Alberta is so far and away wealthier than the rest of Canada -
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that Alberta will never qualify for equalization given the current funding formulas in place-
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"Alberta, to a very close approximation, has received a grand total of squat from equalization since the program was devised in the Fifties. (It was a “have-not” province in the very early years of the program, and collected $92 million between 1957 and 1964.) The total handouts to other provinces over the life of the program are approaching $400 billion in nominal dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that number would be in the order of $600 billion."
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" If equalization is thought of as a sort of insurance program, it appears to be a form of insurance Alberta can never collect on, no matter how lousy local economic conditions get.  Wealthy Alberta is  permanently, structurally ineligible."
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Colby Cosh 
National Post
July 2017