[stokes]

No worries Andy, and you are right there will be legislation coming but I think it will be very gradual. All this nonsense about Kyoto and other BS environmental treaties tends to get people worked up. If things are done with reasponsibility and understanding there will be success......but who am I kidding, no one understands anything but there own importance.

[Bacardi4206]

So lemme get the basis of this entire conversation here, Albertans are whining that the government doesn't give them the fair share of money handouts that other provinces get despite the fact some provinces involved have had a history of getting none at all and that Alberta is essentially a province that doesn't require it being able to take care of itself.

Then there is some random whining about beef and the governments funding of some events in eastern Canada but neglecting western Canada. Hate to burst this Western vs Eastern Canada ego war but I thought this article was about Liberal policy vs Oilpatches or in general Liberal policy vs Canadian Economic Stability.

[Thanos]

No, we're complaining that the Canadian left-wing has no problem with taking the money Alberta provides for transfer payments but then simultaneously babbles about shutting down the Alberta oil economy that is directly responsible for generating this wealth in the first place. The BQ and NDP especially are notorious for this, endlessly demanding higher taxation for social and cultural programs whilst simultaneously ranting about anti-Alberta environmental concerns.

Canada's leftists, and the ROC in general, should just make up their damn minds already. You can have the programs that money from Alberta finances or you can eliminate the source of the money altogether. On this issue there is zero middle ground to be had.

[dino_bobba_renno]

Lemmy Lemmy:

stokes stokes:

In my view, if the Libs come down hard with an enviromental policy that throws thousands of Albertans out of work, forget about Quebec separatism, cause Alberta will leave and develop their own policies and keep their own money.

I am not advocationg for any such thing but it is a strong possibility. Forget culture or language which seems to be the case in Quebec, if Alberta were to leave it would be over money and whether a person could properly support their family. Which is a much stronger influence.

Alberta would never be allowed to leave. The closest you could manage would be a population mass exodus, but the oil would stay.

I didn't realize the Federal government had the last word on whether a province can stay or leave. I can’t wait until they break the news to the members of the Bloq and PQ. -j

Really it’s just a matter of time before the Federal government has to enact some sort of GHG regulation. The issue is just too large to ignore.

That being said, I don’t personally believe Albertans are wholly opposed to some sort of regulation. I think the bigger issue for Albertans is whether or not we will be given a seat at the table when negotiations are taking place and if our concerns about our economy will be taken into consideration and addressed when the policy is being formed.

Most of the discussions I hear aren’t about whether or not we need to take action on climate change, rather they’re about where the money which is generated by these policies will be spent. The one thing Albertans don’t want to see is a climate policy which put’s Albertans out of work by taxing or penalizing the oil and gas industry only to have the revenues generated through that policy being used to benefit other provinces.

When it comes both a National Energy Strategy and Green House Gas Emissions the Federal government and the ROC would be better served by sitting down and talking with our province and making efforts to address our concerns. Alberta has all ready expressed openness to both so long as we are treated as equal players in the creation of those policies and so long as they don't seriously impact our economy.

[stokes]

Well said Dino +1 for you

[Khar]

To be honest, as an Albertan, I've never gotten all worked up about where the money is going from Alberta, considering what we get back (not much, but we generally don't need much, as mentioned in other posts). As long as Alberta gets adequate representation, I would be perfectly fine with it. Personally, I would also prefer that other provinces also recognized the amount of dependence they have on Alberta as well. I worry more about Alberta being given the political equality it deserves then being given money that we don't need desperately. Perhaps it's because I simply don't care about the expo, or because I recognize that the government of Canada has to deal with a lot of people living outside of the West (where most people live) and should be expected to spend more money there as a result.

Bootlegga, the old PC party might have been turfed back in the early nineties, but it wasn't just because of Alberta -- they were turfed out everywhere. Indeed, that same year, our provincial government was a massive Progressive Conservative majority under Klein. We might not get much out of having the Conservatives in the government, but in the mind of many people, being left alone is better than having the government involved in our province in the way people historically consider the Liberals to have done so, or how they think the NDP and Green party would.

Also, I don't think it's the NEP which alone is concerning people (although I am sure this inflamed some people as Trudeau-esque) but the fact that once again, like in very recent history with Dion, the economic backbone of their province is being targetted without what people percieve as proper representation from Alberta. It's very hard for people not to notice the amount of criticism which Albertans get from the rest of Canada, and Alberta makes a great target for parties to go after to earn votes in other provinces. On the other hand, we do not see something similar coming out of the Conservatives. They may not actively provide us with a ton of money, but they are not actively taking it from us as much as the other parties would like (save for the odd incident like the bitumen situation). For the time being, that makes it enough for people to vote Conservative, and I don't blame them really.

That said, I would generally criticize some of the spending patterns of the conservatives, but then again, I don't think I can really expect much better from some of the other leaders in the areas which bug me most. After all, the Conservatives are not just Alberta and Saskatchewan alone, but also large portions of BC, Manitoba, Ontario, and even the odd ridings in the Maritimes and Quebec.

[Gunnair]

All you easterners, including you flatlanders east of the rockies, should just STF and hail BC as the next land of milk and honey... run from my island.

[ShepherdsDog]

You're just a foreign import to the Island,one of the Sons of Somerland/Summerled.

[Lemmy]

dino_bobba_renno dino_bobba_renno:

I didn't realize the Federal government had the last word on whether a province can stay or leave. I can’t wait until they break the news to the members of the Bloq and PQ.

South Carolina didn't realize that either way back when.