Newfoundland and Labrador is gearing up to fight the feds on equalization payments, with Saskatchewan promising to back them up.

Earlier today, NL Finance Minister Siobhan Coady and Justice Minister John Hogan announced the provincial government was heading to court to fight the Liberals on the current equalization formula, arguing NL is unfairly missing out on billions.

“Our concerns have not been addressed. They have been dismissed,” Finance Minister Coady told reporters following the announcement. “Fairness for all citizens—as currently designed, equalization does not achieve this objective for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

The two ministers say that Premier Andrew Furey and his cabinet have long been fighting “to make the formula fair.”

The last time Newfoundland and Labrador received equalization payments was in 2008. Ironically, at the time, the province celebrated the cessation of the payments, proclaiming themselves a “haves” province after royalties from oil ventures began flowing in.

However, things haven’t been going nearly as well as of late.

In a letter from 2023, Furey wrote that Newfoundland and Labrador was “geographically nearly three times the size of the Maritime provinces combined, but with roughly only one-quarter of the population.”

“While the Maritime provinces have received $45 billion in equalization payments in the last 10 years, NL has received $0.”

Saskatchewan joins the cause

Shortly after the announcement, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe took to X to declare his support for Newfound and Labrador’s decision to take the Liberal government to court.

“Today, Newfoundland and Labrador announced a constitutional challenge against the federal equalization program that penalizes provinces that develop their resources, like NL and SK,” wrote Moe.

“I have asked our Attorney General to reach out to her counterpart to discuss our province’s legal intervention to support their case.”