The charts that show how Alberta is picking up the bill

QUEBEC GAINED MOST FROM EQUALIZATION PROGRAM

In just 11 years, Albertans have paid out almost $240 billion to the rest of Canada.

That number is more than one-and-ahalf times as much as B.C. and Ontario combined, whose taxpayers pitched in $54.6 billion and $97.9 billion respectively, the other two largest net contributors to the federal balance sheet.

The money is sent to Ottawa as part of net federal fiscal transfers — basically the residents of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario pay more in federal taxes than they get back in federal programs and transfers — they are net positive contributors to the federal finances. And in Alberta’s case it has been doing that for a lot of years.

Other provinces are net negative contributors — they get more back in federal programs and transfers than they give in taxes. In Quebec’s case its net negative contributor was minus $171.3 billion from 2007-2018.

The numbers from Statistics Canada show that Alberta’s $240 billion comes to about $5,000 a year — for 11 years — for Alberta’s taxpayers.

Ben Eisen, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute’s Provincial Prosperity Initiative, said the results, per capita, were hard to ignore.

“Despite economic challenges which could reduce net contribution to federal finances, it still remains true that Alberta is a major net contributor to public finances,” he said in a phone interview.

“Far more tax revenue comes to Ottawa from Albertans than what comes back to Alberta in terms of federal services and transfers.”

Trevor Tombe, an associate professor from the department of economics at the University of Calgary, said the results were not surprising.

“The high amount of revenue raised per person is due to high income levels that exists in Alberta,” he said in a phone interview and pointed to the province’s “above average level of economic strength.”

“If you were to ask people ‘Should taxes depend on their income,’ most people would say yes.”

Tombe added that Alberta has the youngest population in Canada, which means it receives less income from federal benefits like the Old Age Security program and the Canada Pension Plan.

The Statistics Canada numbers also show Quebec benefitted most from the equalization program, raking in $107.5 billion. The program shuffles federal tax dollars to provinces with less money so all Canadians have comparable public services at comparable taxation levels.

How the statistics were gathered changed 11 years ago and so Statistics Canada does not have comparable numbers before that. However, a study by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy showed that from 1961 to 2017, Alberta’s net federal fiscal transfers amounted to more than $600 billion.

How much money Alberta contributes to the rest of Canada is one of the things that will be examined by a panel set up by Premier Jason Kenney as he seeks a “fair deal” from Ottawa.

“Albertans have been working for Ottawa for too long, it’s time for Ottawa to start working for us,” Kenney declared in a speech to the Alberta Manning Networking Conference. “We Albertans will not lose our heads, we are practical people, we are not unreasonable people. Nothing we are asking for is unreasonable.”

The feeling of alienation in the west was highlighted by the Liberals being shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan in the federal election.

Eisen said he hoped the data would “promote a sense of cooperation and help Canadians from coast to coast understand how big Alberta’s contribution to everyone’s well-being is.”

“A strong Alberta benefits the entire country, when there’s an economically strong Alberta it spreads across the country,” he said.

“Ottawa would be far worse off without Alberta’s contribution. It would harm taxpayers all across the province because of the debt-service payments. Canada can’t reach it’s full economic potential if Alberta doesn’t reach it’s full economic potential.”