Quote:
Originally posted by FlamesAddiction+May 1 2005, 02:12 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (FlamesAddiction @ May 1 2005, 02:12 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Thunderball@May 1 2005, 07:21 PM
I also find it very disheartening that everyone assumes that Alberta is simply gonna fall into oblivion when oil "runs out". Nova Scotia never had the investments, diversifications and rainy day funds that modern Alberta has. Unbridled by the Feds, Alberta should be a very diversified economy by the time Oil is reduced to an industrial ingredient, rather than the lifeblood of society.
|
Like the guy from the Maritimes said, Nova Scotia would have considered itself to be extremely diversified back in the day.
The problem is that things change and without a huge bread basket like oil, would Alberta be able to afford the luxury of continually diversifying and adapting? Seems like it would be a massive task for a small, landlocked, water deprived country. [/b][/quote]
Thats a very good point. Of course, Nova Scotia didn't have, umm, Nova Scotia to learn from. To be fair, it can also be argued that the Federal Government greatly contributed to the downfall of Atlantic Canada. Of course, it should be stated that just because Oil will become less prevalent in the future doesn't mean that:
A. it won't still be immensely important as an industrial tool (petrochemicals=plastics),
B. massive pipeline construction won't be needed in the future for things like water,
C. Nothing will fill the gap,
D. The Oil Companies themselves won't diversify into alternate energy sources, or E. The Province will have spent away every cent of royalties.
In order for Alberta to hit the tailspin many predict, fear or hope... all 5 of those things would have to happen. As it stands, its safe to say that multi-billion corporations don't just shrivel up and die as a group, water pipelines will be needed, diversification is in fact happening, and the province is saving and investing massive amounts of money.
It should be stated that there is a large amount of freshwater in Northern Alberta, and that would fuel the future... as it would if Alberta was still part of Canada.
I personally feel that Alberta should join up with BC, NWT, Yukon and Sask and become one country, or at VERY minimum, take NWT as a cold water harbor. I also feel that Alberta could survive on its own, albeit with some initial diffculty. It should be noted that the rail is something Canada could ill-afford to screw Alberta with... cause either BC gets cut off from Canada, or everywhere but BC gets cut off from the Pacific Rim. So long as Alberta has rail connections, a port deal wouldn't be too difficult.