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  #41  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:31 AM
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I see Calgary as being similar to Austin - more conservative than most American cities, but still liberal enough, a beacon of hope in otherwise right-wing state.

I've not spent enough time in Calgary to know... except to say I was at a straight pub downtown, gaying it up, with no problem.

But... every culture has its quirks. Newfoundlanders, for example, have more sex and more sexual partners than any other province in Canada. But try selling a sex toy in public here... people will run away blushing. Heterosexual women are free to be relatively promiscuous with few if any social consequences - not to the same extent as heterosexual men, but damn close. The... idea that men's sexual value grows with use, while women's diminishes, is the key thing that simply doesn't really exist here. Yet it's taboo to talk about abortions. Tattooos are absolutely everywhere, even middle-aged housewives have neck tattoos... but get any sort of face piercing and you stand out as strongly today as you would have 20 years ago.

Cultures are so weird.
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Last edited by SignalHillHiker; Jan 30, 2014 at 4:42 AM.
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  #42  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:36 AM
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Originally Posted by PhilippeMtl View Post
Sorry to hurt your feelings but Calgary is still conservative by canadian standard.
Calgary has never been a particularly 'conservative' place when it comes to difference, acceptance of outsiders and so on. It also is, relatively speaking, a very young and unreligious city. It is a city made up of people from somewhere else without the baggage of establishment. This is manifest in a number of ways - for instance having a Muslim brown dude as Mayor. Something not really imaginable in places like Québec.

Socially, the culture is not one that is at the forefront of social activism for something like gay rights, but its population is ambivalent and takes a live and let live attitude - you'd never see real movements against like actually socially conservative places.
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  #43  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:38 AM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
I see Calgary as being similar to Austin - more conservative than most American cities, but still liberal enough, a beacon of hope in otherwise right-wing state.
... now the Edmonton guys might be irritated by that statement

(I think they're a bit more thick-skinned, though.)
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  #44  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:40 AM
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Originally Posted by kwoldtimer View Post
K-W must be the largest city in Canada with no gay bar. There was one until a few months ago, but the building was converted to high tech office space and the bar owners are now running an "urban lounge" Downtown.

Gay life in K-W seems very low-key, but the lesbian community is large and quite visible.
Oh no! I had no idea they closed Ren. That's lame. I'm sure another one will open soon enough, the gay population is certainly big enough to support more than a couple!
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  #45  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:44 AM
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... now the Edmonton guys might be irritated by that statement

(I think they're a bit more thick-skinned, though.)
One of my friends from here is now a DJ in Vancouver. He's a relatively big deal - plays San Fran, etc. He recently did a show in Edmonton and posted something to the effect of "Wow, it's not every day you get a dance floor like that. SO much fun, Edmonton, you guys rocked it!", etc. It's not something he has a habit of doing, so it caught my attention.
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  #46  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:45 AM
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...for instance having a Muslim brown dude as Mayor. Something not really imaginable in places like Québec.
"Brown", you're very wrong there.

"Muslim"... okay, but it's not really apples-to-apples, because Quebec has been exposed to some of the more radical Islam (through decades of French-speaking Maghreb immigration) in a way that I don't think is matched anywhere else in the country.

(Kinda like saying that whites in Sherbrooke QC are generally less anti-Chinese, in daily life, than whites in Richmond BC... sure, it might be true, but we don't really have any merit.)


We're more secular, that's correct, but an atheist with brown skin and an Arabic name would have pretty much the same chances as anyone. I'll grant you that being a practicing Muslim would raise some suspicion among certain classes here. I have no problem facing the facts.
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  #47  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:48 AM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
One of my friends from here is now a DJ in Vancouver. He's a relatively big deal - plays San Fran, etc. He recently did a show in Edmonton and posted something to the effect of "Wow, it's not every day you get a dance floor like that. SO much fun, Edmonton, you guys rocked it!", etc. It's not something he has a habit of doing, so it caught my attention.
I think we might know (well in my case know of) a mutual person!
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  #48  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:49 AM
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i think we might know (well in my case know of) a mutual person! :p
d.s.?
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  #49  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:49 AM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
One of my friends from here is now a DJ in Vancouver. He's a relatively big deal - plays San Fran, etc. He recently did a show in Edmonton and posted something to the effect of "Wow, it's not every day you get a dance floor like that. SO much fun, Edmonton, you guys rocked it!", etc. It's not something he has a habit of doing, so it caught my attention.
Cool! I have also heard a lot of positives about Edmonton grad students in general... those were my ex's circles while in Edmonton. (Not sure though what's the retention rate for them as they graduate.)
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  #50  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 4:56 AM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
"Brown", you're very wrong there.

"Muslim"... okay, but it's not really apples-to-apples, because Quebec has been exposed to some of the more radical Islam (through decades of French-speaking Maghreb immigration) in a way that I don't think is matched anywhere else in the country.

(Kinda like saying that whites in Sherbrooke QC are generally less anti-Chinese than whites in Richmond BC... sure, it might be true, but we don't really have any merit.)


We're more secular, that's correct, but an atheist with brown skin and an Arabic name would have pretty much the same chances as anyone. I'll grant you that being a practicing Muslim would raise some suspiscion among certain classes here. I have no problem facing the facts.
The difference being such qualifications about name, ethnicity, religious affiliations don't exist in Calgary's mainstream political culture.

I'd challenge the brown statement - realizing my evidence is anecdotal, a born and raised Calgarian brown friend of mine (east Indian decent) a musician in Orchestra Symphonique de Quebec had to leave town because of the intense and ongoing racism he was facing. And this was in a typically more progressive fine arts community!
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  #51  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:00 AM
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  #52  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:06 AM
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The difference being such qualifications about name, ethnicity, religious affiliations don't exist in Calgary's mainstream political culture.
Religious affiliations, maybe (because as a society we tend to insist on secularism and laws priming over religion)... the rest, not really.

