Platt provides an excellent, if crude, example of the organic culture that has developed in Alberta. Thousands of Albertan families, including my own, share in the folklore of the National Energy Program, which informs the thoughts and behaviors of Albertans to this day:

Beer brouhaha

“The mid-’80s were grim in this province, with crashing oil prices combining with fallout from the notorious National Energy Program to steal jobs, homes and businesses…

So here we are, nearly 20 years later, and Alberta is the envy of Canada, with plenty of good jobs, and workers who can afford any beer they want — beer that tastes even better with the spectre of layoffs gone.

Big Rock, the company that took a chance when most wouldn’t, offering jobs when others were handing out pink slips, is thriving too.”