On Monday I got all dressed up like I actually had a job and headed off to do my radio interviews. The first one was with a political science professor who, in my opinion, typified whiny Albertans. He wants to separate because we aren't appreciated enough and "every once in a while I would like to get a Thank you card from the rest of Canada..." Jesus Christ. My tongue was practically bitten off by the time I left...I think I disagreed with pretty much everything he said. The bad part is that he's not really considered a nutjob in these parts...more of a vocal majority. I have a question for the rest of the province...
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT??
Alberta currently has a $7 billion + surplus and the lowest unemployment rate around. The countryside is beautiful and the businesses are innovative and booming. The housing market is good and people are flocking here from the rest of Canada to get jobs. We pay NO provincial sales tax and our premier regularly sends us GST rebates. So what is everyone so pissed off about? I've heard the same old answers to my question...
"We need to be treated as an equal."
Guess what, we're not equals. We have 3 million people in this province...not even close to what Ontario and Quebec deal with.
"We're ignored by the rest of Canada."
Boo mother f'n hoo. Alberta ignores the rest of Canada too.
"Ottawa is full of suits who don't know what they're doing...just look at the gun registry."
Okay, gun registry was dumb...in practice if not in principal. All the parties are made up of "suits" and what the hell does that mean anyway?
I always get the impression that there is nothing that Ottawa could do that would make Alberta stop whining. We are the spoiled rich kid in the parking lot and we need a good kick in the ass.
1 comment:
As someone who comes from a province that supplies Alberta with a not-insignificant amount of its workforce, I don't have much patience for seperatist whining from that end of the country. Go look at your surplus, the one that's bigger than the federal surplus, and cash your $400 cheques from Ralphie -- I bet that'll make you feel better.
That said, I don't have much patience for seperatist whining from any end of the country, including the middle (Quebec and the few nutjobs in Ontario) and my end (and how is Newfoundland supposed to be better off on its own, exactly?). Real seperation -- as in, not just calling it a new country while enjoying all the benefits of being in Canada -- would be a hardship for any province.
I am pretty sick of hearing Dalton McGuinty whine about Alberta's good fortune, though. It wasn't that long ago that Alberta was pretty hard done by, although it's easy to forget that now. While the province in undeniably in a good position now that it's debt-free, a drop in oil prices could cause some big changes there. That's been proven to be a volatile market. And there are some social problems that come along with the rapid growth and all that money. It's not all a good-news story.
McGuinty's whining about Ontario becoming a have-not province -- which is so ridiculous I can hardly believe he said it out loud -- will only serve to make people like Alberta better in comparison. He needs a good kick in the teeth.
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