<p><pre><code>   Even the way we do provincial transfer payments is sane. While one 
   industry is booming (Oil, manufacturing, tech) other &quot;have not&quot; 
   provinces get payments through the federal government. This brings
   a measure of stability to the system.
</code></pre>
Yes and no, the resource-heavy provinces have been working hard for natural-resource carve-outs and natural resource revenues get a 50% haircut going in anyway.<p>Any rational economist can say that Canada went all-in on oil because that is exactly what it did. A prolonged stretch of an inflated loonie has resulted in a long-term reduction in manufacturing capacity which means that the country is not poised to take proper advantage of the decline in the dollar that has now occurred. Instead there will be a ramping-up period where productivity is lost.