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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (2528)	4/23/2003 5:56:56 PM
From: SofaSpud	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 37216

My wife's 'yes' vote cancelled my 'no'. When I heard that, I asked her why she didn't tell me beforehand, so we could have saved the trip to the polling station <g>.

To: Stephen O who wrote (2528)	4/23/2003 6:19:37 PM
From: John Carragher	Respond to of 37216

Charlottetown... I remember my first visit back home.. My dad took me on the sleeper train from Boston to PEI. We changed trains in Moncton or St. John forget now... When we arrived in Charlottetown it was very late and we stayed at a local boarding house for the night... The next morning my cousin came in and picked us up in his pick up but first we visited this lady in another house... It was a speak easy... dad and his nephew had one or two high balls and we left for Bonshaw. I believe their was no liquer stores in the 50's and booze was allowed for purchase at a government store. Max was a case of beer and a quart of hard liguer a month per family.

To: Stephen O who wrote (2528)	4/24/2003 8:32:52 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 37216

A recipe for Western separation? Gordon Gibson National Post Thursday, April 24, 2003 ADVERTISEMENT VANCOUVER - Fully 71% of Westerners feel their interests are poorly represented in Ottawa, while less than one-third believe they will see federal political reform in their lifetime. So says a poll in yesterday's National Post. This sounds like a perfect recipe for separatism, n'est-ce pas? (as we say in the West). Well, maybe. If we were one political jurisdiction the odds would rise. If we had our own great leader on the topic, a René Lévesque with prairie hayseed in his hair and a downtown Vancouver latte in hand, the odds would go way up. But we aren't, and we don't. We have instead four provinces headed by men who have been very cautious in this area, looking more for federal money than local independence. Things might have been very different had Preston Manning 15 years ago eschewed his trademark motto, "The West wants in!" (to a piece of federal power) and instead trumpeted "The West wants out!" I think he could have taken this part of the world a considerable distance either way. He opted for "the West wants in," the centre said "no," and there was no "or else" for us to bring to the table. There are other barriers to a strong separatist movement, and I say that with a mixture of regret and realism -- for we would surely do better on our own. My province, British Columbia, is by far the most populous and the demographics are loaded against any independence referendum. Any referendum in British Columbia would have to face the fact that something like half of our voters are recent immigrants, with stronger loyalties to Canada than to the province. Some of them have come from Ontario where they are used to pretty much full ownership of both Ottawa and Queen's Park, so what's all this provincial fuss? The rest have come from abroad, and as such have come to Canada, not to British Columbia. These good people will not go against the central government, even with its generally despised leader. (Only 2.9% think Jean Chrétien best represents provincial interests, says the poll.) Saskatchewan and Manitoba face the dilemma that they need Canada economically. They are equalization receivers plus receivers of a ton of hidden agricultural aid. It is much harder to go to the ramparts when the dollars don't work for the kids at home. Of course, Saskatchewan and Manitoba would have an immense amount to gain as they would then be in a position to deal fairly with their very large aboriginal populations and reject the failed Ottawa policy, but that would take a huge leap not just of courage, but of imagination. Alberta is a bit different. It is the wealthiest province, by far. It could easily separate on its own. It has direct transportation links to its most important customer, the United States, and British Columbia under any circumstances would facilitate needed ocean links. What was left of Canada would continue to be happy to take as much as it could get of Alberta's oil and tourists. And Alberta has the intellectual horsepower. One of the characteristics of rich societies is that they can afford intellectuals. Alberta has the Canada West Foundation that produced this poll (and is a totally non-political entity), the Calgary office of the Fraser Institute, the very strong University of Calgary school of political science and the group that developed the "Alberta Firewall" concept. There are other such groups, and oilmen, gasmen, techies, farmers and ranchers who bankroll them. With the money and the brains, Alberta could secede if it gathered the will. That will has not yet been in evidence (though secessionist MLAs have been elected, betimes) and Premier Ralph Klein is very cautious about stoking this particular fire. What is much more likely to happen will begin to unfold at the Western Premiers' conference in Kelowna on June 8, and come to further fruition at the Annual Premiers' Conference (APC) in August. The whole backfield is in motion. Legacy Jean is as good as gone for any long-term issue. Paul Martin is the new central government player for these purposes, and he is far more popular in the West than the current PM. It is unlikely mighty Ontario will have its act together by the summer, an election looking -- well, inconvenient, right now -- but we have in Quebec's new Premier Jean Charest a man with a clear vision of Canada. Look for the Western Premiers, led by an Alberta galvanized by Kyoto, gun control and the wheat board, to react to this latest poll and to bring a Western vision of a new federation to the APC, where it will meet with a not-dissimilar proposal from Jean Charest. Look for Paul Martin, intelligent man that he is, to note a new reality and properly and graciously accommodate it. At least, that would be the good outcome. Another, slower but more radical outcome that redraws the map of Canada can also be dimly discerned in the pollster's crystal ball, if accommodation fails. Gordon Gibson is a Vancouver commentator. ggibson@bc-home.com © Copyright 2003 National Post