Canada makes it on US website

[geoffrey]

I wish people here would adopt a more Alberta like spirit, many of policies that your province follows are desperately needed here.

And Albertans need to learn how to party like they do in the East. I've never had such a good time as I had in Halifax.

[jbg]

While surfing different sites, I came across this one, www.guerrillanews.com There you will find a headline "The plan to disappear Canada" and its about the NAU and how the Canadian and US governments have been doing this for years and the take over to the US. I urge all who care about Canada to go there and read the whole article.

Sounds like a "tinfoil hat" site to me. I've certainly never heard of the slightest interest in taking over Canada. And if more Americans knew about NL, the Territories

aww, whats wrong them NL and the territories.

They're beautiful places. But there are major fiscal and social drawbacks to taking on areas that are deeply impoverished, and linguistically incompatible.

[normanchateau]

Your just over the mountains, you must have visited here. Do you really find Alberta a huge cultural shift from BC or the rest of Canada (outside of Vancouver, of course... Vancouver is a culturally distinct place from anywhere in Canada)?

I visit frequently as I have relatives in Edmonton. Rural BC and rural Alberta seem not that different to me.

Vancouver, as you correctly point out, is different than Edmonton or Calgary, at least politically. We did not elect any Conservative MPs...only Liberal and NDP MPs in the last election. You elected only conservative MPs.

This may surprise you but I find many people in Edmonton to be surprisingly liberal so I'm surprised Edmonton did not elect a single Liberal or NDP MP.

[Fortunata]

Alberta invests more dollars per capita in genuine social investment than any other province. That we spend more per capita on education and health care.

And yet the richest province in Canada still charges for health care coverage.

Do you really find Alberta a huge cultural shift from BC or the rest of Canada

There's cultural differences between regions in Alberta (my home community vs. Peace River for example) as much as between Alberta and say interior BC.

[geoffrey]

Vancouver, as you correctly point out, is different than Edmonton or Calgary, at least politically. We did not elect any Conservative MPs...only Liberal and NDP MPs in the last election. You elected only conservative MPs.

Vancouver is completely different from everywhere in Canada... I've travelled everywhere extensively here too, lived in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec (briefly) and Alberta.

Vancouver is by far my favourite city culturally. The nightlife is fantastic, the selection of world class music, clubs and bars is first rate. Food is off the charts amazing (Montreal gives this a run though). The people in Vancouver are so overwelmingly accomodating and friendly. Not to mention is it clearly, without a doubt, the most beautiful city in Canada. The sea wall, Stanley Park, Granville. Wow.

Not any real snow!

If it wasn't so expensive and I had better job prospects there, I'd be there in a heartbeat. It's high on my list of places I would be ok with going to out of Calgary once I'm a little more established (nothing beats Calgary for opportunity).

This may surprise you but I find many people in Edmonton to be surprisingly liberal so I'm surprised Edmonton did not elect a single Liberal or NDP MP.

It's because the Liberals don't want us. I haven't seen any evidence that they do. I'm willing to vote for them if they give me something to vote for. I don't see that in Dion or any of their policies. What are they going to do for ME?

[geoffrey]

Do you really find Alberta a huge cultural shift from BC or the rest of Canada

There's cultural differences between regions in Alberta (my home community vs. Peace River for example) as much as between Alberta and say interior BC.

Fair. I wasn't really thinking that through. Calgary or Edmonton vs. Peace River or Tombstone... er... Fort McMurry is quite a difference.

[NovaScotian]

They're beautiful places. But there are major fiscal and social drawbacks to taking on areas that are deeply impoverished, and linguistically incompatible.

Lingustically, NFLD is..unique. But it hardly impoverished today. Its GDP per capita as of 2005 was 41,733(almost equal to Ontario), a far cry from $22,000 only 6 years earlier.

[BC_chick]

Do you really find Alberta a huge cultural shift from BC or the rest of Canada (outside of Vancouver, of course... Vancouver is a culturally distinct place from anywhere in Canada)?

I really hate to stereotype here, but all l I know is that every single cowboy hat I see in Vancouver ends up getting in a pickup truck with Alberta plates.

