Albertans simply want a fair shake in the federation

As the Alberta Next Panel—tasked with advising the Smith government on how the province can better protect its interests and defend its economy—prepares to reconvene on August 14, one thing is clear: many Albertans feel they’re treated unfairly in the federation. But if the rest of Canada understands and respond to Albertans’ concerns, it could lead to a stronger Canada for everyone.

Under the current system of fiscal federalism, Ottawa collects taxes then redistributes money to the provinces and/or individual Canadians through programs including equalization, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and employment insurance (EI). Albertans make outsized contributions to these programs because the province has a relatively young population, fewer retirees, higher incomes and higher employment rates.

For perspective, from 2007 to 2022, Albertans’ net contribution to federal finances (total federal taxes paid by Albertans minus federal money spent or transferred to Albertans) was $244.6 billion—more than five times the net contribution from British Columbians or Ontarians (the only other two net contributors).

Consider Alberta’s role in the equalization program, which redistributes money to theoretically ensure each province can provide comparable levels of public services at comparable tax levels. In 2023, the federal government spent $24.0 billion including an estimated $3.3 billion from Alberta, which has not received equalization payments since 1964/65.

Albertans’ also disproportionately contribute to the CPP. From 1981 to 2022, the amount Albertans paid into the program—over and above what retirees in Alberta received in CPP payments—was $53.6 billion. That’s approximately six times greater than the net contribution of B.C., the only other net contributing province. Put differently, residents in seven out of the nine provinces that participate in the CPP (Quebec has its own plan) receive more in benefits than they contribute to the program.

And from 1981 to 2023, Alberta workers contributed $23.9 billion more to Canada’s EI program than Albertans received back in EI benefits. (Ontario was the only province to make a larger net contributor to the program.)

In their current form, both the CPP and EI rely heavily on contributions from Albertans. Alberta’s withdrawal would necessitate fundamental changes to these programs including higher contribution rates (i.e. taxes) and potentially reduced benefits for Canadians in other provinces.

Clearly, Albertans make an outsized contribution to the federation—but that, in itself, isn’t the issue. Here’s the problem—at the same time, federal policies disproportionately and negatively impact the province including Bill C-69 (the “no pipelines act,” which imposes onerous review requirements on major energy projects including pipelines), an oil tanker ban limiting energy exports to Asian markets off B.C.’s northern coast, an arbitrary cap on oil and gas emissions that will require production cuts while most of our international peers ramp up production, numerous “net-zero” policies, and so on.

These policies prevent Alberta from reaching its full economic potential. According to estimates from a 2024 Deloitte report commissioned by the Alberta government, due to the federal emissions cap, Alberta’s economy (GDP, inflation-adjusted) will be $191 billion smaller from 2030 to 2040, and result in lower wages, job losses and a decline in tax revenue. Ironically, this also means less revenues for Ottawa. The same report estimates the emissions cap will shrink Canada’s economy by more than $280 billion over the same 10-year period. In other words, these federal policies have consequences for not only Albertans but all Canadians.

The Alberta Next Panel presents an opportunity. If Canadians outside Alberta can better understand the province’s important role in the federation, it could lead to undoing the damaging federal policies that limit Alberta’s energy sector, which would ultimately benefit Canadians across the country.

Tegan Hill

Director, Alberta Policy, Fraser Institute

Nathaniel Li

Senior Economist, Fraser Institute

Related Topics:#AlbertaOttawa #FraserInstitute #NathanielLi #TeganHill AlbertaCanada AlbertaNextPanel feature

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Alberta

India and Spain are buying Canadian oil…from the U.S.

Published on August 12, 2025

Todayville

Infrastructure at the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center near Corpus Christi, Texas. EIEC is the largest crude oil storage and export terminal by volume in the United States. Photo courtesy Enbridge

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Deborah Jaremko

‘Re-exports’ from terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast continue at a steady pace

International shipments of Canadian oil from ports on the U.S. Gulf Coast continue at a steady pace, according to a new report by RBN Energy.

