“You pay more because you make more.”
Sounds fair, doesn’t it?

It’s the CBC’s favorite line. Ottawa’s shield. The polite packaging around a system built to extract from the West and silence the protest.

Yes—Alberta, Saskatchewan, and B.C. generate more wealth.
Oil. Gas. Agriculture. Industry. Real work.

So yes, we pay more into equalization.

But here’s what they don’t say:

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• We don’t get a bigger say in how that money’s used.
• We don’t get gratitude—we get vilified.
• We don’t get to say no when our money props up provinces that actively block our projects, pipelines, and industries.

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This isn’t “fairness.” It’s a tribute system.

And when you question it, they call you selfish, divisive, or un-Canadian.

The truth?

We’re not mad we pay.
We’re mad we’re told to shut up and keep paying.

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If this system was about national unity, we’d be at the table.
If this was about fairness, the taps would turn both ways.
And if this was about equality, the East wouldn’t be lecturing the West with our own damn money.

So next time you hear,
“You pay more because you make more…”
You say:

“And yet somehow, we’re still the ones getting screwed.”