Just a reminder that equalization payments come from federal revenue collected primarily from percentage-based taxation.

The higher your salary, the more you pay in income tax. The more you spend, the more you pay in GST. The higher a company’s profits, the more they pay in corporate income tax.

If Alberta is sending too much to Ottawa, it’s because their incomes are too high, they’re spending too much, and their companies’ profits are too high.

If Alberta wants to lower how much they send to Ottawa, maybe they should lower corporate profits. Or reduce the wages of the wealthy.

Increasing worker wages is one way to accomplish both of those things.