Major buyers in recent months were India and Spain, said analyst Martin King.

These are so-called “re-exports” — oil produced in Western Canada that moves by pipeline or rail through the U.S. to terminals primarily in Port Arthur, Texas.

Citing data compiled by Bloomberg and the U.S. Census Bureau, King said re-exports averaged 117,000 barrels per day in June, the third consecutive month over 100,000 barrels per day.

Re-exports of Canadian oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast have slowed somewhat since the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion came online in May 2024, King said, as China shifts to using closer access via the West Coast.

In addition to export terminals, the U.S. Gulf Coast has the world’s largest cluster of refineries designed to process “heavy” oil, Canada’s main export to the region.

Total U.S. Gulf Coast imports of Canadian oil so far this year have averaged about 400,000 barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Alberta

Alberta fights court order blocking ban on transgender surgeries, drugs for children

Published on August 11, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Alberta remains intent on protecting children and has appealed a court injunction blocking the province’s ban on transgender surgeries and drugs for gender-confused minors.

On July 25, Alberta filed an appeal of an injunction against Bill 26, which bans “gender transitioning” surgeries and drugs like puberty blockers and hormones for minors, through a filing with the Alberta Court of Appeal.

“We’re delighted that the Alberta government has appealed a court injunction against its legislation to ban all genital mutilation surgery for minors, and puberty blockers for children under age 16,” Campaign Life Coalition’s Jack Fonseca told LifeSiteNews.

Amputating reproductive organs of children “is cruel and inhuman treatment, no matter how powerful their delusion of being ‘trapped in the wrong body’ might be,” he declared. “Chemically castrating little boys with the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones is pure evil. No sane or moral government should ever allow the medical system to permanently and irreversibly chop off perfectly healthy body parts.”

The appeal comes after Alberta King’s Court Justice Allison Kuntz granted a temporary injunction against the legislation on June 27.

Alberta’s new legislation, which was passed in December, amends the Health Act to “prohibit regulated health professionals from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors.”

The legislation also bans the use of puberty blockers and hormones for “treatment” of gender dysphoria to children 15 years of age and under. Regrettably, those who have begun using the drugs can continue doing so, and the bill also allows 16- and 17-year-olds to take puberty blockers and hormones with “parental, physician and psychologist approval.”

Just days after the legislation was passed, an LGBT activist group called Egale Canada, along with many other LGBT organizations, filed an injunction to block the bill.

In her ruling, Kuntz alleged that Alberta’s legislation “will signal that there is something wrong with or suspect about having a gender identity that is different than the sex you were assigned at birth.”

However, the province of Alberta said that these damages are speculative and the process of “gender transitioning” children is not supported by scientific evidence.

“I think the court was in error,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on her Saturday radio show. “That’s part of the reason why we’re taking it to court. The court had said there will be irreparable harm if the law goes ahead. I feel the reverse. I feel there will be irreparable harm to children who get sterilized at the age of 10 years old – and so we want those kids to have their day in court.”

Overwhelming evidence shows that persons who undergo so-called “gender transitioning” procedures are more likely to commit suicide than those who are not given such irreversible surgeries. In addition to catering to a false reality that one’s sex can be changed, transgender surgeries and drugs have been linked to permanent physical and psychological damage, including cardiovascular diseases, loss of bone density, cancer, strokes and blood clots, and infertility.

Meanwhile, a study on the side effects of “sex change” surgeries discovered that 81 percent of those who have undergone them in the past five years reported experiencing pain simply from normal movements in the weeks and months that followed, among many other negative side effects.

“We have been gaslighted by the media and lobby groups like Egale for too many years,” Fonseca revealed. “Affirming people in mental delusion and encouraging them to chop off healthy body parts does NOT save lives. It causes gender-confused children to commit suicide later in life at a rate that is 19 times higher than the general population.”

“We urge all Canadians to contact Premier Smith and Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery to keep fighting until they win, and to invoke the notwithstanding clause if necessary,” he concluded.