This recent post by an American who regularly worked in Canada caught my eye.
As a Canadian who has lived & worked in America for about a dozen years, I wanted to share some thoughts of my own. Before I say anything though, I need to state the obvious: If you’re a small “c” conservative, an SDA regular, etc., I am NOT talking about YOU!!! I’ve met several of you in person and you’re all outstanding people! Kate is one of the most amazing women I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet! OMG if all Canadian women were even 50% as based & pragmatic as her, our home & native land would be thriving and not a WEF / Laurentian Elite psychological lab experiment.
With that clearly stated, let me share some thoughts and you all can let me know if I’m completely wrong, exaggerating, or just maybe onto something . . .
I wish that more of my fellow Canadians would heed the advice of the gentleman who wrote that X post and gain a modicum of humility. There are three FACTS that most Canadians seem unable to psychologically accept:
- On the world stage, Canada & most Canadians are not that special; nor are the vast majority superior to anyone.
- 99.9999% of Americans wish Canadians no ill will. Actually, most Americans don’t think about Canadians very much, other than believing the marketing hype that “all Canadians are nice” and “your free healthcare is amazing”. Yes, those are repeated direct quotes!
- Canada and the majority of Canadians have deteriorated in the past 50 years, and especially since 2015 – economically, societally, and psychologically. Things are absolutely much worse now, but most cling onto these falsehoods: “Orange Man Bad” and “we’re better than Americans”.
Looking forward, I believe that a majority of Albertans will vote to separate from Canada. But the obstacles in front of them are enormous and possibly insurmountable. The federal government and other provinces will never negotiate in good faith or ever agree to let their major cash cow go; the free will of Albertans be damned in their minds.
So, with the bought-and-paid-for media broadcasting the “approved” narratives 24/7, increasingly oppressive laws clamping down on anyone who dares step out of line, and the delusional “elbows up” crowd ever more righteous with their views, how are things possibly going to improve in the once Great White North?
Related: Seems I’m not the only one who realizes that something has gone very wrong in Canada.
Let me point out the obvious
Like the old Soviet Union it collapsed when it ran out of creditors.
Canada will experience the same fate.
Our excessive pretentiousness will be our downfall.
That pretentiousness was the result of generations being brainwashed that any day now the American republic would fall into anarchy and they would be begging their betters to come back and save them..
The truth was that strip of land along the St Lawrence was always a welfare case that France didn’t want back after the Brit’s lost the American revolution.
You say: “the free will of Albertans be damned”
I say: “USMC”.
I win.
The Governor of California says “I’m like you” to a crowd of black people, and then boasts that he got 960 on his SAT and can’t read.
https://x.com/alx/status/2025756273048711638
Yep. Your friend knows America and Americans well. Although I am curious what he considers a ‘small c’ conservative? Is that what a ‘moderate’ Bush conservative is?
But Melanie in Saskatchewan… I feel so very sorry for her predicament. She almost made me weep reading her articulate, rational plea on her daughter’s behalf. My heart breaks for her and the prospects she is facing as Canada devolves into a parody of every policy implemented by your supermajority leftist government. And yes, I know something about supermajority leftist governance here in CA.
Melanie … my 41yo daughter had to flee this State with my two young grandsons. Her Canadian husband determined he could never provide what he wants for his family here in CA. Home ownership is out of reach even with their disciplined savings and good professional jobs. Crime is a concern. Schools are sketchy … even in (small-c conservative?) Orange Co. … infrastructure is deteriorating … and taxes, fees, insurance, and utility costs have spiraled out of control. So they’ve fled to a RED State where they’ve already bought their first home in an excellent neighborhood. Yes … nearly a $1M home in a RED State … but they couldn’t buy anything in that price range in SoCAL that wasn’t a sketchy gang bang neighborhood … and her kids would be full grown by the time they could afford anything decent.
So Melanie … perhaps it’s time to move. Apply for citizenship and move your family to a US RED State?
