Ontarians: Like Albertans Minus the Will to Live
December 15, 2005 · By Tom Cerber
David Warren is pessimistic about the Conservatives chances in this election. Being the great wordsmith he is, I couldn’t help but to chuckle at his characterization of rural Ontarians:
And yet a huge, still basically WASP, semi-rural Ontario continues to exist out there, and continues to share precisely the same ethos and outlook as Alberta — minus the will to live.
Ontarians: Like Albertans minus the red neck
Don’t forget, only a 30% of Canadians share a conservative, pro-US agenda. Who cares if 51% of Albertans feel this way, the rest of Canada is enlightened and want to live in caring society where Guns and the Almighty Buck aren’t the only things dictating the quality of life. Sorry guys, there is a difference between doing what is easy and what is right. It’s easy to care only about rich people and getting higher numbers in a bank account. But the right thing is to build a society that works. Otherwise pack up and move to the US - love it or leave it.
It’s also easy being a ward of the state.
And easy to blame “society” for all your faults.
I love it when people say that, “love it or leave it”. Leaving works for me . . . pretty difficult to pack up the land though, so maybe kicking Canada out is the better solution.
Cheers,
lance
Actually the simplest solution is to kick the red-neck conservatives out. I think we should have a “moving” holiday whereby everyone in Canada helps their un-informed conservative brethern and ‘assist’ them in leaving the country.
By ‘assist’, I mean grabbing them by the mullets and giving them a swift kick.
Thankfully only 30% of you are uninformed. I guess the 70% of us who are superior have some more work to do. Oh well, time to roll up the sleves and re-educate you.
Happy Holidays!
Jason C
Ah yes. “Re-education”. Worked for Mao — he only had to commit democide against 73 million of his countrymen. The rest eventually rolled over.
And if 51% (or even more) of Albertans “feel this way,” the easiest and least-costly solution is simply to let them leave. Taa-daa! You have the Canada you want, and the Albertans have the independent state they want. No “moving day” necessary.
Oh wait! — that’s not what you want, is it? You “superior” ones still want all that lovely oil, natural gas, and agricultural products.
Sorry. I suspect Albertans don’t wanna give ‘em up.
Garth: Too bad - What is part of Canada, stays in Canada - and that obviously includes Quebec. In case you never learned this in school, don’t forget that the oil will eventually dry up - it takes millions of years for oil to be ‘created’. As soon as it dries up, an ‘independant’ Alberta would be nothing more than a prarie Newfoundland. Alberta was a ‘have not’ province for most of its existence - only a surging global energy market and price turned things around for it. Eventually they will be a ‘have not’ province again - it’s simply a question of time.
So kick, scream, whine, redden your neck all you want - eventually the tax payers of Ontario and the rest of Canada will once again subsidize Alberta.
Garth, hopefully you’ll use your windfall bonus from Mr. Klein to cut your mullet off. Personally I will be donating mine to charity - that’s what liberals do.
Then the U.S. must be ever-so-more-liberal than you — because its residents contribute to charity in a far higher proportion than Canadians do!
Alberta has far more going for it than, say, Singapore, which, solely on the strength of its citizens’ willpower, has turned into an island city-state with an impressive economy, even though there’s virtually no natural resources.
I’ve never worn a mullet, thanks. And I’d be willing to bet that I have better “liberal” bona fides than you, as well as more University degrees.
As for “what is part of Canada, stays in Canada” you have a laughably short-term, provincial and “un-liberal” mindset. The United Nations believes in self-determination of peoples, and even the most optimistic of Canadians don’t believe Canada’s going to last for all eternity in anything like its present form. So all they and some Albertans disagree on is a matter of timing.
And the residents of the rest of Canada subsidizing Alberta? Didn’t ever happen in the past, and considering they’re into Alberta for a little over three-quarters of a trillion dollars (net), I have no doubt they won’t ever do so in the future. Which, by the by, is an excellent argument for Alberta *leaving* Confederation *before* the oil runs out, instead of waiting for Confederation to simply abandon the province *after* the oil runs out. After all, imagine how Alberta could diversify in the century or two before the conventional reserves choke off — and imagine how many of those opportunities for diversification have already been squandered by the ROC’s vampire-like siphoning of petroleum revenues away from Alberta.
“Guns and the Almighty Buck”. Funny, that sounds a lot like Toronto.
I’m with Garth, the sooner we can rid ourselves of these parasitic self-rightous wanna-be’s, the better.
