Quebec has in some ways paid the price for lethargy, I think due to the resulting institutional inefficiency, it's clearly poor for a more advanced province.
That said - it's hard to fathom how Ontario is that much richer without the indirect stimulus offered by large scale immigration. When newcomers arrive and eventually take out mortgages at inflated prices, we basically print money for those and flush it into the economy.
At the end of the day I'm not sure there's that much difference between Quebec and Ontario.
The transfer payments equation basically dictates how much it should spend. If the province got richer it would end up in a situation where it pays more than receive from the federal government. Just imagine the constant electoral adds "instead of hiring X teachers we were forced by the feds to write a check to Newfoundland or some other money pit".
Quebec has in some ways paid the price for lethargy, I think due to the resulting institutional inefficiency, it's clearly poor for a more advanced province.
That said - it's hard to fathom how Ontario is that much richer without the indirect stimulus offered by large scale immigration. When newcomers arrive and eventually take out mortgages at inflated prices, we basically print money for those and flush it into the economy.
At the end of the day I'm not sure there's that much difference between Quebec and Ontario.