# Should the USA annex Alberta? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 24, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094 "2014-12-24T14:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/41 "2014-12-25T04:05:18Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > It’s very hard to take a subject like this seriously, but no. There has been no compelling reason laid out for such a move. Most importantly I’ve seen no one put forth evidence that Alberta wants to leave Canada, that if it wanted to leave Canada it would want to join the United States. There’s occasionally mumbling about western independence. For instnce, there’s a fringe party called Western Canada Concept (aka the Water Closet Campaign). ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/42 "2014-12-25T04:09:34Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > [There’s a little island you might need to learn about, mate…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward_Island#Economy) Well sure, PEI grows 1/3 as many tubers as ID on 1/10 the acreage, but everyone knows there are [_no true potatoes_](http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/37/20/all-giant-potato-at-bay-fest-2014-05-16-bk02_z.jpg) grown anywhere but ID. I do but jest of course. I got a chuckle out of the Wikipedia link: > [@](#): > > The province currently accounts for a third of Canada’s total potato production, producing approximately 1.3 billion kilograms annually.[40] Comparatively, the state of Idaho produces approximately 6.2 billion kilograms annually, **with a population approximately 9.5 times greater.** (emphasis added) Apparently the author is under the impression that both places are populated entirely by spud farmers :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/43 "2014-12-25T04:35:51Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Does Alberta want to be annexed? No. > [@](#): > > Does Canada want to get rid of it? Probably not? We’d take a LOT of petrodollars with us if we went. > [@](#): > > I doubt we want to waste hundreds of dollars and tens of men in a war with Canada. This made me laugh out loud. 😃 > [@Poysyn](#): > > \ > Also no,we don’t think like Americans, trust me. We love you guys, but we are different. That’s the first point where this fails. For some reason it is a common misperception that all Albertans are “right-wing, Christianist, GOP-style, anti-environmentalist, and Reaganite.” We really aren’t anywhere near as redneck as people think; maybe we’re just not as socialist as Vancouver and Toronto, and this leads people to exclude the middle. The largest city in Alberta just re-elected its Muslim mayor for his second term, for God’s sake. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What would the point of annexation be? The XL pipeline sure seem like it will not be approved to move oil from Alberta to refineries on the Gulf coast. If that is the case the US has no reason to annex Alberta. The XL pipeline will be a go this spring, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/44 "2014-12-25T04:59:43Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > This made me laugh out loud. 😃 Glad I could help. Merry Christmas **Cat** 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/45 "2014-12-25T04:59:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Alberta is the Texas, the Kentucky, possibly the Venezuela, or maybe the Saudi Arabia of Canada: a petro-state where the Conservatives always win elections. > > Of all of Canada, Alberta seems the most in line with mainstream US-American culture, which is to say very right-wing, Christianist, GOP-style, anti-environmentalist, and Reaganite. It attracts great numbers of Yanks to work in its oil industry. > > … And both Texas and Alberta have capital cities whose liberal politics run counter to the rest of the state/province ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/46 "2014-12-25T05:07:43Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > …The largest city in Alberta just re-elected its Muslim mayor for his second term, for God’s sake… You know what, Naheed Nenshi might possibly, some day, be the Prime Minister of Canada. I’m not kidding. I am very impressed with Mr. Nenshi. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/47 "2014-12-25T05:50:07Z")
Alberta would be the most liberal and distinctly UNAmerican state, by far. It is nothing at all like Texas. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/48 "2014-12-25T06:07:03Z")
You want gravy with those Freedom Fries, eh? You’ve been warned… ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/49 "2014-12-25T06:28:03Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The U.S. would destroy itself in trying to take any part of Canada by force. That’s our Bryan Ekers…always gets a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/50 "2014-12-25T06:51:12Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Alberta is the Texas, the Kentucky, possibly the Venezuela, or maybe the Saudi Arabia of Canada: a petro-state where the Conservatives always win elections. > > Of all of Canada, Alberta seems the most in line with mainstream US-American culture, which is to say very right-wing, Christianist, GOP-style, anti-environmentalist, and Reaganite. It attracts great numbers of Yanks to work in its oil industry. > > Ted Cruz, who is either a parody of a don’t-mess-wit’-Texas conservative or in actuality an extreme form of one, was born there. Steve Harper, the Ronald Reagan of Canada, is from there. > > Alberta is either the great bulwark keeping Canada from becoming, y’know, a European social democracy, or culturally a part of the USA in Canada by mistake. > > So, I ask you: Should the USA annex Alberta? This is a serious question. Um, Venezuela doesn’t vote for conservatives, and isn’t run by conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/51 "2014-12-25T07:05:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You forgot to mention Hot Dog Sandwiches. _Deep Fried_ Hot Dog Sandwiches. _Waffle Battered Deep Fried_ Hot Dog Sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/52 "2014-12-25T07:12:40Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Since Canada’s military ran out of bullets years ago ourselves would be the only entity we were fighting against. Well, in a light effort to analyze the idea seriously: [ul][li]Nearly $2 billion a _day_ gets passed between the two countries in trade. A major disruption to this (i.e. an invasion of Canada) would have massive economic impact on the U.S. Throw in sanctions from other NATO countries, even if they volunteer no military force to defend Canada, and the U.S. is screwed.