From my understanding this is an Albertan pride thing.

There's one gigantic cultural difference right there.

[geoffrey]

Lingustically, NFLD is..unique. But it hardly impoverished today. Its GDP per capita as of 2005 was 41,733(almost equal to Ontario), a far cry from $22,000 only 6 years earlier.

No doot aboot it.

Unfortunatley most of Newfoundland's wealth is government transfers. They have the lowest median income in Canada.

[NovaScotian]

Lingustically, NFLD is..unique. But it hardly impoverished today. Its GDP per capita as of 2005 was 41,733(almost equal to Ontario), a far cry from $22,000 only 6 years earlier.

No doot aboot it.

Unfortunatley most of Newfoundland's wealth is government transfers. They have the lowest median income in Canada.

True, and of course oil income goes to government coffers, not the average person. Unlike Alberta the banaza of offshore oil doesn't usually translate to onshore economic booms.

[geoffrey]

I really hate to stereotype here, but all l I know is that every single cowboy hat I see in Vancouver ends up getting in a pickup truck with Alberta plates.

From my understanding this is an Albertan pride thing.

There's one gigantic cultural difference right there.

Fashion being a big difference? Nahhh..

Ok... I'll admit. I wore a cowboy hat (albeit a stylish one) at a really trendy Vancouver club. I actually got quite a bit of attention from it... who was this crazy cowboy in Vancouver! A cowboy hat along with a designer shirt and jeans mind you, definitely not a Wranglers guy. But hey. Those Alberta hicks?

I suppose that's where Alberta and Albertans are. We are proud of some of our culture (ie the cowboy hat), but we easily reconcile that with modern realities.

A few Albertans wear a cowboy hat in their trucks and instantly we are all like that! Shame! Shame!

[normanchateau]

It's because the Liberals don't want us. I haven't seen any evidence that they do. I'm willing to vote for them if they give me something to vote for. I don't see that in Dion or any of their policies. What are they going to do for ME?

I could be wrong but I don't think everyone votes for a party based on what it's going to do for them. Some vote for what they think is best for Canada.

[geoffrey]

I could be wrong but I don't think everyone votes for a party based on what it's going to do for them. Some vote for what they think is best for Canada.

Nope, I think your right, and that's the problem.

They vote for what everyone else's issues are and the majority views and needs end up unfulfilled and unrepresented.

I vote for myself and I would hope everyone else would. That way, we get representation based on what everyone wants, not just what everyone wants for everyone else.

[normanchateau]

I vote for myself and I would hope everyone else would. That way, we get representation based on what everyone wants,

This assumes that how parties present themselves before an election accurate reflects how they'll govern. I don't think it does.

For example, I expect most people who voted Conservative anticipated that the Conservatives would be fiscally conservative by cutting personal income taxes and by cutting spending. But the Conservatives haven't done that and now I suspect their supporters are rationalizing this by telling themselves that they can't be fiscally conservative while they are a minority government. But the reality is that even if they won a majority, they'd have to keep spending in order to win another majority.

[geoffrey]

But the Conservatives haven't done that and now I suspect their supporters are rationalizing this by telling themselves that they can't be fiscally conservative while they are a minority government.

I decided not to rationalise it and I am no longer a member of the party and they cannot count on my vote.

But the reality is that even if they won a majority, they'd have to keep spending in order to win another majority.

If that's the reality of Canada, that it's an endless pit of social spending, then I think I'm probably more suited politically to live elsewhere. Or to encourage my home province to depart this arrangement.

[normanchateau]

But the reality is that even if they won a majority, they'd have to keep spending in order to win another majority.

If that's the reality of Canada, that it's an endless pit of social spending, then I think I'm probably more suited politically to live elsewhere. Or to encourage my home province to depart this arrangement.

But that reality could change if the Conservatives (or Liberals) had a strong and determined leader who not only said he (or she) was a fiscal conservative but actually practiced what he preached. It has happened in other countries.

[Remiel]

Sounds like what you are saying is that we need is a minority NDP government that has to be fiscally responsible in order to have a snowballs chance in Hell of being re-elected... Hmmm... That would be ironic, wouldn't it?