A small “c” conservative is a Democrat voter who slightly right leaning. Not enough to vote that way, but will, carefully, espouse a few slightly right of center opinions.
*sigh* … that’s what I thought. And/or the old … “I’m a fiscal conservative, but social liberal”. That covers a multitude of sins … lest anyone believe you’re an ewwwww … Christian conservative. Right?
C-hristian … with a big C
“1. On the world stage, Canada & most Canadians are not that special; nor are the vast majority superior to anyone.”
I suppose that as a member of the commonwealth, and a direct extension of the UK, Canada was perceived as ‘punching above their weight’ for quite some time. It seems only natural that this would become ingrained within the nation’s psyche.
“2. 99.9999% of Americans wish Canadians no ill will. Actually, most Americans don’t think about Canadians very much, other than believing the marketing hype that “all Canadians are nice” and “your free healthcare is amazing”. Yes, those are repeated direct quotes!”
I suppose this is also true. I have lived and worked among Canadians for close to 4 decades, and never really had a problem with them.. The marketing hype is a wall of bullshit I saw right through. First off, Canadians I’ve met enjoy many of the same things Americans do when stateside, they intermingle well, and are vitally indistinguishable from Americans in almost every detail.. until they start talking. They are every bit as brash and opinionated as their American counterparts, save for their inability to correctly enunciate their vowels. Speaking with them for ~5 minutes or more, and they will most definitely set you straight on the efficacy of Canada’s beloved ‘national healthcare’. The conversations I’ve had were about the state of Canadian healthcare were brutally candid, and dire warnings.
“Canada and the majority of Canadians have deteriorated in the past 50 years, and especially since 2015 – economically, societally, and psychologically. Things are absolutely much worse now, but most cling onto these falsehoods: “Orange Man Bad” and “we’re better than Americans”.”
It makes me a little sad, tbqh, but as a nation only recently independent (in national time frames), they are going to have to see for themselves where this road takes them, and draw their own conclusion that ‘you can’t get there from here’. Hopefully they make peace with that sooner than later.
I don’t believe most independence-minded Albertans (or other western Canadians) want to join the U.S. … for one thing, the U.S. is run by Democrats more often than not, they are no better than Ottawa Liberals and even less responsive. So while it might be a nice fantasy to become a red state and enjoy the bliss of perpetual free enterprise friendly governments in Washington, that probably won’t happen. And eventually despite what Trump is trying to accomplish, the U.S. could face severe existential challenges. So you’d be booking a cruise on the Titanic to seek statehood in America.
There probably won’t be a referendum win anyway, so all of this talk is academic. But if there is a win, Albertans would be wise to keep control of their resources, that’s the whole point of sovereignty. I would not advise trading in Ottawa for Washington DC. On the whole that’s not a winning proposition. Friendly ideologues might welcome Alberta, but what is that going to mean after friendly ideologues lose power? Not much and the Democrats will treat Alberta the way they treat other red states.
“… So you’d be booking a cruise on the Titanic to seek statehood in America. ..”
I can appreciate that spirit of independence, but it is just not practical when talking about a one trick pony province, with a sparsely located population (5-6ish million?) about the size on a medium American city. Oil is important, but will only get them so far.. especially if they have no diplomatic means of shipping it to global markets. You think the ol’ Carneyval barker would finally acquiesce to that pipeline after such a nasty divorce? Yeah.. me neither.. so the U.S. would be the only viable game in town for them.. again.. Speaking of ‘diplomatic’, national and global representation doesn’t materialize out of thin air, nor does a national military.. business interests and trade treaties from a landlocked nation-state could prove.. complicated.. as well. Say what you will, but red states still fare better under blue regimes in the US than the western provinces do under any regime in Ottawa, with much stronger 10th amendment rights and legal redress. An oil and Ag/cattle producing powerhouse like the state of AB (or better yet, Saskaberta) would get away with murder under any U.S. administration..
There are about 100 countries smaller than Alberta.
And a lot of them are land-locked and don’t have much in the way of natural resources but still manage to do quite well.