Garth: Lay off the kool-aid… Stop prostituting yourself for the frasier-institute with all this mindless jabber that isn’t fact-based. I suggest picking up a book and informing yourself of the issues before simply coughing-up sheer nonesense. If you cannot partake in fact-based arguements such as the ones I have laid out for you - then no wonder you think the Conservativism is the pinnacle of all political philosophy. I mean, it seems to be working so well in the US (spying on their own citizens, unheard of deficet levels, illegal wars, labelling evolution as false, 1/3 of the country without healthcare, record levels of poverty) - yeah, the day we let the conservatives back in power will be the day we all give up on life. Like Albertans, but with a will to live. Alberta is only where it currently is today because of oil, so get off your high-horse. It’s not because of hard-work, or conservative government policies, or anything of that nature - it is simply because of it’s geographical context. Thankfully I’ll be voting for the first party to suggest a National Energy Program. If everyone in Ontario decides to do that as well - you’re in trouble mullet-boy.
C Foss: Suck it up fella. 70% of the population is simply better than you.
More than 70% of the population thought the world was flat, too.
I believe that Jason may be trying to educate the 30%, beginning by demonstrating how the “ad populum” logical fallacy is committed.
Garth: By the way, Equalization payments began in 1957.
“And the residents of the rest of Canada subsidizing Alberta? Didn’t ever happen in the past”
This is factually incorrect. Alberta did indeed benefit from this from 1957 to 1964. By 1964 all the Canadian taxpayer funds to assist with the development of the oil fields finally paid off. In essence, Alberta is a Canadian Confederation success story.
This is too funny. I simply must throw in my two cents, for whatever it’s worth.
It would be interesting to see what happens when Quebec leaves Canada. It could create quite a power surge and would cause a restructuring of the entire Canadian political system. Alberta and BC would be first in line too receive more power federally, which COULD satisfy the issue of Western alienation.
A sovereign Quebec would also remove one of the biggest have-not provinces, which suck most of the transfer payments out of Alberta currently. The senate would also need to be re-adjusted as well; don’t forget about altering the constitution and a brand new amendment formula. A Canada without Quebec would require many changes which could benefit Alberta.
One can also not forget the Paul Martin factor. He was born in Windsor but has lived in Montreal for most of his life. Martin would classify has a Quebecer in my books and thus would no longer be a Canadian citizen. Also good for the West!
If only we could vote for the Bloc outside of Quebec!
Toby: You can! It’s called voting Liberal. Considering the mess they’re making (actually calling this election a referendum on sovereignty in Quebec), that’s what it’s shaping up to be.
Jason Cee: Fact-based? Wow. You mean the endless string of ad hominem attacks you make on the Conservatives (and on people you deem to be conservative or Conservative, such as myself) constitute “fact-based” discourse?
Alberta is only where it is today because of oil? True, in the same sense that Ontario’s only where it is today because of the Auto Pact, nickel mines, uranium ore, etc. All geographic areas are where they are today at least in part because of their resources — the other part is because of what their populations did with their resources, and a further portion due to the political arrangements granting said areas any kind of comparative advantage. You don’t just stick a pipe in the ground and suck out refined sweet crude already magically transformed into gasoline, diesel, plastics and so forth. Nor do you transport it to those who want it by donkey cart.
Oh, and by the way, you *are* a troll. I can’t think of any other reason for you to be continuously trotting out your smug, self-righteous superiority complex (evidenced by identifying yourself as part of the 70% of the population taht’s better than C. Foss, ferinstance). It’s odious, it’s childish, and in your case, it’s obviously become utterly addictive.
Son, you’re drinking something a lot stronger than Kool-Aid. But hey, thanks for playing the game. We have some lovely parting gifts for you.
Enjoy your one-note irrelevancy, “Robert McLelland Jr.” With an attitude like yours, I’m not surprised I don’t really see you anywhere else in the blogosphere. I’ve stopped responding to him (as have legions of others) and I can’t really detect a reason to engage you any more. But like I said elsewhere, feel free to drop me an e-mail.
Garth - Once again you have made this personal. You don’t like the message so you attack the messanger. Like I said elsewhere, I’m not looking for a date, so I probably won’t be e-mailing you any time soon…And why should I relegate my political conversations and opinions to you only? Why do you feel you are that special?
Wow, it’s like talking to an ELIZA program. Never any originality — just reflection.
That’s IT! Jason Cee’s a bot! Well, it’s not that hard — a few hundred branching statements and some simple rules are all you need to produce this kind of endless sucking diatribe.
GARTH HAS FIGURED ME OUT! I AM A BOT!! THREE CHEERS FOR GARTH WOOD.
Acutally it’s more like three jeers… (hold the laughter).
While Garth may be attempting a form of censorship on me and my message by attacking me personally, I do welcome real criticism of what I have to say since, afterall, we still live in a free country the last time I checked. So you can stop accusing me of being a bot or working for CSIS. But as long as the message contains personal attacks (of which all of Garth’s have been from the get-go, I will reply in kind).
As well, a warning to all other “posters” on this site, Garth may attempt to have you e-mail him personally for some odd, sick, and rather disturbing reason. Then when you don’t e-mail him (for obvious reasons) he calls it a “lack of courage” as if he believes he runs the place and we owe him something. Sorry Garth, I will not give you my pic and do not want to see you on your video camera. I believe you’re looking for different kind of website…
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