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Originally Posted by feepa
You need to expand on what oil does. It's not just about driving you and baby mama's around or even just transportation of all our goods/services and trades. Oil of some sort is in just about every product we buy or use or consume. Without oil/gas, none of these goods moves around the planet like they do. Without oil, your life would be unrecognizable now.
I find environmental groups that attack the 'tarsands' are quite hypocritical, and ignorant. These hate on oil, but turn a blind eye to many other primary industries in Canada, even in their own backyards, that do as much or more damage to the environment.
Next time you buy anything, consider what it's made of, and just how far it had to travel from origin as a product of the earth to get to you, and how infuse oil is in every step sourcing/creating/transporting that product to you.
Those in Toronto (and else where) that hate on the Oilsands should realize that Oil and gas companies make up 20 to 30% of the value of the TSX. According to the TSX, the petroleum companies trading at the stock exchange were worth $357 billion as of December 31, 2009, with approximately half of these shares owned by Canadians.
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Yes, I should've expanded on that. Synthetic oils have come a long way though and most of those things you mentioned can be done with synthetic oils. It's more expensive obviously. Different oil fields also have different compositions. Hell, even the different layers of the field have different compositions. The composition makes a huge difference in what the oil is used for, whether it be regular gas, jet fuel, oil for plastics, etc.
Getting back to plastics though, while manufacturing it isn't exactly A1 for the environment, it's actually better than recycling. Recycling uses more energy, still requires oil and is far more expensive. Ditto for paper recycling. Only thing that makes economic and environmental sense to recycle is metal. That said, it doesn't mean we should go ape shit and throw plastics in the dumpster, we need to focus as a society to making plastic containers reusable.
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Originally Posted by CMD UW
^Very true. I spent 3 years in Waterloo while attending university and I call SW Ontario my home away from home. It felt like home. I also have a soft spot for Toronto and find my way back there at least once a year for business reasons.
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I will always love Toronto and it'll be weird not to be able to go downtown on a whim like I've gotten so used to. Even while in London I'd go to Toronto once a month, just for the hell of it.
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Originally Posted by ue
I agree completely. This is exactly why I have stated in other parts of the forum that despite vast geographic distances, Ontario and Alberta still feel very similar, culturally. Yes, there are quirky regional variances, but the base culture is still very familiar. It makes it kinda funny to then see the two provinces bicker at each other over petty differences.
Quebec (and Newfoundland to a lesser degree) are oddballs within the Canadian context, therefore I'm not surprised you identify more with Detroit than Quebec City. But I find that farther flung places like Ontario feel more familiar than Montana, directly across the border, or other states not too much further, like Idaho and the Dakotas.
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Exploring those states you mentioned are another piece of the prairies I like forward to. It'd be interesting to see how the culture in those states compare to Detroit for example.
A notable difference is that you guys pronounce your Ts a lot more. And the second half of sentences seem to be a higher pitch than the first half. Or maybe it's just a few of the people I talked to. And it was far more multicultural than I expected. A gander at wikipedia confirmed that Edmonton is almost 30% visible minorities.