Wow there is lots of incorrect information going on in this thread. First of all Quebec does not have 9 million poeple. Check the facts its actually just under 7.7 million.
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070329/d070329b.htm
Now for those who say because Alberta has a smaller population than Quebec, that Quebec deserves another team. Well it may or may not. That depends on economics as well as local population base. Remember of the 7.7 million in Quebec 3.8 are in Montreal and 350 K are in the Gatineau area (which is part of the Ottawa metro). So before you already have about 4.2 of that population with a team locallly. Then when you consider other metros in Quebec, you have no place that can potentially support a team besides Quebec City. Alberta on the other hand has just over 3.4 million and a third of that is in Edmonton and a third in Calgary. That means they have enough of a local population to support the team. The more telling issue when you compare the 2 provinces is to look at the economy of each.
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/econ15.htm
Compare Alberta with Quebec and you will see that Alberta on a per capita basis blows the doors off of Quebec. That means that the average Albertan has more more money to spend on things like NHL hockey.
If one were to take a third of Albertas GDP for each of the 2 metro's, you can see with a similar population as Manitoba they have an economy almost twice that of Manitoba. You cannot compare the areas without this information.