Review the Situation: Take Part/Take Over

But remember this i am you
So if you think your real do what you gotta do
On a level your just challengin' yourself
If your feelin' brave go ahead and burn yourself

Socialize and negotiate
I cut em off
Review the situation take part take over
--Dizzee Rascal

Two completely random stories made the news today...here's the first..

Saskatchewan to sue feds over resource revenues
Norma Greenaway and Janet French, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, June 14, 2007
OTTAWA -- Saskatchewan threw a fresh log on inflamed federal-provincial relations Wednesday as the Liberal-dominated Senate signaled the Conservative government's contentious budget legislation might be in for a rough ride in the upper chamber.

Premier Lorne Calvert announced the province will launch a lawsuit against the federal government in a bid to hold on to all its natural resource revenues.

The move came one day after the Commons gave final approval to budget legislation that, among other things, puts a cap on the value of oil and gas revenues provinces can keep without losing equalization transfers.

And...here's the other:

Canadian governments post record $29B surplus
Eric Beauchesne, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, June 14, 2007
OTTAWA -- Canadian governments posted a record $29-billion in surpluses last year - fuelled by steep jumps in income taxes, sales taxes and pension plan revenues.

The combined surplus of the federal, provincial, territorial and local governments - as well as the Canada and Quebec pension plans - was up from $28-billion a year earlier, and matched the record-high reached only twice in the past 20 years, Statistics Canada said yesterday.

Despite the rise in revenue, government spending still increased faster, reversing the trend of recent years.

Oh boy, it's like the Provinces smell the blood. "A weak minority government with too much cash and a hostile upper chamber can be robbed blind by the provinces" is what Sun Tzu would say if he were a Canuck, I think.

One interesting bit from that last story regarding the provinces....

While provincial, territorial and local governments posted a surplus of $7.4-billion in fiscal 2007, an increase from the $6.8-billion surplus of 2006, not all those governments were in the black, Statistics Canada noted.

And even as a group those governments have been fluctuating between short periods of surpluses and short periods of deficits, largely reflecting the variability of federal transfers.

Alberta, not surprisingly, posted the fattest surplus at $8.7-billion, followed by a modest surplus of $600-million by British Columbia.

The largest deficit, $2.5-billion, was racked up by Quebec, followed by Nova Scotia, which was just $100-million in the red. Ontario, the largest province, posted a marginal $365-million surplus, although that was a turnaround from a $1.9-billion deficit the year before.

2.5B deficit? Right now? If Quebec is in a huge deficit now, it will never be in the black.