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Ontario collects some equalization money but, after accounting for the per-capita shares of the program’s costs, it loses $401 per Ontarian.

People in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador pay into equalization, but they get nothing back and they haven’t gotten anything back for years.

That means a family of four in Red Deer will pay $2,012 into equalization and the Quebec government will collect $3,312 for a corresponding family in Chicoutimi. A family of four in Moose Jaw will pay $2,012 while the Manitoba government will collect $3,512 for a corresponding family in Brandon. A family of four in St. John’s will pay $2,012 while the P.E.I. government will collect $8,484 for a corresponding family in Charlottetown.

Those who support the status quo hide behind equalization’s complex economic calculations, but there’s a clear pattern: People in provinces with significant non-renewable resources, such as oil and potash, pay for equalization and provinces that haven’t developed non-renewable resources collect from equalization. For example, Manitoba and Quebec continue to collect equalization while taking full advantage of their hydro resources, but Alberta and Newfoundland get nothing from equalization because the program penalizes them for developing their energy sectors.

People in provinces that develop resources pay, while provinces that don’t develop, collect

Perhaps Ottawa could justify siphoning money from provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan while their oil patches were booming, but surely the program will reflect their struggles with depressed commodity prices, right?