First of all, I realized from a few people's comments and emails that I haven't been as good at keeping everyone "in the loop" as I hoped. Apparently, I hadn't told everyone why I'm moving to Edmonton, or even that I'm going. Well, I'm going to be starting a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Alberta this fall. It was a decision between staying at U of W and heading elsewhere and, after much pondering, I decided to try something new -- new school, new city, new province. It's a big change (especially seeing as I did most of my co-op terms, not to mention both my degrees, in Waterloo) but I'm really looking forward to it, on the whole. And for those people who haven't gathered already, Tash is moving to Edmonton with me.
As for today, Tash and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon re-packing, and we are happy to report that everything* is now packed in bigger boxes, ready to be shipped off to Edmonton. This is something we've been working on since about mid-April, so we're really happy to have that crossed off our list (metaphorically speaking, that is -- having an actual list would require too much organization :)
* except for clothes and other stuff that we'll need over the next six weeks
Oh, Dave, there's no real *good* excuse for moving to *that* city. We're all happy you're coming to Alberta, but, not being in the city with "streets paved with gold" is a mark against you :)
ReplyDeleteSo, now that I'll be moving all of my belongings to Alberta, tell me, how are you doing it?
ReplyDeleteOn CBC radio this morning Andrew Nikiforuk was arguing that Alberta is well on its way to becoming a "petro-tyranny." The argument, first formulated by Tom Friedman of the New York Times, is that as oil revenues rise, democracy declines, because the government is no longer dependent on the local population for its cash flow and can therefore ignore it. Nikiforuk gave a number of examples of the Alberta government's paying more attention to the interests of oil companies than to those of Albertans. Just a little heads-up as you head out that way....
ReplyDeleteYeah. Like the last 20 years.
ReplyDeleteSee "Alberta Politics Uncovered" by Mark Lisac, or "Democracy Derailed" by Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft.
That said, traditionally gambling revenues have outpaced oil revenues in the Provincial Government...
Oh, and recent trends have been Municipalities versus the provincial government. Ed Stelmach is seeing one of the biggest losses of support in Calgary since the Tories took power over 30 years ago. Partially because the Mayor, David Bronconnier, has been lobbying (I use the term loosely... more like Danny Williams whining) for more money for municipalities. This, among other things, including a rural based Cabinet, has caused loss of support for the Provincial Tories in municipalities (including Drumheller. Even though the riding Drumheller-Stettler went to the Tories in the recent byelection, Drumheller proper had the majority of the polls go to the ALP).
So while that may be true, that the governments play more to oil companies, the resulting revolt could be enough to destabilize the Provincial government. And even though people outside this province think otherwise, Albertans have elected a non-Conservative government before and may do so again in the relatively near future - and the other parties are proposing putting that oil tax money into endowment funds, thereby releasing it from the government's grubby hands.
you're moving? where? why?
ReplyDeleteour friend andre lavergne said it was too bad you had to go to alberta but edmonton was certainly an oasis...
also, thanks for the invite, accessing the blog turned out not to be as difficult as i thought, all the best in the next little while across the pond!