a have-not province as industries melted away and unemployment rose during the recession. While Quebec, which has traditionally received the lion's share of any financial giveaways, resisted having its transfer payments cut to reflect its real need.

Quebec clings to what it feels is due it, as an exceptional province that should really be viewed as a sovereign province in all ways but economic independence. Ontario suddenly discovered it rather disliked having its pockets picked when it could least afford it. And all of a sudden, it could 'least afford' to continue to sacrifice its economic well-being for Quebec once the province began to sit up and take notice. Began to notice how exclusionary Quebec and its unions are, refusing to permit construction workers from Ontario to work in Quebec, while the reverse is accepted.

That transfer payments to Quebec, hugely funded by Ontario, result in far lower post-secondary tuition payment costs to students than elsewhere in Canada. That subsidized day care at rock bottom prices the envy of all other provinces is available in Quebec, and nowhere else in Canada. That Quebec's Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec will now proudly begin to cover costs for in-vitro fertilization for couples unable to conceive naturally. Thanks to generous transfer payments.

The Greeks once preached beware strangers bearing gifts, and that has been transformed to beware strangers preaching reason; Quebecers insist on others' proffering gifts.