[/li][li]The U.S. can’t even secure its much smaller border with Mexico. There’s no way it can stop Canadian insurgents from crossing into the U.S., casually blending in, and inflicting widespread economic chaos and sabotage, if not full-on terrorism tactics. If the attempted crackdown is to start demanding that people who are white and English-speaking start showing their identity papers, the white English-speaking Americans who have never had to deal with this sort of thing are going to react most negatively.[/ul][/li] There’s more, but basically if the U.S. wants Albertan resources, it is far easier to just keep buying them then try to take them by force, and if the U.S. wants Albertans to look upon them more favourably, the U.S. will have to change itself to look more like Alberta, which means a comparable social safety net and single-payer health insurance. The U.S. would basically have to turn into Canada before getting any part of Canada to turn into the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/53 "2014-12-25T07:25:44Z")
My humble suggestion is that the U.S. should annex Queensland, the state with a culture closest to that of the U.S. The only downside would be that Texas would become the third largest state in the union. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/54 "2014-12-25T08:05:02Z")
> [@K364](#): > > And both Texas and Alberta have capital cities whose liberal politics run counter to the rest of the state/province Naheed Nenshi isn’t mayor of Edmonton, but of Calgary. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/55 "2014-12-25T15:38:15Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > You want gravy with those Freedom Fries, eh? And cheese curds, please, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/56 "2014-12-26T23:12:04Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, in a light effort to analyze the idea seriously: > > [ul] > [li]Nearly $2 billion a _day_ gets passed between the two countries in trade. A major disruption to this (i.e. an invasion of Canada) would have massive economic impact on the U.S. Throw in sanctions from other NATO countries, even if they volunteer no military force to defend Canada, and the U.S. is screwed.[/li][li]The U.S. can’t even secure its much smaller border with Mexico. There’s no way it can stop Canadian insurgents from crossing into the U.S., casually blending in, and inflicting widespread economic chaos and sabotage, if not full-on terrorism tactics. If the attempted crackdown is to start demanding that people who are white and English-speaking start showing their identity papers, the white English-speaking Americans who have never had to deal with this sort of thing are going to react most negatively.[/li][/ul] > > There’s more, but basically if the U.S. wants Albertan resources, it is far easier to just keep buying them then try to take them by force, and if the U.S. wants Albertans to look upon them more favourably, the U.S. will have to change itself to look more like Alberta, which means a comparable social safety net and single-payer health insurance. The U.S. would basically have to turn into Canada before getting any part of Canada to turn into the U.S. I can’t imagine a scenario in which Canadians would fight an occupation, certainly not using terrorism tactics–they’d be afraid of running afoul of various international treaties. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/57 "2014-12-27T01:29:13Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > What about a straight-up trade? Wow, No One from Canada liked the idea? Not even with easy-to-catch land-based [black lobsters](http://images.travelpod.com/users/technotrekker/overland05.1128133200.21-scorpions.jpg) everywhere you look? _Cana-Texas, for the Seafood Lover in You…!_ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/58 "2014-12-27T06:16:09Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I can’t imagine a scenario in which Canadians would fight an occupation, certainly not using terrorism tactics–they’d be afraid of running afoul of various international treaties. After a foreign invasion seizing a major piece of the country? An insurgency and assymettric counter-attacks including acts of terrorism and sabotage on U.S. soil is pretty much a sure thing. Imagine if ISIS operatives could casually walk into U.S. territory, set buildings on fire, and then simply blend into not some amorphous-looking foreign population (where collateral damage reports generate tongue clucks and shrugs from Americans), but the U.S. population itself. Couple that with sabotage on _Canadian_ soil to deny the Americans access to the resources they seek to loot (are they going to dispatch their entire army to guard thousands of kilometers of oil pipelines, roads and power lines?) and it’ll make the Iraqi invasion look exactly as quick and easy as Bush promised it would be. Canada as now known may be destroyed. The U.S. would soon follow. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/59 "2014-12-27T06:31:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Does Alberta want to be annexed? Does Canada want to get rid of it? I doubt we want to waste hundreds of dollars and tens of men in a war with Canada. Hahahaha. :rolleyes: I see what you did there ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094/60 "2014-12-27T06:42:47Z")
What exactly would the benefits of this annexation be? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-usa-annex-alberta/708094.md?page=4)