On February 19, the IRPP hosted an event featuring Marcelin Joanis (professor, Polytechnique Montréal, and former of the Seguin Commission Secretariat) and Catherine Mathieu (professor, UQAM and member of the Advisory Committee on Constitutional Issues). Charles Breton, Director of the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation, moderated the conversation.

Fiscal imbalance, equalization, spending power, health transfers: Quebec’s recent history is punctuated by moments when these issues have been relevant. This history is also marked by Quebec government initiatives aimed at identifying problems and proposing solutions. The Séguin Commission on Fiscal Imbalance is the clearest example, while last November’s report by the Advisory Committee on Constitutional Issues is the most recent. 

With the publication by the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation of a text by Marcelin Joanis on 20 years of the Séguin Commission, the Centre was pleased to host a discussion on the evolution of the issues surrounding fiscal federalism from a Quebec perspective, both in terms of the nature of the problem and potential solutions.