“There are about 100 countries smaller than Alberta.
Alright, so..
How many of them have become newly independent countries in the last 30 years? How do they compare, standard of living-wise, to the U.S. and Canada? Who funded their incorporation? How do they pay for their border security?.. military? What kind of diplomatic presence do they maintain on the world stage? Do they maintain embassies? What sort of regimes do they run? What’s their currency worth? Is it recognized internationally was worth the paper its printed on? How do they ‘pay the bills? Are they UN ‘hand-out’ basket cases? or do they pull their own weight? What kind of GDP are we talking? How do they maintain their budgets and national debts? Are they Tourism hubs? Chinese belt & road clients? Banana republics?
I’m not shitting on Alberta, I truly wish them the best of luck and good fortune, but I would rather they be clear-eyed and pragmatic about what ‘independence’ means, and what it will cost them to achieve it if/when they take the plunge. People remember what they ‘had’.. how life was ‘before’.. and they can quickly become bitter if they lose it.. There are levels of survival and comfort that people in 1st world western nations will accept, and a thousand levels they won’t. I personally would love to see Carney choke on his bile when announcing the breakaway of AB, and maybe even SK, MB.. all on his watch.. oh, and most definitely QC after the danegeld stops flowing.. loooool.. but not at the cost of AB losing everything they have to achieve it.
Then again, at the end of the day.. it’s not up to me, so.. good luck, and Godspeed..
Other than the “in the last 30 years” malarkey the best fits in terms of average education and culture are the Nordic nations. By most metrics the happiest (and close to the richest) on earth.
I don’t recall specifically when I started following Melanie in Saskatchewan’s posts on X but I do agree with 99% of what she’s said.
I’m a dual, but have lived most of my life in Canada, and so am assumed to be Canadian by my fellow travelers. Anti American bigotry, and smug self satisfaction are what I’ll call “Canadian Values” and the only ones I can seem to locate. Judeo Christian roots have been abandoned, work ethic is sketchy at best, maturity level about 16, entitlement off the charts, and at their core, coward sheep, who excuse cowardice with tolerance. When you will stand for nothing, you will tolerate anything, because you don’t have the balls to do anything about it, no matter how egregious.
I have an aunt, retired civil servant and prototypical Canadian boomer who told me that women wearing hijabs, burkas etc. was their choice, and as Canadians we are tolerant of such things. My daughter’s friend Neera told her it was a choice, wear it or be put on a plane with a male relative, flown home and killed by her family in …..insert shithole here. My aunt looked at her in her hijab and told her “no, that’s not right”. How do you reason with that?
The threat of Alberta leaving might level out the playing field with the GoC when it comes to their paying Quebec to stay. Maybe yes, maybe no.
Perhaps if you (in general, not specific) showed as much fire over the gradual loss of your rights, the destruction of your economy, worsening of your quality of life, and the state sanctioned murder of your own people through MAID as you have over some hockey games, you’d be in a better place.
Something to consider.
You (specifically) target people at SDA with your comments as if they (we) are responsible while pretending otherwise.
Reminder: your first call to prayer tomorrow is in less 6 hours.
What part of “in general, not specific” did you just refuse to read?
And your response with that little quip taken from your comments from earlier today make my point — you’re more butthurt over a game (by the way, the only reason I commented on that was due to your acting like an ass and making excuses for why you lost and how you’re still the best…which proves a lot of the condemnation about Canadians being smug and superior towards Americans) and getting some shit talk (which you clearly couldn’t handle) about a game than you are the things I just mentioned, which really should concern you.
But thanks for proving me correct.
Yours in faith,
burqa jane (and yes, that’s the correct spelling, not what you put)
So true unknown jane, the only thing we riot over is hockey…
Yeah, it’s funny that certain fans riot when their team wins the Stanley Cup (Montreal several times) and when their team loses (Vancouver twice).
OMG I went OUT OF MY WAY to add that disclaimer at the beginning. If THAT was not enouch to precisely tell you WHO I was talking about then you are completely lost.
