Albertans Whine Again
Practically every time I turn on the radio I hear about how hard done by Albertans seem to think they are. This time it's a poll done by the CBC about what Albertans think. Apparently 60% of Albertans in this poll think that we don't get the respect we deserve. One person is quoted as saying that we're “no longer the little brother of Confederation”. More like the spoiled rich kid. The problem is that Albertans have whined and complained for years over perceived slights against them and things that happened decades ago. For example, was it the National Energy Program that destroyed the Alberta economy in the early 1980's or was it the massive global recession that hit at the same time? The NEP probably didn't help, but it wasn't the cause. Albertans though, like to think of it as the federal government's fault, because after all, it wasn't a Tory government that did the NEP so it must be Ottawa's fault. The fact of the matter is that forces beyond any government's control caused the collapse of oil prices and the end of the boom of the 1970's.
Fast forward to today. Now with another boom, the spoiled kid that is Alberta is whining “I'm rich, you have to pay attention to me and do what I say”. This doesn't play well in the rest of the county. What a lot of these Albertans forget is that for all our wealth, we're only 10% of the population of the country and our influence is actually greater than that. For a group of people who are always supporting “majority rule” when it suits them, the hypocrisy of these same people when majority rule turns on them is incredible. Albertans have to realize that they are a part of a larger country all the time, not just when it's convenient politically or personally.
In reality all this whining will do the opposite of what Albertans want. It will reduce the respect people have for our province. After all, who respects a whiner.