Judging by their actions—inter-provincial delimitation of the continental shelf, exploitation of continental shelf resources by the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador exclusively, exclusion from equalization calculations of the totality or part of the revenue generated by these resources—the Government of Canada and the Governments of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador would have us believe that the continental shelf belongs to these two provinces. This is not the case. In fact, contrary to a widespread perception, the continental shelf belongs to no one. International law does not grant coastal States sovereignty over the continental shelf, but rather sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting the natural resources of the continental shelf. These rights, born out of a process of political compromise, are recognized as being those of the Federal Government. Thus, the argument most often used to legitimize the exclusion of non-renewable resources from equalization calculations, namely that these resources belong to the provinces, cannot apply to continental shelf resources. The practice in Canada regarding the exploitation of oil and gas resources on the Atlantic continental shelf is, from a legal as well as a political standpoint, all the more surprising given that the Canadian Federation is said to be cemented by the principle of equalization.