What is the genesis of all this provincialism?

It's called the Politics of Envy. Want to get elected? Pander to the lowest common denominator. It's not like Alberta invented it. The Parti Quebecois came to power using those same tactics - exploiting long held grievances, some real, some imagined. Nfld, same thing. You want to hear people gripe about the Federal Govt., spend some time on the Rock. They have elevated it to a high art. Here in BC it's the Indians and the Chinese, although that rings a bit hollow now that they're well established and their contribution is too obvious to ignore.

There's a reverse pandering as well - taking multiculturalism to absurd extremes, such as putting up street signs in Panjabi or Chinese, as if they can't read English and need special help. All that stuff costs money which could be better spent elsewhere, but I digress....

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it too much. This is the sort of thing that gets argued over dinner, not with tanks in the street. We went there once during the FLQ crisis, and I think we all recoiled in horror from that sorry affair.

ebear