“…showed as much fire over the gradual loss of your rights, the destruction of your economy, worsening of your quality of life, and the state sanctioned murder of your own people…”
If you mention any of those four things to most Canadians living in urban areas, they will look at you like you’re insane.
Fire? They don’t even NOTICE. They’ve never f-ing noticed, and I’ve been seeing this sh1t since I was maybe 25? 26? And everybody denies it all day long, every f-ing day.
You can’t get ahead in Canada. Not since 1979. I got ahead by moving to AMERICA, making a bunch of money, and then moving back -with money- to get me far enough up the ladder they couldn’t knock me off again.
Now of course not only you can’t get ahead, you can’t stay level. Slipping back, one handhold at a time. But they’re still denying it, every day. Elbows up, you know.
That’s why a hockey game matters to them but MAiD doesn’t make it to their radar. Or Covid, or payijng >50% taxes, or guys getting fined $750K for mentioning that there’s only XX and XY. Keeping up appearances, not stepping out of line, gotta fit in you know.
That’s why I live in the sticks and don’t talk to anybody. It’s better this way, my liver isn’t being destroyed one cell at a time by trying to fit in with idiots.
More power to you living in the sticks, but even that may not save you if your government decides to go full authoritarian, which it appears to want to do.
Hope you have a bug out plan — that doesn’t involve Mexico — should things go really tits up, which it also appears to be very close to doing in the not so distant future.
I honestly thought that you (general, not specific!) stood a bit of a chance when the trucker’s convoy happened (not the convoy itself, that was a wash, the attitudes of the people), but I’ve since been disabused of that notion. I was far too optimistic. I also realize that certain elements within my own government looked at that as a blueprint.
Small c conservative, the description, refers to people who are socially and politically conservative. The small c eschews the binds of party or any fixed ideological group title (a proper noun) requiring capitalization.
Conservatism, should be recognized as a reference to the politics of Benjamin Disraeli, rumored to have coined the term. It is an improper conjugation of a Latin (not Greek) base which requires the full adjective form before the noun suffix is added.
A small “c” conservative, therefore, practices conservativism. Exhibiting this is a good principaled first step defining the diciplined approach of conservative thinking.
A gentle reminder that Alberta is not Texas. In Texas the oil & gas rights are privately owned. In Alberta these rights are owned by the Provincial Crown. The mindset this simple fact creates is important. In Texas people look to themselves to solve problems while Albertans look to their government. This is why Edmonton and Calgary routinely vote NDP and why the mayors of these towns look rather Mamdani-like. And these are the same people who you want to rally to vote independence. Good luck with that. Yes, there are a few hundred real cowboys in Alberta. The rest, however, are all hat.
^^^THAT^^^ You said it better than I can. Canadians look to government to solve their problems, even though government has proven not up to the task time after time. Canadians see themselves as subjects, and they like it. Taking responsibility for your own life takes courage, and that is so lacking in this country. No finer example than healthcare. No one can credibly claim that it is anything but abysmal and third worldish any longer, that level of willful blindness is not possible, even for Canadians, whose national bird should be the ostrich. Still Canadians resist any changes, because that might require responsibility, and Canadians would rather die on a waitlist than take that.
“whose national bird should be the ostrich”.
lol, very clever. And true.
Steve for ur info:
In Alberta, mineral rights are divided into two main categories: surface rights and mineral rights. Surface rights pertain to the ownership of the land’s surface, while mineral rights refer to the ownership of the minerals found beneath the surface. The majority of mineral rights (approximately 81%) are owned by the Crown (government), with the remaining 19% classified as freehold mineral rights, which are privately owned by individuals and companies.
In Saskatchewan, approximately 24 percent of the area surveyed is under freehold mineral ownership, which is held by individuals, companies, and corporations. This means that the remaining 76 percent of mineral rights are held by the provincial government, which has been responsible for these rights since 1930.
As a generalization Crown increases east to west & south to north, so for example I believe the oil sands leases are all 100% Crown leases.
