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I was just wondering what the significance of Canada Day was..... did we beat someone in a war or something..... what is the significance of July first..... just curious.....

Look, the bottom line is we'd all probably be better served to treat what Klein said today as just what it is..."Canadian Politics 101: Using the threat of separatism to get what you want when you really have no intention of separating at all". This is a common anti-Centralist ploy that works all the time because we were lazy and didn't go through the trouble of a bloody civil war to put an exclamation point at the end of the word, "central authority". Instead we would be better served concentrating on the details of the agreement itself rather than provicial pride...because far be it from me to suggest Ottawa wouldn't screw us. . Fair enough.....

What really gets me about all this is peoples perception that Alberta does not contribute enough to this country, when in reality we do, in spades...... and that we have become successful through nothing but luck, and being the second class citizens that we are(poor praire girl), we somehow do not deserve it.... we have achieved everything we have playing by the rules of this country and now people resent it...... I'm sorry, I was'nt born to serve Ontario or Quebec.....

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ind...ams=A1SEC819745 And as far as Alberta's genesis with regards to immigration, well... Canada had from the onset til years after WWII has always needed to use propaganda and bribes to get them out here in the first place. http://www.civilization.ca/educat/oracle/m...n/page02_e.html "Early Immigration In the meantime, the Canadian government began its push to settle the Prairies by introducing a new initiative aimed at attracting settlers. In 1872, the Dominion Lands Act was passed, granting 160 acres (647 497 m2) free to potential settlers so long as they met a number of conditions. These included building a dwelling, planting crops and living on the land for at least three years. Despite such incentives, a disappointingly low number of immigrants arrived before the late 1890s. The largest group to take advantage of the opportunities the new region had to offer was from Ontario. After Confederation, Ontarians arrived in Manitoba in such large numbers that Winnipeg was often referred to, tongue in cheek, as Ontario West. There were a number of groups from outside Canada that also came and settled together in the Prairie West prior to 1890. These included Mennonites and Jews from Russia, and the Mormons from America. These groups often arrived seeking varying degrees of ethnic, religious or ideological freedom, or to escape persecution. Their numbers, however, were small. Competition with the United States There were many reasons for Canada's limited success in attracting settlers. Among them was the fact that the American West still proved more appealing to the majority of potential immigrants. In fact, many of the immigrants who originally arrived in Western Canada during this period often eventually headed south into the United States. There they could take advantage of a more advanced economy and a more efficient transportation system. Many immigrants also chose the American West because it had a superior international image at the time. While it was described as the frontier of golden opportunity, the Canadian West was often conversely portrayed as uninhabitable, cold and barren. It was these negative stereotypes that the federal government, the Canadian Pacific Railway and groups of nationalist Canadians began to challenge. They distributed immigration propaganda at home and abroad that described the West as a Promised Land, an "earthly paradise" with fertile soil and "the healthiest climate" in the world. Who could resist such a place?" Yeah. Canada's part in the creation of Alberta was token at best. Ok. I stick by what I said. Alberta was a dirt poor homely prairie girl who no one wanted to dance with except for Daddy Canada. Now she's all rich and fanciful-like and she don't need the likes of Canada no more. She's got Texas. . So what your saying is that we owe Canada everything, we are only what we are because of Canada, and god forbid that if we ever become really successful we should lay down and give everything we have worked for back to Canada, wait until all our resources are spent and go back to begging our masters for handouts....

Are you sure it wasn't your driving ? And do you realize that you're driving OUR cars ? ( Not really, but I'm using roughly the same logic that people use for natural resourced to manufactured goods produced in Ontario. I have never heard anybody here refer to the auto plants as 'our factories', but the time is coming when this will happen. ) It might of been the driving but I don't know how you offend someone going in the opposite direction on a straight road. Why do I pay more for a car (before taxes) built in Ontario than someone in Seattle? At least you pay the same as someone in Seattle for Alberta's oil. You want a special price for another Province's products, be prepared to reciprocate. Maybe Alberta could lure some auto makers to set-up shop here in Alberta, we're closer to China than eastern Canada, we have a business friendly enviroment, high standard of living, we're well situated in the fastest growing part if the continent.....

