Have not?

Forget all the talk about Newfoundland and Labrador being a have not province.  Figures from the federal finance department tell a different tale.

	2004	2005	2006	2007
NL	7792	8572	8994	9936
PE	7489	7671	7874	8594
NS	5966	6422	7014	7701
NB	6895	7349	7849	8476
QC	6324	6493	6787	7108
ON	5652	5979	6261	6848
MB	7510	8080	8154	9235
SK	6465	7179	7768	8058
AB	7363	8050	8562	9461
BC	6828	7316	7578	8054

Leaving out debt servicing , Newfoundland and Labrador topped every province in the country  in spending per person in 12 of the  21 years from 1986 to 2007.  The province has been in the top three in per person spending in all but three years in that period.

Even more surprisingly, Newfoundland and Labrador has been in the top spot in all but two years since 1994. 

And the gap isn’t a small one. 

In 2007, Newfoundland and Labrador outspent Alberta by $500 per person. 

In 2003, the last year of the Grimes administration, Newfoundland and Labrador spent about $1300 per person more than oil-soaked Alberta.

-srbp-