Much of that “freehold mineral rights” refers to parks and reserves. Regardless, I can’t see people who voted for Nenshi, voting for independence.
Holidaying here in Albufeira, Portugal it is remarkable how many retired age Canadian couples there are. (No Americans at all that I’ve noticed.) Engage any in conversation and it doesn’t take 5 minutes before they voluntarily note as a point of pride that they will not go to the USA as long as Trump is in power. It might be that this is just the self-selected sample of TDS folk, whereas those who are indifferent or pro-Trump just go to Florida as usual. But it sure is disquieting when the TDS reinforces what I experience from older Canadian family and friends. Trying to divert the conversation to the fact that Canada’s big problems are long-standing, self-inflicted and getting worse (climate policies, energy, health care, immigration, freedom of speech, military, bureaucracy, wokeism) with little or nothing to do with Trump, merely brings deaf ears and silence.
Contrast that with Scottish friends who criticise Trump, especially his brash egotistical personality, but don’t go to the point of deliberately not visiting the USA. Some are even quite happy to join me in playing at the fantastic Trump Turnberry golf resort. Canada is slowly becoming no longer my country despite being born and raised there with ancestors going back 360 years. And I don’t see that trend changing soon. Where to go and do I leave friends and family behind, those are the questions.
Unfortunately, I think Canada may become the next Argentina. Long term stagnation that is not reversed for decades.
It seems the main reason a decline takes a long time to reverse is that people refuse to admit it is happening. Argentina did not change direction until it was a crisis. And even then Milei faced heavy opposition.
When Canadian median incomes become 50% the USA median income, probably in about 15 to 20 years, Canadians will continue to claim they are superior because of their universal health care (much like Cubans did), even when their hospitals are crumbling and their wait times are skyrocketing. In the meantime, Canadians will continue with high taxes and high regulation and spend money on expanding welfare programs. Canada will probably have a national bicycle program and a national hair cut program by then, as government expands further into every-day life. Many of Canada’s best will go south, as they do today. The people that do well in Canada will be those with special government ties, the way it works today, in which the money flows to people with connections, not those with talent. Canada’s biggest companies will remain the same big banks and legacy companies.
I had to think about this one after reading it early this morning.
Like you Robert, I spent the last half of my professional life both in Canada and USA, as well as working closely with many different public safety locations throughout the USA and Canada. Only 3 States I have not been in and the Territories in Canada. More than a decade off and on in Sports Television, including 2 years full time on a NASCAR gig. Followed by a decade in public safety communications support. Worked with thousands of people on the many projects. Also had assignments and travel in other international locations.
Most Americans knew very little about (aboot) Canada and most of them just don’t care unless something intersects them personally. We’re the frozen north if they think of us at all. Many of the the northern States have a better knowledge, but still limited.
The vast majority were really good people: polite, well mannered, happy and helpful. Cared about the people around them, looked out for their families and team. This is on both sides of the border.
Met a few “ugly” Americans, but less than number of “asshole” Canadians in my travels. What seemed to be similar between these two groups was the majority of both came from Urban centers, medium to major cities. There were a few rednecks as well (c’mon NASCAR?) but the majority urban.
While the USA is in the middle of a Conservative revival, Canada is sliding quickly into anti-progressive socialism. Since Trudeau I, and more drastically Trudeau II, Canada has been thumping a hollow chest about our great nation on the world stage. Politicians, NGO’s and favoured Industries have gone for the glory at world events and never looked back at Canada or Canadians (unless looking for more money). The world is a stage for these actors.
The stage is rotting out beneath them, but they are blind to the creaking and cracked boards with the substructure held togeather with duct tape and rusted nails.
Old Mother Hubbard had it easy, only the cupboard was bare. Most young Canadians can’t even get a cupboard of their own. Job data is dismal, future investment is a cocaine pipe dream of our leaders on all levels.
Too many Canadians are blind, or willfully self deluding.
All I can do is prepare for my grandson to have some kind of future, majority investments are not in Canada.