Next week, academics and representatives from government, business and civil society are gathering from across Canada to discuss Ontario, its politics and its relationship with the rest of the country.

This is unusual. Ontario, despite being home to nearly 40% of Canada’s population, barely registers as a topic of conversation among Canada’s opinion leaders, let alone the population at large. This has hurt Ontario’s ability to strike a better deal for itself vis-a-vis the rest of the country.

While university library shelves are loaded with books on Quebec government and politics, Saskatchewan history and Alberta’s party system — not to mention biographies of Newfoundland’s larger-than-life premiers — the shelves on Ontario are close to empty. Where there are books, they are dusty from neglect. History and politics departments in Ontario universities are more likely to offer courses on Quebec or the West than on Ontario.

When Ontario does come up on the national political scene, it is sometimes discussed with derision. It is good politics, it seems, for federal politicians to trash Toronto’s “elite.” There are only minor repercussions when a federal Minister goes to New York and tells a business audience not to invest in Ontario, or tells Toronto to “f—itself” over transit funding. And the impact is not only felt on a rhetorical level. There is barely an outcry when Toronto is snubbed as a headquarters for a national securities regulator, which would supervise an industry that is highly concentrated in the city and key to its global competitiveness.

Demand for Ontario-focussed content of any kind is low, even in Ontario. This is because Ontarians don’t see themselves in regional terms. Their identity is subsumed within a national identity. A recent poll shows that only 4% of Ontarians identified themselves as Ontarians first. They typically think of themselves simply as Canadians. Ontario’s lack of regional identity stands in stark contrast with the provincial loyalties of Quebecers, Albertans and Newfoundlanders.

During the early days of Confederation, Ontarians had a strong regional identity but, over time, this has receded. In particular, the post-war period in Ontario was a time of great prosperity, supportive federal policies and no need for an assertive Ontario.

Things have changed. Few would deny that Ontario is now at an economic crossroad. Its unemployment is hovering above the national average. Its share of GDP has fallen below its share of population. It is now technically a “have-not” province that receives equalization payments from Ottawa (although its taxpayers contribute billions more into the national program than the province gets back from it).

Without a strong regional identity, Ontarians are, by default, defined by others.

The absence of a strong Ontario self-consciousness helps explain why Ontario’s elected representatives in Ottawa often turn a blind eye to Ontario’s plight; there is no meaningful Ontario caucus in Ottawa acting on the province’s behalf, as there is, for example, for Alberta, Newfoundland and Quebec.

Canada’s fiscal arrangements and some national programs are still predicated on a uniquely prosperous Ontario, even though significant parts of the rest of the country have caught up economically. Economic growth and wealth creation are distributed more widely across the federation. But sometimes attitudes are slow to catch up with economic reality.

Newfoundland wants to preserve its access to equalization payments, even though its oil and gas industry make it a “have” rather than a “have-not” province. Some Westerners continue to feel alienated, even though their part of the country effectively controls the federal government.

Ontarians continue to look at their problems through Canada-coloured glasses. Their interests might be better served by looking at the world through an Ontario lens. Many of Ontario’s government, non-profit, business, labour and civil society leaders have caught on to this — hence the gathering next week.

But until the average Ontarian starts to think like an Ontarian as well as a Canadian, it is unlikely that perceptions of the province elsewhere in Canada will change, and doubtful that national policy will be substantially re-shaped to accommodate Ontario’s contemporary needs.

By Josh Hjartarson and David Cameron.

This article is available online at nationalpost.com.