Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterlooson
.... and so do any Federal payments... which are based on population.
|
The main reason why payments are based on population is that the need for money increases as the population grows. On balance it's certainly not a given that service levels, or the quality of infrastructure
improve as the population increases.
In many cases service levels seem to be worse in rapidly-growing areas because infrastructure doesn't keep up. I'm not sure Ontario is going to be such a great place if it really does hit 20 million or 30 million inhabitants. Toronto already has very long commutes for example. A place like Alberta that lives off of natural resources might not be better off with a large population since the revenues from natural resources are largely fixed and determined by the larger world economy.
I think this sentiment about how wonderful it is to have a rapidly-growing population dates back to past decades when Canada was an underpopulated backwater country. In the future, rapid population growth might not be very desirable. It is already undesirable in most parts of the world.