Ontario does not get any.
The Minister of Human Resources Development is doing the right thing by leaving to go to work. I would advise him not to write a book, but rather to work for the unemployed he has left on their own for the past two years. It will be more advantageous for everyone.
I submit that, taking a province such as Quebec with the second largest population in Canada and multiplying the number of people by $536 gives an impressive total. The principle of equalization payments, however, is to calculate per person. I have done a few quick calculations, and if Newfoundland had Quebec's population, with its level of equalization payment per capita, it would not get the $3.9 billion Quebec does, but rather $12.736 billion. In other words, a total of four times as much in equalization payments as Quebec, if Newfoundland had the same population as Quebec.
It can be seen that it makes no sense to say that Quebec gets $3.9 billion, or 47% of the equalization payments. No, no. Equalization is calculated on a per capita basis, not a lump sum. If Newfoundland had as large a population as Quebec, it would get three times as much in total equalization payments.
Now a little trip to the west, the land of Reform. Let us look at Manitoba.