The ol' "If you don't think like me you should leave". My history muddled? Hmm lemmie see. There was the '20's when we were completely dependant on the East. Then there was the '30's when we were completely dependant on the East. Then there was the '40's when we were completely dependant on the East. Through-out there was the common theme of having to actually pay, or force (if they wanted to in the country) immigrants to come out here and make something of the place....As you point out your history seems to begin in the Trudeau era. Normally I would link you to this sorta thing but if none of this even rings a bell then I really don't want to bother. Yep. Great to be lucky. Great to not need money from anyone else and so now it's time for more independence. You're really only supporting what I said. History for people like you in Alberta conveniently begins in the ‘70’s. . History for the people in Alberta begins with the people whom came out here, whatever that time was, and for my family it was the late 1800's and early 1900's, and all this so called help prior to 1947 you say Canada provided was token at best, when we first were developing our Oil and Gas sector in the province we went to the federal government and bay street for money to help, and were turned away, we then went to New York and with help from Wall street and our brothers from Texas and Oklahoma developed it..... I would suggest that you learn your history Killjoy...... BTW I'm a proud native Calgarian....

You're doing a great job of building castles in the sky there, that is to say building arguments that I would never make. I guess you missed the point, which is that jingoistic ideas of you 'owning' the oil industry aren't really that useful. Your countryman (provinceman ?) Wilbur did a better job of explaining that the oil actually does belong to the province until it is extracted. Your the one building castles brother, the point that the province owns the resources until it is extracted is obvious, your advocating that it should not, that the country should, which it does'nt, and any attempt to change it because certain regions noses are out of joint will not be accepted by Alberta, you can take that to the bank brother........ your the one trying to wrestle away what is rightfully Alberta's, no matter what spin or fruitless agrument you come up with to justify doing so....

You need to be more clear. What did I get wrong ? Your right Fidel, we do'nt own anything, it's all the big evil corporations fault, they control everything, let's nationalize the Oil and Gas sector so we can all benefit from OUR oil...... it's nice in theory but too bad it does'nt work that way in reality.... maybe a move to Cuba would be to your liking, Trudeau(spl) was a big fan....

So the oil never belongs to the company that extracts and processes it ? I think it does, which is why it's confusing that somebody who lives in Alberta considers it their oil. It might be their tax money, but that's a different thing isn't it ? Nice try..... Alberta nor Canada is Cuba brother....

Canada is a lose confederation.... what the federal government does with it's tax money is everybody's business, but the federal government trying to control our resources through the back door by means of gross over-taxation of our oil & gas sector is not exceptable to Alberta brother, and it will not happen....

Not really, it is becoming more of an Alberta vs. the Rest of Country thing now. It's the rest of the country sticking their noses in our business that's the problem......

It is our Oil to sell brother, sorry if that is'nt clear, eventually it's your oil when you pay the gas station attendant for that right....

And the business of the businesses that actually own the oil, ie. Americans. I find it strange how people seem to fall into territorial thinking on these matters, when the people really calling the shots are offshore, after all. We live in a free market enviroment, what ever oil company leases these rights to extract the raw material pays for that right..... whether the price paid for that right is high enough is up for debate, but to whom they pay it to is not....

I thought Alberta was already sharing it's wealth with the rest of this country, if this country can not get by with what it already syphons off from our province then that's their proplem, yes we have Oil, but it's OUR oil, and what we do with it and the money generated from it is no-ones business outside of Alberta.... I am proud that we can contribute to this country and help people from outside this province, but , the money for nothing, everybody owes me something, the government will look after me attitude that is Canada can kiss my butt, we own and control our resources, as enshrined in the constitution, and any type of encroachment by outside forces on these rights will only destroy this country, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, we have already been through a national raid on our resources in the 80's (NEP), and I can guarantee that it will never happen again brothers and sisters.....

