Calgary - Texas North?

[Wentworth]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Its stereotype is that it's a progressive nirvana in a redneck sea. It's actually more conservative than people think outside of certain areas. It sprawls insanely and has a thick gun culture but "people think" that it's the twin sister of Berkeley. It isn't.

I get so tired of the comment above about how Alberta has so much in common with eg Montana- Montana has virtually no urban life whatsoever and Alberta has two major cities and its population is around 80% urban. I cringe when people say that Alberta has more in common with Montana than with Ontario- that's bull. We do however have more in common with BC and Saskatchewan.

Absolutely agreed about Montana... I love travelling to Montana -- Butte, Glacier, Lewis and Clark Caves, and Yellowstone are all absolutely mind-blowing. But Montana is like visiting some sort of tea party alternate universe. No shared history, no shared culture. Both places have cows and mountains, but you could say that about Vienna, too?

[Doug]

The biggest similarity is the work culture: informal, aggressive and more of a meritocracy than out east.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Calgary is also only 67% white (non-VM, non native) and as of the 2011 census around 25% Asian specifically (from all Asian countries). Demographically, that makes us closer to Seattle, which is 66.3% non-Hispanic white, but we have a much larger Asian population, almost twice as large per capita, and a much smaller black and latin American one though Calgary is now 3% black (vs 8% in Seattle- obviously mostly African vs been-here-centuries African American though Seattle does like Calgary have a big Somali population), more than triple the percentage than when statcan first started tabulating VM in 1996. Calgary has more than double the black population that Vancouver has per cap and a higher native population on that measure too.

Getting back to Texas- Calgary's sister city there at least demographically speaking might be Plano just because it has a relatively small white population (58% non-Hispanic white) and its largest minority is Asian (17%, which is massive by non-California US standards).

[ozonemania]

I really think that most people's associations between Calgary (Alberta) and Texas have to do with the fearless, can-do, brash, hands-on attitude stereotype than anything else. Calgary is a bit tempered by Canadian sensibilities of modesty, however.

I am in Vancouver, but I have worked extensively in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. I emphasize the word 'cities' because my exposure is just in the urban cores. In my experience Canadian urbanites no matter which city are quite progressive socially. Calgary is no exception.

Yet, from my confused point of view, I can't understand the apparent contradiction in how Calgarians vote. You have a progressive, arguably one of the most progressive, mayors elected. Yet at the same time, for the last 10 years you have voted in only Conservatives federally. I mean Rob Anders, really? Honestly... I don't get him. Voting patterns like this reinforce the stereotype that parallels Texas. Socially-conservative, valuing money/economy above all, etc.

[RWin]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

Yet, from my confused point of view, I can't understand the apparent contradiction in how Calgarians vote. You have a progressive, arguably one of the most progressive, mayors elected. Yet at the same time, for the last 10 years you have voted in only Conservatives federally. I mean Rob Anders, really? Honestly... I don't get him. Voting patterns like this reinforce the stereotype that parallels Texas. Socially-conservative, valuing money/economy above all, etc.

Maybe I'm wrong here but I think voting is more of an Anit-East (Pro-West) thing. That means the conservative party.

Even growing up in BC there was an us and them/west vs east attitude. Or at least the part of BC I grew up in (Vernon). Maybe Vancouver is different.

[Chadillaccc]

I doubt many/any of you watch Big Brother Canada, but unsurprisingly, the sole Calgarian in the house has been targeted as being both racist and sexist, whereas he never committed any actions which would dictate that he is. Even the Jamaican girl in the house defended him. It was crazy, but of course, Calgary, better give him a kick for no reason . The house must have taken notes from the Canada section

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

IYet, from my confused point of view, I can't understand the apparent contradiction in how Calgarians vote.

You're not alone.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

I really think that most people's associations between Calgary (Alberta) and Texas have to do with the fearless, can-do, brash, hands-on attitude stereotype than anything else. Calgary is a bit tempered by Canadian sensibilities of modesty, however.

I am in Vancouver, but I have worked extensively in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. I emphasize the word 'cities' because my exposure is just in the urban cores. In my experience Canadian urbanites no matter which city are quite progressive socially. Calgary is no exception.

Yet, from my confused point of view, I can't understand the apparent contradiction in how Calgarians vote. You have a progressive, arguably one of the most progressive, mayors elected. Yet at the same time, for the last 10 years you have voted in only Conservatives federally. I mean Rob Anders, really? Honestly... I don't get him. Voting patterns like this reinforce the stereotype that parallels Texas. Socially-conservative, valuing money/economy above all, etc.

Originally Posted by RWin

Maybe I'm wrong here but I think voting is more of an Anit-East (Pro-West) thing. That means the conservative party.

Even growing up in BC there was an us and them/west vs east attitude. Or at least the part of BC I grew up in (Vernon). Maybe Vancouver is different.

This, for most of the boomer generation the Trudeau era set the East/West divide. It's for this reason that the current Trudeau won't make an impact in western Canada (particularly Alberta) for a while (5-10 years) if ever (apathetic younger voters, more active boomers).

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

Yet, from my confused point of view, I can't understand the apparent contradiction in how Calgarians vote. You have a progressive, arguably one of the most progressive, mayors elected. Yet at the same time, for the last 10 years you have voted in only Conservatives federally. I mean Rob Anders, really? Honestly... I don't get him. Voting patterns like this reinforce the stereotype that parallels Texas. Socially-conservative, valuing money/economy above all, etc.

I have several friends that were in my technical college who moved to Alberta for work. The ones that originated from the maritimes seem to tend towards the more liberal end of the spectrum, but they also tend to get flung across the landscape, largely being assigned to resource towns up north. They are too disparate and unsettled to have much of a political punch. On a side note, these people tend to not like cities all that much.

