Here's an interesting article I read in the Herald about Alberta and it's wealth.

Sorry I don't have a link to it, you have to pay to access the online herald and it's a little long.

The underlying theme is basically the rest of Canada can stay away from our money, we've worked hard to earn it, especially all the program cuts we endured in the 90's. The National Energy Program in the 80's ensures that we will never let Ottawa equalize our wealth again. (just google National Energy Program, it destroyed Alberta for many years)

"Ralph in fine form for East" by Charles Frank

" ...Not only have we been able to retire our provincial debt - leaving us the only province in that position - but with an anticipated surplus that could be anywhere from $6 billion to $9 billion by fiscal year end, the premier and his cabinet are making plans to return about $1.4 billion in rebates to happy Albertans before year end.
And the premier acknowledged Friday - in a move that will undoubtedly inflame eastern passions even further - that the rebate cheques could continues "for years" if oil prices stay high
It comes as no surprise then that in recent weeks, eastern Canadians have been making noises about everything from "getting their fair share" of Alberta's resource windfall to "nationalizing our petroleum industry" to changing the equalization formula that has helped the nation's have not provinces keep their financial noses above water.
Whether easterners will be ready to hear what a feisty Klein has to tell them - that if they want to enjoy the kind of prosperity that Albertans are enjoying, they will first need to get their own financial houses in order - will be interesting to see.
Asking people to tighten their belts has seldom played well in the Maritimes, Quebec or Ontario. Neither has telling business owners and operators that they will have to change their ways if they want to succeed in what some economists insist is a new economic paradigm.
However, at least one business leader, Canadian Manufacturers president and chief executive Perrin Beatty, is adamant that easterners need to pay closer attention to what has been going on in Alberta and then be prepared to make some hard decisions.
"Simply put, the choice is whether to envy the Alberta Advantage or to emulate it," he told 130 business and political leaders gathered in this mountain resort.
He left little doubt what would be the best option. Hint: envying us is not the right option.
Beatty pointed out that the much talked about Alberta Advantage is much more than a "happy accident of geography." "Residents of this province long ago recognized that its resource wealth was neither limitless nor sufficient in itself to ensure the prosperity of future generations, so they have concentrated on the fundamentals: paying down debt, diversifying the economy, investing in physical and social infrastructure and building a business friendly environment."
He's right. Or as the premier pointedly noted: "Even today's high energy prices wouldn't have prevented a debt that stood at nearly $23 billion in 1993 from growing to over $65 billion today."
Unfortunately, there remains an ingrained belief in other provinces that Alberta's current rosy fiscal health is entirely the result of a "windfall" energy bonanza and no the combined by-product of rising energy revenues and reduced or refocused spending. Nobody knows the true story better than Premier Klein. After all, it was the premier who presided over what were arguably some of the most controversial and acrimonious cost-cutting decisions in Alberta's history.
Not all of those decisions were good ones. I expect even the premier will acknowledge that.
But now Klein is running a province that is reaping the benefits of being well positioned to take advantage of dramatic changes in the global economy - and he's damn proud of what his government has accomplished under his stewardship. How he explains all that to our eastern cousins will be fascinating to say the least"