tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post491820222780593309..comments2024-02-23T11:23:45.971-05:00Comments on Lost Motorcyclist: Rethinking the Canada US BorderLost Motorcyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-32672458293211476672010-04-02T20:09:21.532-04:002010-04-02T20:09:21.532-04:00Well, the oil thing certainly doesn't help.Well, the oil thing certainly doesn't help.Madeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593933575568389288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-13570814716882813582010-04-02T19:24:28.233-04:002010-04-02T19:24:28.233-04:00That little history lesson does explain a lot abou...That little history lesson does explain a lot about the unique character of Alberta within Canada. I used to think it was all about the oil industry being based in Texas.Lost Motorcyclisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-17562836625844553012010-04-02T17:40:14.178-04:002010-04-02T17:40:14.178-04:00Much of the early economic activity in what is now...Much of the early economic activity in what is now Alberta (at the time, the 'Northwest' acquired from the Hudson's Bay Company) was based on cattle ranching, and numerous American ranch hands came to Canada for work. <br /><br />The <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002347" rel="nofollow">Dominion Lands Act</a> of 1872 offered any male over the age of 21 a homestead of 160 acres for the payment of a nominal $10 registration fee. <br /><br />With the contemporary closing of the American frontier, this attracted still more Americans to Alberta. In the period 1900-1915 <a href="http://www.abheritage.ca/pasttopresent/en/settlement/american_settlement.html" rel="nofollow">over 80,000 Americans</a> settled in Alberta - a very significant number, given the <a href="http://www.altapop.ca/opls/1915OPL.pdf" rel="nofollow">total population</a> of Alberta at the time. <br /><br />With them, the Americans brought not only their knowledge of the cattle business, but also many of the prevailing attitudes from their former republic. As English speakers, their social mobility was higher than those of recent European origins, and their influence on the developing Albertan culture was significant, and that influence persists to this day.<br /><br />So it's perhaps not surprising that Coulter's bizarre remarks would find some receptive ears in Alberta.Madeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593933575568389288noreply@blogger.com