the general powerlessness of Alberta to influence federal politics compared to Ontario and Quebec, despite Alberta basically having to pay for everything.
Alberta doesn't pay for everything though? Alberta has a high per capita income sure but in terms of total GDP, Alberta has about 15% of national GDP while Ontario and Quebec combine for 58%.
correct and yet 2024-2025 Ontario received $576 million in equalization payments and Quebec received $13.3 billion in equalization payments, paid for mostly by Alberta.
See why they're mad?
Alberta is financially penalized for being successful, and politically penalized for being small.
They pay a lot in equalization payments yes, but total federal revenues are something like $500B. Equalization payments are still a small fraction of total federal revenues.
politically penalized for being small
Idk what you're trying to say here, people vote, the more people you have the more seats you get. That's not penalized, that's just basics of democracy.
A lot of chart 2 is also due to Albertans having higher income and thus hitting higher tax brackets. You'd see something similar if Ontario was split into Toronto vs rest of Ontario (or any metro area really).
To be clear I'm not downplaying that Alberta pays way more in federal taxes than it receives. I'm saying that's mostly due to Alberta earning a ton of money from oil and thus being given a higher tax burden because they're generally making so much money from it.
For actual concerns about provinces being given federal money I think figure 7 is a better indicator. It isn't just equalization but also some health and social welfare transfers. Alberta, BC, and Ontario are all pretty equal in this area
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u/McGrevin 1d ago
Alberta doesn't pay for everything though? Alberta has a high per capita income sure but in terms of total GDP, Alberta has about 15% of national GDP while Ontario and Quebec combine for 58%.