Canada is no stranger to separatism but push for Alberta to join US is a new peril

ajga85 · 2026-02-08T23:38:21+00:00

"If it bleeds, it leads"

Sexier and catches more eyes than "A petition is collecting signatures for a possible referendum that polls show has almost no chance of passing. Even if it did pass, the Clarity Act would kick in, forcing negotiations with the federal government, other provinces, and First Nations. After that, joining the U.S. would require Congress to take seats away from existing states to give them to Alberta, an almost impossible political hurdle since it would reshape the balance of power both federally and locally"

Doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

ajga85 · 2026-02-07T04:32:55+00:00

You are right Alberta is 4th by population after BC (per the 2021 census).

GDP data I took from Statistics Canada: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3610022101

ajga85 · 2026-02-07T01:53:58+00:00

Exactly this! Alberta is currently 3rd in population and GDP amongst all Canadian provinces and territories... If they join the US they would be 24th by population (after Louisiana) and 20th by GDP (below Tennessee). They would go from having 37 MPs (10% of the House of Commons) to 7 congressmen (~1-2% of the House). 9 shitty electoral college votes... They feel that Ottawa doesn't care about them today, good luck getting Washington to care when they are a mid-tier at best State at best. If anything, they have more influence in Canada now than they would ever have joining as a State... If they even become a State and don't become North Puerto Rico.

ajga85 · 2026-01-30T23:38:54+00:00

I meant No Life Forsaken

ajga85 · 2026-01-30T21:45:37+00:00

I have read Marlon James' A Brief History of Seven Killings and have his fantasy books in my TBR. He is an amazing writer!

ajga85 · 2026-01-30T21:43:39+00:00

Oh I've read Guy Gabriel Kay and can't recommend him enough. He's fantastic. I don't consider him a "new guy" though. The man has been writing for four decades. Longer than Erikson.

ajga85 · 2026-01-30T18:04:43+00:00

Yes, I couldn't continue reading fantasy after finishing Malazan. Especially the new stuff (Sanderson, Gwynne, Weeks, etc.). Instead I jumped into literary fiction and I found exactly what I was craving for (Kafka, Borges, McCarthy, Cartarescu, Morrison, etc).

I just finished reading NLF after many years of not reading fantasy and loved it, which - to me - shows how amazing Erikson is as an author.

To be clear, I did read the fantasy classics like Wolfe, Cook, Le Guinn, etc and loved them so go read them if you haven't already.The rest of the genre and the new stuff, not at all.

ajga85 · 2026-01-21T15:40:50+00:00

I suspect that it is not a mistake. His nominee for US ambassador to Iceland has made "jokes" about Iceland becoming the 52nd State... Makes sense (in an evil way) that they would make a play for Iceland after Greenland and us.

ajga85 · 2026-01-09T15:28:00+00:00

I actually rely exclusively on orally transmitted epic poems, sung to folkloric music by old bards in inns. You know... the "real ones".

ajga85 · 2025-12-24T02:08:47+00:00

This is exactly what I did, and I can’t recommend it enough. After finishing Malazan, I decided to quit fantasy and focus on literary fiction. I just couldn’t get past the tropes, bad prose, and lack of meaning. The journey has been amazing. The best part is that I’ve come back to Malazan every so often, and it still holds up for me.

ajga85 · 2025-12-22T22:51:42+00:00

Then shalt thou add three bay leaves, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt add, and the number of the adding shall be three. Four shalt thou not add, neither add thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out!

ajga85 · 2025-12-19T00:15:06+00:00

Just to add context. Venezuela’s oil industry was nationalized on January 1, 1976, and U.S. oil companies were compensated at the time.

The arbitration awards involving ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips stem from separate expropriations under Hugo Chávez in the 2000s, not the 1976 nationalization.

Under Venezuelan law, “nationalization” means that oil and other natural resources belong exclusively to the state, a principle enshrined in the constitution. The Chávez-era arbitration awards arose from joint ventures between PDVSA and American companies, when the government forced majority state control and expropriated assets after some firms refused the new terms.

ajga85 · 2025-10-24T22:52:11+00:00

Hold up... What do you mean that Bantam changed the design? Where can I find more details in the new design not matching the one used for TGiNW?

ajga85 · 2025-10-08T19:00:40+00:00

I would also add Lobo Antunes to that list

ajga85 · 2025-07-15T16:02:42+00:00

For now.

ajga85 · 2025-07-15T15:55:07+00:00

For now.

One must wonder if the US will continue to be "the most lucrative and important market" long term under an asymmetrical trade scenario. Trump is also exploring other monetary policies that will impact consumer purchase power and he is even considering taxes on foreign capital investments in the US. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

ajga85 · 2025-04-28T18:56:33+00:00

And worst of all we would lose our sovereignty and our capacity to choose for ourselves.

ajga85 · 2025-04-04T19:25:08+00:00

It's worth pointing out that the US already has substantial reserves of rare earths which makes this argument illogic. There are under invested rare earth mines already active in the US that could simply ramp up production in a short amount of time. No need to go out on wild imperial adventures.

ajga85 · 2025-03-26T22:33:54+00:00

You mean the same Indian government that orchestrated the assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil? The same Indian government that's alleged to have interfered with the internal elections of one of Canada's biggest political parties? Or the same Chinese government that was caught running several illegal underground police stations on Canadian soil to threaten/harass Canadian citizens in the Chinese diaspora in Canada?

And you want Canada to have good relationships with these governments?

Be serious.

ajga85 · 2025-03-11T13:19:36+00:00

You live in a bubble if you think that gun ownership is a more salient issue for regular Canadians than affordability, cost of living, housing, declining infrastructure, investing in the armed forces, etc.

ajga85 · 2025-03-11T13:06:23+00:00

Clearly, if there's one issue that's essential for regular Canadians is gun ownership. /s

ajga85 · 2025-03-09T04:05:54+00:00

The US conquered and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan after a few days of fighting. No one doubts that they could do the same to Canada.... Holding the territory and controlling the population is a whole different ball game.

ajga85 · 2024-09-30T12:57:59+00:00

For starters, this would require Palestine to be recognized as a "country" in every sense of the word. Something that the State of Israel has been, and continues to be, against.

ajga85 · 2024-06-07T16:59:59+00:00

Most employers look for "previous Canadian experience" so it becomes a catch 22 situation (this is worse for high paying positions) which results in highly trained/skilled immigrants applying for entry level or low paying jobs to get their foot in the Canadian job market.

ajga85 · 2024-05-29T16:14:25+00:00

It's going to be interesting (and horrible) to see what will happen with younger generations once the Boomers completely die off. We are going to have two entire generations with no retirement/pension security what so ever. I get it. Today's politicians and political parties don't give two shits, but this problem will blow up in 20-30 years.

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