The Alberta/Sask dichotomy is less than meets the eye. The boundary is somewhat artificial. Reasons for some Folks moving from much of Sask to Calgary aren't always that different from those movng from Vegreville or Milk river (in Alberta) to Calgary.
Saskatchewan doesn't have the big metropolitan center to attract young people. Calgary and Edmonton (like Vancouver, Toronto) have that modern critical mass to sustain their attraction to newcomers. Saskatchewan is like Newfoundland: it's losing the population game and that feeds on itself. As a strong environmentalist, I don't see this as a negative. Saskatchewan and Newfoundland have wonderful ecologies that have some of the pressure eased off. It would be a plus to have areas that are today ravaged by mono-grain culture return to natural grasslands.
Yes, there is also 'the attitude' to attract a certain type of people to Alberta. If a family back in Nova Scotia had five children...3 have left and those 3 are usually the educated, the go getters or even the black sheep with a lot of potential energy. Alberta is like a micro-model of Canada would have been 100 years ago...a society attracting self-reliant, pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstrap hard working individuals. most believing in themselves and their ability to make their own lives. Whiners aren't popular here other than targets for a quick kick in the ass.
Re Saskatchewan. Perhaps my recent trips there weren't representative. What stood out was the number of young natives. Most whites semed to be 40 plus in age and most people under 15 were natives....this was in Regina. The cultural mix of the province is quite interesting. There is also a low number of visible non-native minorites (also low in Alberta). Alberta has non-white immigration but it is dwarfed by white immigration from the rest of Canada. It seems that if I walk down a street in downtown Toronto or Vancouver, half the folks are non-white....in Regina half seemed native and, here in Calgary, 95% white. This will all add up to Canadian cities increasing their individual identities which is probably a positive.
Saskatchewan doesn't have the big metropolitan center to attract young people. Calgary and Edmonton (like Vancouver, Toronto) have that modern critical mass to sustain their attraction to newcomers. Saskatchewan is like Newfoundland: it's losing the population game and that feeds on itself. As a strong environmentalist, I don't see this as a negative. Saskatchewan and Newfoundland have wonderful ecologies that have some of the pressure eased off. It would be a plus to have areas that are today ravaged by mono-grain culture return to natural grasslands.
Yes, there is also 'the attitude' to attract a certain type of people to Alberta. If a family back in Nova Scotia had five children...3 have left and those 3 are usually the educated, the go getters or even the black sheep with a lot of potential energy. Alberta is like a micro-model of Canada would have been 100 years ago...a society attracting self-reliant, pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstrap hard working individuals. most believing in themselves and their ability to make their own lives. Whiners aren't popular here other than targets for a quick kick in the ass.
Re Saskatchewan. Perhaps my recent trips there weren't representative. What stood out was the number of young natives. Most whites semed to be 40 plus in age and most people under 15 were natives....this was in Regina. The cultural mix of the province is quite interesting. There is also a low number of visible non-native minorites (also low in Alberta). Alberta has non-white immigration but it is dwarfed by white immigration from the rest of Canada. It seems that if I walk down a street in downtown Toronto or Vancouver, half the folks are non-white....in Regina half seemed native and, here in Calgary, 95% white. This will all add up to Canadian cities increasing their individual identities which is probably a positive.
