[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Anyway, I'll give you a different point of view. Like Devil's Advocate pointed out, the #1 export of the Atlantic Provinces is educated young people. I'm one of them. I received my K-12 education in Saint John and then my university degree at Mount Allison. I moved from New Brunswick to Alberta as soon as I graduated.

So over the years that I was schooled in the Maritimes, part of my education would have been subsidized by the taxpayers of Alberta and Ontario. And you people have the nerve to cry foul about that. Frankly, Alberta got a BARGAIN. For a small fraction of the cost of educating a native-born Albertan, this province got a fully-educated taxpayer and contributer to the local economy. Meanwhile, the taxpayers of New Brunswick, who financed the vast majority of my education, saw another young person leave for greener pastures and got nothing in return. There are tens of thousands of former-Maritimers now living in Alberta with the same story.

I guess nobody ever stops to think about what a fantastic return-on-investment that is for Albertans. It's much more fun to wring your hands and act that Atlantic Canadians are a bunch of ungrateful, lazy slobs.

Also, where's the moral outrage over the fact that taxpayers from Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and other wealthy regions of Alberta are subsidizing the healthcare and education of small town, rural Albertans? Is it really any different if your provincial tax dollars pay for a school or hospital in Edson or Ponoka vs. your federal tax dollars pay for a school or hospital in Moncton or Halifax?

Great post!!