On the other hand, friends from the same class who originated in southern Ontario have largely ended up in Calgary or Edmonton and tend to be much more conservative. They are young and very technically inclined people (given the nature of our work), but also lean more libertarian. They are much like the techno-libertarian enclaves in southern Cali for that matter. These guys moved across the country for the purpose of establishing themselves and making a lot more money, and they want to keep as much of it as possible (and I can't blame them, really...). They are gay-friendly, secular, and urban, but they'll vote in whatever party promises to let them keep more of their money, and don't mind if that means privatizing some services. I find this group to be more conservative then most home-grown Albertans like myself.

[DarthMalgus]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

Yet, from my confused point of view, I can't understand the apparent contradiction in how Calgarians vote. You have a progressive, arguably one of the most progressive, mayors elected. Yet at the same time, for the last 10 years you have voted in only Conservatives federally. I mean Rob Anders, really? Honestly... I don't get him. Voting patterns like this reinforce the stereotype that parallels Texas. Socially-conservative, valuing money/economy above all, etc.

I usually make a point of not talking politics online, but want to point out a couple things in this case. I think a lot of Calgarians (and Albertans) vote Conservative because they are perceived as the least of 3 evils, out of the mainstream parties. The NDP leadership has not in any way been supportive of the Canadian oilsands. It awaits to be seen how well Trudeau will be received in Alberta (and more broadly speaking, the West), but one criticism of the Liberal Party that I hear from just about everyone, is that they don't seem to look outside Quebec for their leadership very often.

And re: Rob Anders...yes, he sucks, but he's one guy, and a lot of his own party would be happy to see him shown the exit. And a conservative could quite rightly point out that (former Lib MP) Carolyn Parrish, Hedy Fry, Libby Davis or Pat Martin don't exactly shine as their parties' brightest stars.

[MasterG]

Originally Posted by DarthMalgus

I usually make a point of not talking politics online, but want to point out a couple things in this case. I think a lot of Calgarians (and Albertans) vote Conservative because they are perceived as the least of 3 evils, out of the mainstream parties. The NDP leadership has not in any way been supportive of the Canadian oilsands. It awaits to be seen how well Trudeau will be received in Alberta (and more broadly speaking, the West), but one criticism of the Liberal Party that I hear from just about everyone, is that they don't seem to look outside Quebec for their leadership very often.

And re: Rob Anders...yes, he sucks, but he's one guy, and a lot of his own party would be happy to see him shown the exit. And a conservative could quite rightly point out that (former Lib MP) Carolyn Parrish, Hedy Fry, Libby Davis or Pat Martin don't exactly shine as their parties' brightest stars.

I was raised here and I would agree with other comments that it seems like many of the young migrants on my age group (20-somethings) that were attracted here were the money-driven, I don't care about much else types. Definitely have heard the same conservative views from suburban-Toronto transplants as traditionally conservative Albertans.

What troubles me is the amount of people my age that have been engrained in this idea that if the Liberals are elected Alberta will perish and fire will rain from the skies. Complete indoctrination from the collective conscious of the NEP days which none of them were around for (not to mention another 50% of Alberta).

This is my completely anecdotal thought on voter breakdown of my peers (20-somethings):

1 / 10: diehard left-wing voter. Conservatives are jerkbags!
1 / 10: diehard right-wing voter. Liberals are jerkbags!
4 / 10: vote? that's lame, who cares the conservatives always win.
4 / 10: My dad told me to vote conservative so I did. I don't care, he got me a job and a condo so whatever.

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

This, for most of the boomer generation the Trudeau era set the East/West divide. It's for this reason that the current Trudeau won't make an impact in western Canada (particularly Alberta) for a while (5-10 years) if ever (apathetic younger voters, more active boomers).

It goes back a lot further than that. The two traditional parties haven't done well in Western Canada, and especially Alberta, for nearly a century. Along with Saskatchewan, Alberta has consistently given rise to various third parties like the UFA/Progressives, CCF, Social Credit, and Reform. Of the traditional parties, the Conservative advantage over the Liberals has been maintained by periodically merging with Prairie populist movements, namely the Progressives and Reform. The Conservatives have needed to do this to remain competitive nation wide because they've always (minus Mulroney) been a negligible force in Quebec.

Ideologically the city today could easily swing between the more libertarian wing of the Conservatives and the business wing of the Liberals. Before the Sponsorship Scandal there was a genuine worry amongst Conservatives that Paul Martin would make a dent in Calgary. The scandal really reinforced the alienation that the west has always felt towards the eastern business establishment and changed all that.

[Owlhorn]

As a Texan, this thread comes off as a little arrogant. The stereotypes of Texas are about 40 years late and if they apply at all today, they apply to rural areas of East or West Texas. Texas has a large conservative political base in the suburbs, but not so in the larger cities. Texas is also a huge area for Emmigration from other parts of the US and immigration from East and South Asia and Latin America(bet you don't get a lot of that), so the populations are much more diverse than people seem to be giving Texas credit for here. The inner-cities in Texas are booming in the built environment and population. Its largest two metros are rapidly expanding their public transit and have some of the world's busiest airports. While Houston is huge on Energy and the technologies that surround that industry, Dallas has a super diverse economy. Any city in the world outside of a top few would be lucky to have what those cities have and being compared to Texas in 2014 is not a bad thing at all.

[Policy Wonk]

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

and immigration from East and South Asia and Latin America(bet you don't get a lot of that),

As a matter of fact, Alberta is apparently among the preferred destinations for the "bourgeoisie" seeking to escape Venezuela's Glorious Revolution™ before it reaches the death squad and starvation phase.