B.C. marches to its own drum: new poll looks at inter-provincial relationships, rivalries
Posted January 24, 2019 9:06 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Provincial rivalries in this country are nothing new, and the two sides of the Trans Mountain Pipeline battle in B.C. and Alberta is a fine example of this.
It turns out it’s not quite so easy for many people around Canada to just get along, and when it comes to how they see their provincial neighbours — particularly out west — there may be some struggles, according to new research.
The new poll suggests there are some in B.C. who feel a little isolated sometimes.
“Two in five British Columbians — 43 per cent — feel that there are no provinces that feel especially close to or friendly towards British Columbia,” Shachi Kurl, executive director of the Angus Reid Institute, explains.
She adds that is the highest level nationally, followed by Ontario.
“In Alberta, 60 per cent feel that B.C. is not close and not friendly to Albertans, and half of British Columbians feel the same about Alberta. So even though we are neighbours, it really only underscores a great deal of tension between two provinces that are located right next to each other.”
Kurl adds other provinces are far less likely to feel any animosity from around the country.
For a little perspective, the survey has found that 77 per cent of Albertans polled feel their prairie neighbor to the east — Saskatchewan — is on their side, while 75 per cent of those in Saskatchewan feel Alberta is a strong ally.
While Kurl points out that the pipeline dispute has something to do with the animosity when it comes to B.C. and Alberta, she adds it’s a pretty big country.
“B.C.’s priorities — both economically, socially, culturally — are very different, not only from Alberta’s priorities but those of Ontario’s, and those of Quebec’s, and of course those of Atlantic Canada. And I think we see just how tenuous some of the threads of the confederation that we’ve woven together are when we look at these data.”
Just one in five in the other western provinces feel BC has a tight knit kinship with it’s neighbors.
