I like this guy . I love his choice of subject matter . <| sep |> Is it hard to believe that Alberta would contribute $ 200 B in federal tax over that time period ? Of course not . But is it hard to believe that they would be responsible for 50 % of the money distributed as equalization payments ? Absolutely . It ' s difficult to estimate federal tax revenue by province , but the last estimates I could get 2009 , notably after the recession started c l o s e r l o o k a t f e d e r a l r e v e n u e s andexpendituresbyprovince peg Alberta as contributing around 16 . 7 % of federal tax revenue , just under what Quebec paysand less than half of what Ontario contributes . So Quebec actually contributes more to the equalization payment pot than Alberta does , but of course they get something back whereas Alberta hasn ' t recently . And yes , Albertans contribute more per capita . Overall federal tax paid by Albertans isn ' t really relevant here , because equalization payments are a miniscule part of what federal revenue is used for . It ' s also used to field a military and pay provinces for healthcare and infrastructure , which Alberta benefits from .