"Canada is not a country" - Macleans

If our rag tag federation can’t build pipelines, move beer or find some common bonds, we may have a fatal problem - (Scott Gilmore)

   (selection from Macleans)

"Douglas Coupland once described British Columbia as part of a “cultural Chile”, a west coast community that ran from San Diego to Prince Rupert, tied together with an integrated economy, a similar lifestyle and a common worldview. Growing up in Alberta, this resonated with me, as I felt I had more in common with someone in Montana than I did with a Montrealer or a Haligonian, two cities I had never even visited.

"Whether Canada’s cultural communities run north-south into the United States is less important than the fact they do not run east-west. We often talk about the “two solitudes”, based on the idea that French and Anglo Canadians live very different and unconnected lives. This is indisputable. We watch different shows, listen to different music (name any of the current top 10 musicians in Quebec), hold different values. If you don’t believe that last point, consider any public opinion survey—Quebec is an outlier on nearly every question from abortion to world affairs. ...

"Stephen Harper anointed Quebec a nation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that Indigenous Canadians are a nation. Conceivably a future prime minister may continue the trend and for some political advantage describe Maritimers as a nation, or South Asian Canadians as separate cultural identity. And why not? No one has ever successfully argued that Canadians are a people.

"We do not even pass the most rudimentary test of a nation as those “united by common descent, history, culture, or language”. As the current PM himself has said “There is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada.” ...

"The world needs more Canada. This cliché is well used around here. We love to revel in our progress as a “post-national” state. But, it’s possible that as Canada evolved from geographically proximate European colonies to whatever we are now (a rag tag federation that can’t build pipelines or move beer) we skipped right over the “national” stage.

"So if Canada is not a people, not a nation, possibly not even a nation state, what are we? I would argue we are merely a collection of people who happen to be moving in roughly the same direction. Occasionally we have a leader who marshals us together, to walk in one particular direction, or to march to a specific rhythm. But only occasionally, and never for long. No, we remain the same colour on the map not because of a strong sense of shared identity or a common purpose, but because we simply haven’t had much of a reason to split up. Yet." (read full article here).

"Yet" indeed! For Alberta is now moving in a completely different direction than Canada, and has been for some time. The pathway Alberta treads is diametrically opposed to the pathway Canada wishes to journey. One is the path of individual liberty and personal prosperity. The other is the path of dictatorial state control and systemic poverty. Given this nationally inconvenient truth, we can clearly see why Alberta has ample reason to pursue an amiable divorce.

Alberta is Canada's wallet. We pay the bills. And we're reviled for it. Not appreciated, but looked down upon, by numbskulls that don't understand petroleum's blessings. Canada is a mangy dog that bites the hand that feeds it, and Alberta has had enough. Alberta is in a dysfunctional relationship with Canada - borderline analogous to a wife staying with her abusive spouse.

As this article clearly illuminates: Alberta is a nation within a non-nation. Canada isn't a thing anymore. It has lost its identity. It has amnesia:  Or perhaps schizophrenia. And Alberta doesn't want to be married to a crazy person.