Hi digger,

You are right, it is very difficult to find the amount of the equalization payments. Over the years, Ontario has contributed to equalization greatly. However, it's my understanding that Ontario's equalization payments have been reduced dramatically and it's my understanding they are now either zero or very very little.

I'm going to have to rely on my friends (the Premier) in the Alberta Government to come up with some factual numbers with regard to the present split. It's my understanding that Alberta is presently providing the biggest slice of the equalization payments realizing of course that we have less than one tenth the population of the rest of Canada.

Quite frankly, I have always believed that equalization payments should be discontinued and I felt that way when I lived in Ontario. There are parts of Canada that feel that unemployment insurance, for example, is a right of passage. And they plan their year so that they can be out of work as much as possible. Ontario, over the years, has been very hard working and of course is the most industrialized province in Canada. However, McGuinty attended the same university that I did (McMaster) and I understand that presently the Ontario Government is taxing industry in a way that is discouraging many industries in Ontario.

Canada is so big that we need to use our resourses (workers) as effectively as possible, and we can't do that when we are encouraging them to stay at home through the use of equalization payments.

I am very proud of being from Ontario but nevertheless, I believe that we should have legislation which encourages Canadians to be mobile and to be able to work in the areas of Canada that need workers. For your information, I also believe that all Provinces in Canada should have the same educational curriculum so that the educational standards in each of our 10 provinces are similar.

I can see that what I've said above is going to upset 2L8 again but with more time on this Board, he will appreciate the candidness of this Board's members.

Best Wishes,

Lynn