Bill C-12 dies

[Wild Bill]

Surely Diefenbaker counts as a power shift away from Central Canada in our history? (Will have more to say about the rest of this later on.)

Dief? Maybe, for a brief period.

Still, he was the first Tory PM in a long time when he took power. It was a long time before we saw another one!

Mulroney had the two biggest majorities in our history until the West saw that he cared about Quebec and Ontario far more than he cared for them. His awarding of the CF-18 contract to Quebec when a Winnipeg firm had the cheaper bid with more expertise was the proverbial straw. Many say that doing that was the most powerful thing that launched the Reform Party and spelled the eventual doom of the Progressive Conservatives. It's ironic how the tiny remnants of the PCs wound up running the show in the present CPC. There's little or nothing left of the Reform Platform.

As I mournfully am wont to ask, why did Manning ever bother?

[jbg]

Still, he was the first Tory PM in a long time when he took power. It was a long time before we saw another one!

Sixteen years is a long time? Joke Lark Joe Clark was PM from 1979 to 1980.

[Argus]

Wow... Just wow.

I have vacationed in New-Brunswick, surrounded by other Quebecers... I've vacationed in Sandbanks ON, surrounded by other Quebecers... Cape Cod, Lake Champlain, the White Mountains... ditto. In Florida, they have french-language TV and newspapers...

Sure, lots of Quebecers go to Florida. Everyone knows that. But they don't go to Toronto. Quebecers virtually never travel west of Ottawa. In any event, my disdain for Quebec has little to do with their travel habits and much more to do with their endless, snivelling, whining and threatening behaviour. Constantly offended, constantly indignant and self-righteous, and smugly certain of their own cultural superiority while living off the welfare paid by les Anglais.

[Argus]

I would feel left out if he didn't have anything to say against Quebecers or French-speaking Canadians in general.

What you mean is I have reasonably high standards and expectations. Those who fall below those standards I treat with a measure of disdain. Those who fall well below them I treat with the contempt they deserve.

[Evening Star]

Wild Bill: I am too young to remember the NEP first-hand, yes. I've read mixed things about it and I'm not sure it's as one-sided as your post makes it sound but I can actually see how that might have been seen as Central Canada exploiting AB. However, my understanding was that when the programme was initiated, it was because of a joint agreement between Canada and Alberta that Trudeau and Lougheed toasted with champagne, expecting that it would be mutually beneficial. (I've seen the pictures, ha.) From what I remember from Just Watch Me, I also thought that some of the other Western premiers were in support of the NEP? No one actually expected the drop in oil prices in the early 80s, right? Plus, at that time, there was a serious recession in many countries.

I'll note that PET had actually reached out to the NDP and offered a full coalition in 1980 so the government would have more representation from the West.

I'm not sure what programmes in the Eastern provinces you're referring to in the rest of your post. I do think that e.g. Newfoundland has benefited a great deal from the Hibernia development project. Otherwise, I don't think anyone can seriously still claim that they're being screwed because of things like the Crow Rate or the St Lawrence Seaway.

[Dithers]

Wild Bill: I am too young to remember the NEP first-hand, yes. I've read mixed things about it and I'm not sure it's as one-sided as your post makes it sound but I can actually see how that might have been seen as Central Canada exploiting AB. However, my understanding was that when the programme was initiated, it was because of a joint agreement between Canada and Alberta that Trudeau and Lougheed toasted with champagne, expecting that it would be mutually beneficial. (I've seen the pictures, ha.) From what I remember from Just Watch Me, I also thought that some of the other Western premiers were in support of the NEP? No one actually expected the drop in oil prices in the early 80s, right? Plus, at that time, there was a serious recession in many countries.

I'll note that PET had actually reached out to the NDP and offered a full coalition in 1980 so the government would have more representation from the West.

I'm not sure what programmes in the Eastern provinces you're referring to in the rest of your post. I do think that e.g. Newfoundland has benefited a great deal from the Hibernia development project. Otherwise, I don't think anyone can seriously still claim that they're being screwed because of things like the Crow Rate or the St Lawrence Seaway.

You are correct. The NEP was negotiated and suported by the provincial government in Alberta.