RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Equalization I have no axe to grind but you missed my point entirely friend
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/peter-holle-artificially-cheap-hydro-power-your-equalization-dollars-at-work/wcm/59da1243-121d-4ebd-a4f0-ce56afdac14e/amp/
read the article. It will enlighten you as to how a province can make themselves appear have not. Perhaps Alberta should sell itself $20 oil so it can report less relative GDP and therefore recieve more equalization while also benefitting its people. It is essentially what Quebec does with artificially low energy prices.
I fully understand how the federal government gets its money from taxes. What you don't understand is that they don't redistribute based on those salaries. They redistribute based on a provinces GDP (per capita). So if a province can lower (artificially) its GDP then it can benefit greatly from equalization. And that's how you game the system sir.
It's like as if I somehow find a way to write off my home expenses on my income and somehow show I have $0 while earning 100k. I would be gaming the system, of course I would be audited. Unfortunately our federal government has no balls to call out Quebec for its shenanigans