One other thing:
When determining whether or not a province qualifies for equalization or not (and also how much they receive per capita), Alberta isn't even included in the calculations because we're so much richer than every other province. If we were included, we would skew the results in such a way that even Ontario would probably be considered "have not".
Equaliztion examines the ability to generate tax revenue in the five "average" provinces, those being Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and BC. Based on those numbers, the government determines a base value. Any province below that receives transfer payments on a per capita basis to bring them up to that base. Any province above or equal (currently Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan) do not receive equalization, but they can, and do, receive other transfer payments, such as the federal health transfer. This ensures that each provincial government can (at least in theory) provide the same minimum standard of healthcare, education, and other government services across the country. Obviously richer provinces like Alberta and Ontario are going to have more money available to them, even without equalization.
In other words, even though we're sending money to the other provinces, we still come out ahead and can afford better services than they can. It's not like Alberta and Ontario are just scraping by while PEI and Newfoundland are off blowing money like drunken sailors.
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