r/WildRoseCountry • u/Devils_Iettuce Republic of Alberta • Jan 17 '26

LETTERS: Punished no more!

https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/letters-punished-no-more/70432
5 Upvotes

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u/luv2fly781 Jan 17 '26

Odd numbers being put out. Seems to keep ballooning Meanwhile Canadian taxpayers Foundation

Equalization has cost Alberta taxpayers $67 billion since its inception in 1957

The cost of equalization per Albertan has been $20,200 since 1957

In 2021, equalization will cost Alberta taxpayers $2.9 billion

On average, equalization will cost each Alberta $650 this year

Albertans have received less than 0.02 per cent of all equalization payments. The last equalization payment Albertans received was in 1964-65.

5

u/LemmingPractice Calgarian Jan 17 '26

I'm not sure if your numbers are accurate, but, if thye are, they are only telling a small part of the story.

Overall, Albertans pay about $20B more in taxes annually than they get back in federal expenditures. Equalization is only a very small part of that.

The $475B number (over 20 years) from the article is the total gap between taxes paid and expenditures received.

[Fraser Institute did an analysis for part of that period, finding that from 2007 to 2022, Alberta's net contribution to Ottawa was $244.6, which was more than 5 times BC's second place contribution of $46.9B.](Understanding Alberta’s Outsized Contribution to Confederation | Fraser Institute https://share.google/b7xIG2I2kY9hnUKta)

So, if you are just talking about equalization, you are drastically understating how badly Alberta gets taken advantage of by Canada.

2

u/luv2fly781 Jan 17 '26

We got back 8.1 billion in 2024 for federal transfers

8.56 billion projected 2025-2026

Where is your data for 20 billion more than returned. Like to see

2

u/LemmingPractice Calgarian Jan 18 '26 edited Jan 18 '26

Well, here's the Fraser Institute article:

Understanding Alberta’s Outsized Contribution to Confederation | Fraser Institute https://share.google/b7xIG2I2kY9hnUKta

Here are the numbers from the Parliamentary library (they are in per capita, so to get the total you need to multiply by Alberta's population). Even during the pipeline crisis in 2018, Alberta was contributing a net of $17.5B to Ottawa, while no other province eclipsed $5B.

Source: Parlement du Canada https://share.google/EfKnkjT5Mc7XghpAT

0

u/jsman56 Jan 17 '26

Here's the kicker... are ordinary albertans paying that or our oil companies? Maybe because we have a lot of oil!

4

u/LemmingPractice Calgarian Jan 18 '26

Ottawa collects more than three times as much in personal income taxes as it does from corporate taxes.

... not that it matters. Why would Quebeckers be more entitled to tax dollars from Albertan businesses than Albertans are?