That's true. No where have I encountered a case where self-image and reality diverge so dramatically. For example, all the rhetoric of rugged individualism obscures the fact that Calgary's wealth, rooted as it is in the oil industry, is owed as much to government intervention as entrepenurial initiative. If I come off like a Calgary hater here, that's because I hate Calgary. Off all the cities I've travelled in, Calgary is the one the embodies the decline western civilization: the "me me me" attitude, the obsession with status, the disdain for the environment and sustainability, the capitalist idolatry etc etc etc. Calgary is a city without a soul: it's basically a large open air shopping mall-cum-business park. Except there's no such thing as "limitless opportunity" when your wealth is based on a limited resource. The limited resource your talking about must be the Oil & Gas sector, the Gas part will greatly decline within our life times, but so far as the Oil in Alberta is concerned, we will come up with a new source of energy before we ever get close to depleting all the oil trapped under our great province..... and so far as your comment about Calgary having no soul, well, it's just a different kind of soul brother, the soul of my city is progressive, hopeful, determined and pretty god dammed happy, it's not the typical defeated type you find inside most Canadians....... as far as the Calgary or Edmonton question is concerned, being a native Calgarian I will be bias and tell the original poster to choose Calgary, I've only been to Edmonton a few times but I can't honestly see anyone choosing Edmonton over Calgary, Edmonton is just too far away from the mountains, something like 200 or so miles, and our Rockies are what make our province unique, they truely are world class....

"yes......Canada has quite a windfall on its hands. " yes, the people of Alberta have quite the windfall..... and through the Federal Governments right to tax our(as in Albertans) resource, the country outside of Alberta will also benifit.... with the world becoming ever smaller and major corperations being global, if we in Alberta play our cards properly we should become the economic power house of North America and possibly the world.....

I was watching a show the other night about the evidence concerning Christianity's plagiarism of the virgin birth and the crucifixion of Christ from pegan mythology, I was just wondering if anybody else had any information or opinions on this subject... personally I do'nt want to believe it but they did show evidence to support their claims and are saying that the Catholic church is suppressing this evidence... to be truthful it is giving me a headache just thinking about it... I never thought something like this would affect me this much but I guess my Catholic upbringing sunk into me alot deeper than I realized... Christ is my connection to God and always will be.... you just have to have faith....

... and for the amount of money the league brings in are over-compensated.... player salaries eat up more than 70% of revenues which is far higher than the other major leagues... ML baseball, the NFL and NBA are in the 50 to 60% range....

It is some but your right..... and now they are going to fix it....

NO!!!...... not everybody relies on the Government to solve their problems.....the socialist way is not the answer here... and in my opinion Trevor Linden is a complete moron..... Quote; " The players will never accept an agreement that involves cost certainty".... the NHL is a business Trevor and the people that pay the bills have to deal with reality... something you need a large dose of.... and am sure will be receiving soon brother........ GO FLAMES GO!!!!!!

Self reliance, personal accoutabilty and the enviroment to achieve these goals is the kind of society that I want to create... I just find most socilalists are money for nothing, the world owes me everything, it's everyone elses fault but mine hypocrits... to help people that truley need it is ofcourse a top priority and must be adhered to.... but the somewhat condescending only I can see the world as it really is and should be intolorant socialists are in my opinion just pissed off that so-called ordinary people can achieve real success and that we somehow do not deserve it.... money to these types is a status symbol which really does show what they are all about. Money and having it is all about choices as far as I'm concerned and all I ask for is the enviroment to achieve more choices.....

That's great that Europe is providing all these great services for their children.... but does this higher taxation factor into the much larger class gap they have over there.. or is it their so-called superior socialist philosophies that are at work.. what gets me the most about you hypocritical NDP socialists is that you are really just promoting an elitist culture with a much larger gap between the rich and the poor... as far as I am concerned you can just go blow your smoke up someone elses ass and if you want that type of a society just pick yourselves up and move to Europe and keep your arrogant cultural and oppressive philosophies over there.....

I am all for peaceful freedom of expression... it's just that if things do get out of hand I would be more than willing to lend the fine peace keeping officers of my hometown a hand in protecting the property of the people, and if that includes handing out a few rubber bullets and cans of tear gas to do so then so be it...

......and the vision of Parrish's face being planted into the carpet with a few well and hard connecting jabs to her gut and head by the secret service on the way down... priceless.....

I was just wondering if there is any rallies planned for Calgary and if there was somewhere a person could go to volunteer for the Police riot squad... the only experiance I have at shooting a gun was at Disneyland years ago... I was quite good back then, I'm sure handling and firing a gun with rubber bullets would not be a problem....