The West wants out

[Locutus]

via sda

The Toronto Star: Brilliant Insight or Idiotic Spin?


The Toronto Star has just published an editorial entitled The West wants out. They try to make the argument that most Westerners are adamantly against the energy policies of the federal Tories. If they're correct, then the Liberals and/or NDP will win an abundance of new seats in next year's election.


The question is: Is their analysis correct or absurdly off base?




Stephen Harper’s handling of B.C. mirrors the conditions that created the Reform movement two decades ago.

VICTORIA, B.C.—Earthquakes happen rarely in Canadian politics, but the fault lines are shifting again on the West Coast. As the next federal election draws closer, conditions below the surface should remind political observers of another seismic event a generation ago.

Back in the early 1990s, Stephen Harper and the insurgent Reform Party forced a tectonic shift, unleashing a powerful wave of western alienation that has realigned Canadian politics to this day. Their slogan was: “The West wants in.”

You could sum up the feeling in British Columbia lately as, “The West wants out.” Today you could get in your car in Kenora and drive clear across the Prairies to the coast without ever leaving a blue Conservative riding. But the road through the Rocky Mountains could become tricky indeed if Harper’s party doesn’t change course.

The central question for British Columbians, as it was for Albertans in the 1980s and ’90s, is this: who gets to decide what’s in our best interest — Ottawa or the people who live here?


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The West wants out | Toronto Star

 

[taxslave]

That would depend entirely on which group you are talking about. Those that are trying to improve the economy in BC or those that think we can survive on servicing rich retirees and a few tourists.

The extreme left does not represent the views of most Working people.

 

[WLDB]

The people in Ottawa are the people sent there by those out west. If they chose incorrectly, well thats the way it goes sometimes.

 

[darkbeaver]

The west can go f yuc k itself they,re a waste of fish . We,ve been carrying th west too long,

LET THE cHINESE EAT THEM.

 

[petros]

BC = Basket Case.

 

[captain morgan]

That would depend entirely on which group you are talking about. Those that are trying to improve the economy in BC or those that think we can survive on servicing rich retirees and a few tourists.

The extreme left does not represent the views of most Working people.

Things will be changing in BC in the next while. The hospitality sector can't keep carrying the province and when the prov gvt money runs out to support the various social services that the eco-lobbies depend upon to compensate their stormtroopers, the provincial gvt will relent

 

[mentalfloss]

Of course.

People are smart enough to know we need to transition to renewables.

 

[captain morgan]

Fantastic idea.

... Now, all you need to do is invent the technology and *presto* we can start the transition.

Say, while you're at it, can you get moving on putting a time machine together, I got a great idea that involves winning all the lotteries each week in Canada and the USA over a 20 year period

 

[petros]

Of course.

People are smart enough to know we need to transition to renewables.

Renewable indoor weed grows?

 

[taxslave]

Things will be changing in BC in the next while. The hospitality sector can't keep carrying the province and when the prov gvt money runs out to support the various social services that the eco-lobbies depend upon to compensate their stormtroopers, the provincial gvt will relent

Hospitality never did carry the province. It has always been a fale economy carried by taxpayers and the few remaining resourse jobs we have. That and the social programs needed to support minimum wage jobs is what has put BC so deap in debt.

 

[petros]

Hospitality never did carry the province. It has always been a fale economy carried by taxpayers and the few remaining resourse jobs we have. That and the social programs needed to support minimum wage jobs is what has put BC so deap in debt.

Tourism and weed.

becoming increasingly focused on small business and services, with the service sector providing almost four-fifths of our jobs

 

[Kreskin]

Why not just ship the oil through Prince William Sound?

 

[captain morgan]

The Feds tabled a proposal to develop a deep water port in Nunavut

 

[Zipperfish]

The Harper government's "National Energy Plan." ha ha ha. That has a ring to it. In BC, are economy is doing quite well, thank you very much. Particularly here in Vancouver.

 

[coldstream]

I no more patience for Western separatists than Quebec separatists. They're all @$$holes.

Quite frankly what Canada needs to re-institute is a system of regulation, royalties and nationalization of its carbon energy resources.. ensuring that the oil is processed in Canada generating Canadian jobs, and is done for to the benefit of the Canadian people as a whole.. rather than the profit of multinational oil companies. Essentially this a rational and co-ordinated National Energy Program, instead of the half baked program of the 1970s.

This would bring the resouce and primary processing into Canadian public ownership as most oil producing countries have already done.. along with the Oil pipeline infrastructure. More specific refining and retailing would remain in private hands. It will also mean taking domestic Canadian oil pricing off the international market scale.. and regulating it such as to promote effective energy application in industrial processes and overall economic growth.

If some Westerners want out.. well pick up your old 30/30 and take on the Princess Pats.. and press your case. We'll dump the remains in Oil Sands and put up a monument to you for enhancing the resource.

 

[DichotoMe]

I've been thinking for years that we should abolish the provinces once and for all. Just think of the tax waste you'll save. No more inter-provincial whining. No more ridiculous barriers for trade or employment. No more downloading of responsibilities. I do realize it is not without some drawbacks but this is just a pipe dream. We all need a dream right

 

[captain morgan]

Editorial: Canada’s two economies Statistics show where change is needed

In Canada’s economy there’s Alberta, and there’s everywhere else | Financial Post

 

[JLM]

Hospitality never did carry the province. It has always been a fale economy carried by taxpayers and the few remaining resourse jobs we have. That and the social programs needed to support minimum wage jobs is what has put BC so deap in debt.

Back in the day we had logging, mining, fishing, agriculture and manufacturing and then the tree huggers arrived! -


Port Alberni and Trail were a couple of the top payroll towns in the whole country and now they are basically ghost town status. Gold River and Tahsis to a lesser degree.

 

[Zipperfish]

Back in the day we had logging, mining, fishing, agriculture and manufacturing and then the tree huggers arrived! -


Port Alberni and Trail were a couple of the top payroll towns in the whole country and now they are basically ghost town status. Gold River and Tahsis to a lesser degree.

Tree huggers didn't have much to do with the collpase oif the local pulp industry, I'm afraid. And US housing prices and teh softwood lumber dispute wiht teh US had a lot of impact too..