Does Alberta have black provincial MPs? Muslim provincial MPs? A black provincial Minister? We do, so that's not an obstacle to election, or having your limo after you're elected.

Amos, QC (one the larger towns in Abitibi... but you don't really get any more Rural Quebec than that) has had a black mayor for over a decade, and he's been a city councillor since the early 1990s... that's rural Quebec. Do Fort MacLeod, Taber, have ever had black mayors? Or any such place? (Not sure how apples-to-apples that is, but I'm trying.)



Quote:
I'd challenge the brown statement - realizing my evidence is anecdotal, a born and raised Calgarian brown friend of mine (east Indian decent) a musician in Orchestra Symphonique de Quebec had to leave town because of the intense and ongoing racism he was facing. And this was in a typically more progressive fine arts community!
You can find racism absolutely everywhere on this planet, but that's, as you say, anecdotal. And there might be more to the story that I (or you) don't know about. You say he's a born and raised Calgarian... did he speak our language fluently? All things considered I would think that a white who doesn't (in everyday life) is likely to get frowned upon more than anyone 'brown' who does.
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  #53  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:11 AM
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Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker View Post
d.s.?
Edit, YES! Del!
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Last edited by Chadillaccc; Jan 30, 2014 at 5:26 AM.
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  #54  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:18 AM
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Sorry to hurt your feelings but Calgary is still conservative by canadian standard.
Fiscally conservative, but not socially conservative.

An important distinction that you fail to note.
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  #55  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:23 AM
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  #56  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:27 AM
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I absolutely don't think Calgary is fiscally conservative. When I am down there I do find compared to Edmonton that they are more socially more conservative. I like Edmonton's Vibe. It has chutzpah.
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  #57  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:31 AM
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Originally Posted by artvandelay View Post
Fiscally conservative, but not socially conservative.

An important distinction that you fail to note.
Depends. One metric I personally like to use is closing time for bars. Here the last call for alcohol is at 3 a.m. and they generally don't start to push people out until 4 a.m. (in my experience, but it's been a while since I've been out that late)

At first in the U.S. I was amazed at how early bars closed... in fact I recall once that we tried to go out, and upon arriving downtown, already all quite drunk, we found that everybody was on the streets (first impression: wow! really party town!) ... but it was because the bars were already closed!!!

What time do bars close in AB?
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  #58  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:38 AM
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Sweet Jesus...can we just lock this thread and call it a day? It's just another typical "city vs. city/province vs. province" POS thread with little relevance to the actual topic.

To be honest, with the maturity of this thread, I wish the damn website would just go away. So very little to do with actual skyscrapers/urbanism anymore. Disappointing as only 5 years ago, it was an amazing source to visit for those interested in these topics.
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  #59  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:40 AM
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Originally Posted by lio45 View Post
Religious affiliations, maybe (because as a society we tend to insist on secularism and laws priming over religion)... the rest, not really.

Does Alberta have black provincial MPs? Muslim provincial MPs? A black provincial Minister? We do, so that's not an obstacle to election, or having your limo after you're elected.

Amos, QC (one the larger towns in Abitibi... but you don't really get any more Rural Quebec than that) has had a black mayor for over a decade, and he's been a city councillor since the early 1990s... that's rural Quebec. Do Fort MacLeod, Taber, have ever had black mayors? Or any such place? (Not sure how apples-to-apples that is, but I'm trying.)

You can find racism absolutely everywhere on this planet, but that's, as you say, anecdotal. And there might be more to the story that I (or you) don't know about. You say he's a born and raised Calgarian... did he speak our language fluently? All things considered I would think that a white who doesn't (in everyday life) is likely to get frowned upon more than anyone 'brown' who does.
Alberta, western Canada has a pretty small black population compared to large Eastern North American cities, immigration is more Asian dominated. Nevertheless, We've had black provincial politicians - recently provincial cabinet minister Lindsay Blackett.

Rural communities like Slave Lake had a Muslim woman as Mayor. I don't recall any black Alberta Mayor's, but I can't see why a black person in Alberta would face any sort of different level of acceptance compared to any other visible minority. There simply aren't any historical factors here that would.

Anyway, there's a decent chance my gay, black boss (chief of staff to Calgary's Mayor) will run for Federal office as a liberal, so we'll see how that goes if he does run ;-)

http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2014/...entre-liberal/

Yes, my friend is fluent in French.

Last edited by Wooster; Jan 30, 2014 at 5:53 AM.
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  #60  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2014, 5:51 AM
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Sweet Jesus...can we just lock this thread and call it a day? It's just another typical "city vs. city/province vs. province" POS thread with little relevance to the actual topic.
Considering that the actual topic is "Lethbridge isn't the best place to be gay because too many people there are close-minded", you think that we've diverged that much from it? And honestly, what did you expect?

After three pages, we could easily be talking about the weather... now that would have little relevance to the topic, not that it would be surprising.


Quote:
To be honest, with the maturity of this thread, I wish the damn website would just go away. So very little to do with actual skyscrapers/urbanism anymore. Disappointing as only 5 years ago, it was an amazing source to visit for those interested in these topics.
I don't know if your experience mirrors mine, but in my case, 100% of the discussion in the Sherbrooke thread (Québec province subforum) is about urbanism... and for my first several years on SSP, I did not venture out of it, and did not care to do so at the time.

These days I like taking the pulse of other places in the country, in the Canada section.

If you don't like the Canada section, may I suggest doing what I did for years, and sticking to the pure-urbanism thread(s) of your city.
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