Lol, an entire political thread of Alberta vs the rest of Canada. In 50 years there won't be a single person that wants to live in that dumpster fire of a province. After the oil companies see no further profit from raping and pillaging Canadian land, they'll pack up and leave the government with the clean up bill, just like the nickle mines in Ontario or the pulp mills in NS. Alberta, and it's people, are just a number in a company ledger, and when that number is less than acceptable to shareholders, let the dumpster fire ignite.
You do realize that the provincial budget is completely separate from the federal budget, right? It's decades of short sighted politicians shovelling the money to their buddies with little regard to Alberta's historical boom or bust economy. You not having a consumption tax, which basically gives oil companies a 10% discount on everything they procure, whether it be services, equipment, construction, etc... (imagine what that was worth, but hey, you saved some money on your jacked up F350s). The fact you have a deficit is 100% your own dumb faults, nothing to do with transfer payments (which are based on median income per capita, not oil royalties) or anything else federal. In fact, "Canada" (the libtards) just bought you a 40 billion dollar pipeline to get your shitty, dirty, cheapass oil to market. Talk about taking a stupid stance on a government that has bent over backwards and did the exact opposite of what they promised the rest of Canada to get elected.
Before oil, your province sucked on the teat of the rest of canada with farm bailouts and high unemployment, and without fed money, you wouldn't have the infrastructure needed to support the oil patch.
A country isn't about YOUR province or mine, it's about us all. Oil companies aren't going to be around for ever, and when they leave with all your resources, what's left but a hot, dry, burning mess of a province, littered with orphaned wells and people with stupid high "rare" cancer rates.
Vote Green, or hold your nose and vote Liberal. Fuck the Cons and the PPC.