Bottom line: The harder you work and the more you put in, the more the system takes from you and gives to people who put in nothing. Equalization, EI, CPP, welfare, asylum and refugee supports — every one of them works the same way. The people who pull up their socks, work their asses off, pay taxes for decades, and actually contribute get the short end. The ones who contribute the least (or nothing at all) get the bigger transfers, the easier benefits, the longer support, and the faster access to services. Alberta and the other high-contribution provinces are treated like permanent cash cows. Seniors who worked 40–45 years watch newcomers and long-term non-workers collect more in handouts than they get after a lifetime of paying in. The formulas and rules keep expanding the payouts and the loopholes year after year. It’s not complicated. The system keeps rewarding the people who don’t put in the work and punishing the ones who do. A lot of us who still believe in work, responsibility, and contribution are done watching it.