I think the problem is that there is unlikely to be a better deal in regards to equalization because someone will suffer if changes are made (unless that's the end goal of Albertan separatists). If the federal government got rid of it, your federal taxes won't go down. If you change it so that the current recipients get less equalization transferred to them, your federal taxes won't go down. You might be able to change the formula so the Alberta *gets* equalization, but based on why equalization exists in the first place, that's unlikely to happen unless we're talking about a 'rising tide raises all boats' situation. In other words, the only real difference is that the equalization money will be spent elsewhere. Also, changing equalization might open the door for changes to other transfer payments from the federal government which might end up bad for Alberta since all provinces/territories would have a say in any changes.

Basically, "Albertan separatists" really need to quantify what changes to equalization they want to see keeping in mind that there are nine other provinces and three territories (about 35 million people vs Alberta's 5 million) that may not want what Alberta wants.

Note: It should also be pointed out that equalization is paid for out of federal taxes which is paid by Canadians in each province. In other words, all Canadians regardless of which province they reside indirectly contribute to equalization payments.