LONDON, Ont. - It's time Ontario started showing a united front in its feud with the federal government, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday as he urged voters to learn more about what he considers Ottawa's unfair treatment of Canada's largest province.

It's a familiar refrain for McGuinty, as it was for generations of his predecessors, he acknowledged, but the dispute has taken on a new urgency - "the unfairness is more pronounced," he said - because of economic growth in other provinces.

But McGuinty admitted that he has no plans to follow the lead of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, whose dispute with Ottawa had him lowering the Canadian flag and calling Prime Minister Stephen Harper "Steve."

"Historically, we've been somewhat reluctant to stand up for ourselves," McGuinty said after a speech to the London Chamber of Commerce.

"There's been a rejigging of the economy of late, nationally, and it's time for Ontarians to come together and assert their claim for fairness."

The federal government collects $20 billion from Ontario every year for distribution in the rest of the country, which no longer makes economic sense when other provinces are doing so much better financially, McGuinty said in his speech.

"Rain or shine, the federal government extracts over three per cent of Ontario's GDP from our economy to redistribute across the country," he said.

"Despite the energy boom in other parts of the country, the federal government today takes more out of Ontario for distribution to other provinces than ever before in Canadian history."

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which supports McGuinty's bid for a better financial deal with Ottawa, said the premier is well advised to stay on a leadership track and forget about trying to embarrass the prime minister with stunts or name-calling.

"Those antics may grab headlines but ultimately we want to make some change and we want to make sure that Ontario gets its fair share," said Chamber president Len Crispino.

"It's come to the point now where we're funding other parts of Canada to a far greater degree in terms of quality of services, and that can only be sustained for a portion of time. "

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory said he has personally assured McGuinty the opposition will co-operate in the fight for a better deal with Ottawa, but he complained that the governing Liberals need to do more to boost Ontario's economy.

"Denial and diversion are not going to rebuild the Ontario economy," Tory said in an interview.

"I think he's got a lot of homework to do to make Ontario an attractive place to invest again. It's time for him to act to get Ontario back on top instead of just pointing fingers at the federal government."

Canada's equalization program is "so badly broken" that Ontario is required to pay more every time the price of oil goes up, McGuinty complained. Unemployed Ontario workers still don't get a "fair shake" from the federal Employment Insurance system, he added.

"Today, workers in Ontario who lose their jobs get $4,000 less to support their family than workers in other provinces," McGuinty said.

"That's not fair. "

McGuinty also dismissed Tory's call for a public update on the state of Ontario's finances, despite jumps in energy prices and the value of the dollar since the provincial budget was tabled last March.

Tory said growth projections have been cut in half, and government revenues could be well off the forecasts in the budget, but McGuinty said the budget was still balanced and he still expected "modest" but positive growth this year.

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