Alberta and BC have been surplus provinces for decades. To the point where Alberta has contributed more to equalization in 50 years than Ontario has in 150 years. Sask has been a surplus province for a while now too. The only economic deadweight in the west is Manitoba, which got hit hard by the great depression, dust bowl, and then a sudden loss of investment during WW2. Then... just as it was rebuilding industry, got stripped of that industry to appease Quebec seperatists. It's also worth noting that Manitoba's other bif industry (Hydro) is a direct competitor to Hydro Quebec, and of course preference is given to le province belle.
As a whole, the west puts in more than it takes out and that has been true for decades.
