The ingratitude of billions
Canadians have given Quebec a quarter of a trillion dollars in equalization payments since 1957, half of all the money the program has handed out. Over that span of more than 50 years, Quebec has always been the biggest beneficiary, and has never been a net contributor to equalization. With Pauline Marois and her Parti Quebecois leading in the polls as the province approaches its Sept. 4 election, all that money doesn't seem to have won us friends or influenced people.