Debunking the great myth of Prairie conservatism.
![What We Get Wrong About Alberta](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/13875/328272/5c52a4657092e/Alberta-Ontario-Province.jpg)
It's the Friday of the Thanksgiving long weekend in downtown Calgary, and Ontario premier Doug Ford has filled a conference centre with rowdy fans united in their hatred of a carbon tax. Many oil-patch workers were hit hard when the price of crude tanked in 2015; work camps disappeared and with them the last good jobs. The economy has recovered some, but Alberta is not what it was at its peak, before the oil price crashed. Consumer debt is high, and it’s still not uncommon to hear of houses on the market that won’t sell for months or years. An ethic of hard work and good money has soured into idleness. It is not so much that the people here are now insurmountably poor but rather that they are disappointed.
United Conservative Party leader and would-be premier Jason Kenney, who has invited Ford to join him here, takes the stage and commiserates with the crowd: the event is part of a long build-up to the provincial election that will take place this spring. Sure, Alberta had seen oil busts before, he says, “but something was different this time — this time, we seem to have governments in Edmonton and in Ottawa that were stacking the decks against working Albertans, that were doing everything they could to make a bad situation even worse.”
この記事は The Walrus の March 2019 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は The Walrus の March 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
![MY GUILTY PLEASURE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/ZjBpzYG4o1719492279999/MY-GUILTY-PLEASURE.jpg)
MY GUILTY PLEASURE
I WAS AS SURPRISED as anyone when I became obsessed with comics again last year, at the advanced age of forty-five. As a kid, I loved reading G.I. Joe and The Amazing Spider-Man.
![The Upside-Down Book](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/69rONulnf1719492018954/THE-UPSIDEDOWN-BOOK.jpg)
The Upside-Down Book
In her new novel, Rachel Cusk makes the case for becoming a stranger to yourself
![Pick a Colour](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/gfjRqDBPR1719491028118/PICK-A-COLOUR.jpg)
Pick a Colour
BACK HERE, I can hear a group of women trickle in. Filling the floor with giggles and voices.
![Quebec's Crushing Immigration Policy](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/Va0q3epMo1719490712561/QUEBECS-CRUSHING-IMMIGRATION-POLICY.jpg)
Quebec's Crushing Immigration Policy
Familial separation can have devastating consequences on mental health and productivity
![The Briefcase](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/F9k8iWEzU1719490185232/THE-BRIEFCASE.jpg)
The Briefcase
What I learned about being a writer from trying to finish a dead man's book
![In the Footsteps of Migrants Who Never Made It](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/mgurf-_Dv1719487984600/IN-THE-FOOTSTEPS-OF-MIGRANTS-WHO-NEVER-MADE-IT.jpg)
In the Footsteps of Migrants Who Never Made It
Thousands have died trying to cross into the US from Mexico. Each year, activists follow their harrowing trek
![Blood Language](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/XYrsQ_vA81719486997059/BLOOD-LANGUAGE.jpg)
Blood Language
Menstruation ties us to the land in ways we've all but forgotten
![Dream Machines](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1721021/mpkA9pAuF1719486535433/DREAM-MACHINES.jpg)
Dream Machines
The real threat with artificial intelligence is that we'll fall prey to its hype
![Invisible Lives](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1514951/2Hy-_fagA1707905048505/crp_INVISIBLE-LIVES.jpg)
Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
![My Guilty Pleasure](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/13875/1514951/290c5p7DA1707905886467/crp_MY-GUILTY-PLEASURE.jpg)
My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"