This page, as regular readers are aware, grew up in the province of Alberta, the land where progressive change goes to die. Having been removed for almost a decade now, I don't give much thought to Albertans' sense of selfish exceptionalism, which rivals only their Red State American cousins from which they take one too many cues. Why can there be no sales taxes, unions, same-sex marriage, affordable housing, rats, cops wearing turbans, changes of government, an end to health care premiums, or sharing resource wealth with the rest of the country? The non-answer to these and other questions, which has mollified two generations of Albertans under the 'Progressive' Conservative dynasty is this: It's because we're Albertans, and this is Alberta. End of discussion.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach is using this rationale, complete with the usual fear-mongering about carbon taxes and a second National Energy Program, to end any effective discussion on Climate Change among Canada's premiers here in Vancouver today. As much of this page dislikes Gordon Campbell and considers the B.C. government's plan to substantially expand public transit and build the Gateway Project disturbingly counterintuitive, the B.C. Premier does deserve some credit for taking a modicum of leadership on reducing Greenhouse Gases.
Stelmach's walking away from these talks is nothing more than disgusting political posturing on the part of another Alberta Premier with his head so far up the oilpatch he can't see the forest for the trees which were shredded by the likes of Syncrude or Suncor. "Honest" Ed also faces a provincial election, and can't be seen imperiling the roll of good times brought on by oil priced at $100 a barrel. At one time, Alberta Premiers would at least make an attempt to hear their peers out, but Stelmach has opted to follow suit with a decade of Ralph Klein's demagoguery, and will take his toxic fossil-fuelled ball and go home. Shame.
Growing up in Alberta, this page heard repeatedly from friends, family, and co-workers about a far away province that was not happy to be part of this great nation, and how their leaders always felt the rest of the country threatened their people and their distinct way of life. As it turns out, that province, which from Vancouver is pretty far away, is in fact, Alberta.
2 comments:
If you hate Alberta so much, why don't you leave, you pot-smoking, faggot-loving, NDP/Liberal voting tree-hugging piece of shit!!!!!
If the PC's are gutlesss about anything, it's being too gutless to wipe your kind off our proud Alberta boots!!!!
I love Alberta. I love the flat expanses of plains, nestled up against the towering majesty of the mountain parks, I love the industriousness of the people (not just the oil barons, but small businesspeople, labour, the young, so many of whom, when they see something that needs to be done, don't search for someone to do it, but do it themselves), and the way individual need can engender collective response.
Unfortunately, the place is populated by far too many of your anonymous commenter, there. Oh, well - nothing's perfect.
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