CanPol: Let's Get Ready to Ruuuumble!

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Asher
Alberta has seen a surge in population over the past few decades and still remains hugely conservative.

It was virtually monolithically conservative (small c please). It takes time for a trickle to make a dent in an ocean. Get used to the idea of an Alberta more tightly bound to the rest of Canada in outlook, because it's on its way. Also get used to the idea that Albertan separatism is dead before it even got moving.

Some people will retain their old political views, but slowly and surely most adopt the views of people here.

People are less tractable than you think. You can take the boy out of ____ but you'll never take the _____ out of the boy...

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Asher

You act like cutting lose from Canada will make it impossible to travel between the two "countries". I doubt that'd be the case.

Actually, I was talking about a sense of loyalty.

Believe it or not, most people have one.

[Asher]

As a random sidenote, at a party on Friday night I met 2 people who just moved to Calgary: one was a hairdresser from Sarnia, Ontario and the other was a Co-gen Operator from Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The girl from Sarnia drove out here 'cause her friend was moving here, so she came with nothing except some money in her pocket and a small suitcase. She found a job within 2 days of arriving here and now has a nice apartment and a circle of friends.

The guy is making a lot of money with ATCO, found his job within a week of moving here, and he doesn't even have to go to Fort McMurray.

Both of them also didn't care I was gay, and they both also expressed some conservative fiscal views...

[KrazyHorse]

Hell, talk to Flubber if you want an example...

[Asher]

He's been moving a bit right as I recall, he used to be this leftie from Newfoundland.

[KrazyHorse]

In 50 years half of Alberta is going to be Flubbers

Have fun.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


It was virtually monolithically conservative (small c please). It takes time for a trickle to make a dent in an ocean.

Is that why the CCF founding convention was in Calgary?

I'd say the conservatives have gained ground, not lost it.

[KrazyHorse]

The key is to hold off Alberta's conservatives while it's gaining representation but before the immigration has an impact on the solid blue of North Texas

Luckily Canadian conservatives are born losers

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by notyoueither


Is that why the CCF founding convention was in Calgary?

I'd say the conservatives have gained ground, not lost it.

You want to go back to the 30s?



Alberta at the time (still?) was full of political whack jobs.

Left-right thinking doesn't even come close to describing that mish-mash of muddled ideologies

[Asher]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
In 50 years half of Alberta is going to be Flubbers

Have fun.

My parents were both from Ontario and are now conservative (I don't know what they were before).

I think you underestimate how constant people's political opinions can stay. Most peoples' opinions change over time.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Asher


My parents were both from Ontario and are now conservative (I don't know what they were before).

Probably conservative, son. Did your dad move to get a job with an oil company? Doubly so then.

Ask them.

People change their minds, but it's a lot easier to move 3000 km than it is to switch your vote (if you cared in the first place)

The economic incentive is going to get difficult to ignore, but I think you'll find that ex-pats (using the term loosely here) are often the most passionate about their origins...

[techumseh]

Originally posted by notyoueither


Is that why the CCF founding convention was in Calgary?

I'd say the conservatives have gained ground, not lost it.

So what? That bears no reflection on the majority view at the time - or now.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


It was virtually monolithically conservative (small c please). It takes time for a trickle to make a dent in an ocean. Get used to the idea of an Alberta more tightly bound to the rest of Canada in outlook, because it's on its way. Also get used to the idea that Albertan separatism is dead before it even got moving.

Stereotypes are funny things.

My mother's parents raised 3 girls and 2 boys on a farm through depression era Alberta and through the war.

Oldest boy joined the Navy, of all things, and drove barges on DDay. Harry came back after the war but then finally settled in BC in the forestry industry. He was very strong on the union movement. 3 boys and a girl all settled in and are happy campers in BC.

Oldest girl brought home an RCMP officer. Favorite story is when Irene brought Herb home to meet the family. It was early summer. Someone came in and said 'Dad, there's a deer out behind the barn.' Grandpa picked up his rifle and went to go out the door. Grandma said 'Howard! What about Herb?' Grandpa said that Herb could come along if he wanted. They settled in in BC after several transfers. Had two girls. Ones a labour lawyer in Toronto.

Youngest girl was a lifelong federal government employee. She ended up supervising payroll for Western Canada. I doubt anyone ever said Mary was a red neck.

Youngest boy was the closest thing you could find to a real, live, Alberta red neck. Bill wanted to be a cowboy. Seriously. But then he got into the oil patch early and went from rough neck to tool push on the rigs. He was large, and gruff, and he knew everything that was right. He had three boys and two girls. I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I met Scott's so, Jim, at a family gathering and saw Bill chatting away with him.

I'm sorry to meander a bit. We buried Bill last week. He was the last of that generation. I just wanted to say something about him, his family, and all the other 'red necks' like him.

[notyoueither]

Yup. Too much beer.

[Voltaire]

It should come as no surprise that those who reside in Alberta and benefit from Alberta’s oil wealth also support policies that will kept that wealth in Alberta. No more then it should come as a surprise that those in Newfoundland support policies that will bring the wealth from Alberta to Newfoundland. It has nothing to do with “conservative” or “liberal” policies being better than the other (these considerations do not enter the equation when people make such decisions), but rather boils down to self-interest. As for Alberta being so well off, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Progressive Conservative government, and everything to do with the oil; an untrained monkey could run this province.