Well, I'm sure you read about it in the papers, or heard it in the news. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty handed the provincial finance ministers a deal outlining the federal government's contribution to health care for the next 10 years. No discussion was held among the ministers, the plan was not open to negotiation. Instead, the "deal" was unilaterally decided by the federal government and handed to the provinces in an excellent display of authoritarian rule.

The C. D. Howe Institute is out this morning with a press release entitled, "Raising Oil and Gas Royalties Does Not Benefit Provincial Coffers." A complete analysis of the accompanying 30-page paper -- featuring many graphs, tables and regressions -- will take time. But here is my initial take.

Background

The release of the annual "Income in Canada" report is Statistics Canada's first word on the impact of the Great Recession on Canadians' incomes.

The report in The Daily was presented as a non-event, but the data reveal important stories about the winners and losers since the recession.

What comes through loud and clear is the fractured nature of the Canadian economy in the wake of the global recession: one part booming, the other part is busted.

It's often portrayed as an east-meets-west friction, but the story is a little more chequered than that.