A loyal reader from Ottawa intrigued me with his comment about Alberta. What's it like there?
10 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Well, it's extremely conservative by Canadian standards.
The Conservative party has won every provincial election for the last 38 years.
The premier has threatened to invoke the notwithstanding clause (allowing a temporary override of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) if gay marriage makes it into federal law.
60% of Albertans (versus 20% of the rest of Canada) would have voted for Bush.
However, to be fair Alberta would be considered centrist in Bush's America.
It's all relative. Many left wing Americans are centrists in Canada. Canada's left wing would be considered the right wing in many European countries.
kindof a late response to this post but as an Albertan and a socialist leaning liberal I figured I should chime in... Alberta is a great province, people tend to be conservative except in the larger centres (Calgary, Edmonton, and even where I live Lethbridge) We have the lowest tax burden in the country with no sales tax, and the lowest income tax. We just had an election and it was one of the closest in recent memory with the Liberal party more then doubling there seats and the NDP doubling as well.
We have the reputation of being the Texas of Canada but this is slowely changing as our population diversives (Alberta has the highest rate of influx of people of all the provinces) Our stigma of being having an oil and ranch based economy is changing with a large number of technology companies moving and starting up in Calgary. And there are enough progressive people to elect some members to parliament for the liberal party.
Well, of course I'm exaggerating a little. And I can sympathize about being painted with the same brush. I mean, I'm originally from New Brunswick. If you think Albertans are stigmatized, then how do you think us poor "lazy, welfare bum" maritimers feel.
Still, it's easier to have low taxes when you're sitting on a gold mine (or in your case oil sands). It gave Alberta the boost it needed to allow it to diversify its economy and become the fastest growing province in the country. However, your neighbors in Regina and Saskatoon aren't doing nearly as well despite sharing similar values.
Thanks for the different perspective on Alberta. I'll even chime in in defense of Texas: there are progressive-minded people everywhere. The majority tends to speak for the whole. And things change, but images don't update.
I promise not to exclude Alberta in my Canadian travels. :)
The maritime provinces are the smallest in Canada. They have small economies, and the only large city is Halifax. People in other parts of Canada consider us moochers, since there's a lot of federal funding to compensate for the small tax base.
I hear you about the comments on Eastern Canada and we all have to remember that all generalizations are false (pun intended)... Good to hear u would travel here L-girl, but it is quite a ways from Toronto! Just wanted to make sure people didn't think we were a bunch of cowboys that spend too much time in the barn ;)
10 comments:
Well, it's extremely conservative by Canadian standards.
The Conservative party has won every provincial election for the last 38 years.
The premier has threatened to invoke the notwithstanding clause (allowing a temporary override of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) if gay marriage makes it into federal law.
60% of Albertans (versus 20% of the rest of Canada) would have voted for Bush.
However, to be fair Alberta would be considered centrist in Bush's America.
It's all relative. Many left wing Americans are centrists in Canada. Canada's left wing would be considered the right wing in many European countries.
It also has oil, cattle ranchers, and cowboy hats.
--Kyle
Thank you! That's an excellent description.
You're so right, many liberal Americans would be middle-of-the-road in Canada. I look forward to being less on the fringe for once in my life.
Believe it or not, I have to look at a map to see where Alberta is. My Canadian geography is not so good yet.
kindof a late response to this post but as an Albertan and a socialist leaning liberal I figured I should chime in... Alberta is a great province, people tend to be conservative except in the larger centres (Calgary, Edmonton, and even where I live Lethbridge) We have the lowest tax burden in the country with no sales tax, and the lowest income tax. We just had an election and it was one of the closest in recent memory with the Liberal party more then doubling there seats and the NDP doubling as well.
We have the reputation of being the Texas of Canada but this is slowely changing as our population diversives (Alberta has the highest rate of influx of people of all the provinces) Our stigma of being having an oil and ranch based economy is changing with a large number of technology companies moving and starting up in Calgary. And there are enough progressive people to elect some members to parliament for the liberal party.
Well, of course I'm exaggerating a little. And I can sympathize about being painted with the same brush. I mean, I'm originally from New Brunswick. If you think Albertans are stigmatized, then how do you think us poor "lazy, welfare bum" maritimers feel.
Still, it's easier to have low taxes when you're sitting on a gold mine (or in your case oil sands). It gave Alberta the boost it needed to allow it to diversify its economy and become the fastest growing province in the country. However, your neighbors in Regina and Saskatoon aren't doing nearly as well despite sharing similar values.
--Kyle
Thanks for the different perspective on Alberta. I'll even chime in in defense of Texas: there are progressive-minded people everywhere. The majority tends to speak for the whole. And things change, but images don't update.
I promise not to exclude Alberta in my Canadian travels. :)
Lazy welfare bums from New Brunswick?
The maritime provinces are the smallest in Canada. They have small economies, and the only large city is Halifax. People in other parts of Canada consider us moochers, since there's a lot of federal funding to compensate for the small tax base.
--Kyle
Kyle,
I hear you about the comments on Eastern Canada and we all have to remember that all generalizations are false (pun intended)... Good to hear u would travel here L-girl, but it is quite a ways from Toronto! Just wanted to make sure people didn't think we were a bunch of cowboys that spend too much time in the barn ;)
Peter
Travel is good. Travel to someplace far and different is better.
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