Other Canadians don’t much like Alberta? Thanks goodness for that.
I say this in the wake of a national survey ...
The main takeaway ... is that half of all Canadians would not be comfortable living in Alberta, as opposed to the 80 per cent of Albertans who said they’re comfortable here.
This should come as no surprise. Alberta is different from the rest of Canada. We have our own culture, our own strengths and foibles. If not everyone approves of us, that’s fine, that’s good. There are millions of Albertans who disagree and understand how vital it is that Alberta goes its own way.
Other Canadians might also consider the value of Alberta’s distinctness. Canada would be in huge trouble if all its regions had exactly the same values, policies, hopes and fears. We need to test many different ways of running our governments and economies to see which processes have the most merit.
Of course, Alberta isn’t a separate nation within Canada. We have limited autonomy, too limited. We are often subject to overly aggressive federal legislation. ...
Another illustrative question on the survey was whether or not respondents share the same values as Albertans. Only 49 per cent of Atlantic Canadians and Quebeckers and 50 per cent of British Columbians said they do. ...
The Far West ... was dominated and colonized by distant federal governments and by railway and mining cartels, often owned by outsiders. In time, Far Westerners became suspicious and hostile of those distant federal regimes. ... By the 1920s, this spawned radical internal dissent within Far West regions, opposition which remains strong to this day.
Sound familiar? ...
As an Albertan who has endured grasping and overzealous Eastern influence, I’ll suggest we will all do better if the rest of Canada respects Alberta’s differences, if it allows us the space to build a unique and prosperous society.
You are not us. We are not you.
We will never be you, nor should we be.
Read David Staples full article HERE.
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