Is Canada entering a period of demographic shift to the West?

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by lio45

... and the most important of all, oil.

California's boom (due to a bunch of things, in your words, "gorgeous coast line, your choice of pleasant, temperate and hot weather, sandy beaches, surfing, excellent growing conditions") and the current Western boom are not due to the same factors at all. The only similarity is that the booming area happens to be located in the western half of the continent.

I'd say North Dakota's boom is a better analogy than California's boom, but as it's far from played out yet, we obviously can't draw conclusions from it.

I'd say the social exclusion of certain people led to californias growth more than anything.

The reason Hollywood was jewish, was because they were trying to get away from certain social restraints..

Same with gays, ethnic minorities, liberals etc.

Once these people were able to establish new industries the migration was a given.

Anyhow this west vs east thing makes no sense.

Did Idaho, Wyoming, etc fair well in this western expansion.

I honestly think a large part of it economic freedoms, where with a fresh start and new territory to exploit a lot of things can be done better than they were in the old country.

growth breeds growth which breeds even more growth.

Its the snowball effect that really matters, it the same reasons cities outstrip small towns so drastically.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Stryker

The better question if albertas growth is absorbing all of the population growth will the majority of Canadians not living in alberta be ok with that. Considering its democracy, and objectivity most people outside our not benefitting from people flocking to alberta I think we have an easy answer.

Moderating Alberta's growth makes perfect sense. and I assure you if the housing market drops before the next election, it will happen.

Who exactly is opposed to people flocking to Alberta? There is an economic benefit to this activity... people aren't just going to Calgary so that they can eat burgers at Peter's Drive Inn.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by esquire

Who exactly is opposed to people flocking to Alberta? There is an economic benefit to this activity... people aren't just going to Calgary so that they can eat burgers at Peter's Drive Inn.

I'm not sure why anyone would do that really. You go to Peter's for the milkshakes... the burgers just happen to be offered on the menu.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by esquire

people aren't just going to Calgary so that they can eat burgers at Peter's Drive Inn.

Well, apparently (thanks freeweed for sharing...) it's the one and only place where Canadians can eat Chick-Fil-A without needing a passport or enhanced drivers' license; but is their chicken really THAT good?

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by esquire

Who exactly is opposed to people flocking to Alberta? There is an economic benefit to this activity... people aren't just going to Calgary so that they can eat burgers at Peter's Drive Inn.

Well for one as I said no one will notice until there are problems in the housing markets everywhere else.


The benefit is obvious, what I ask is at what point is the growth too extreme. The simple answer is when it starts tripping away talent from the rest of the country which is exactly what is happening.

Now I don't expect people to understand this if you cant appreciate the importance of demographics in creating a can do attitude.

What inferiorities is the idea that this isn't exactly what been happening to the eastern provinces since confederation.

If atlantic Canadians didn't fill the rest of Canada wed have multiple cities of 1million plus each, and yet were told we didn't urbanize.

[VIce]

I posed some very boring statistics about Canada's "Great Western Shift" before. The post was ignored despite the time that went into it. That made me feel sad. Feel real bad on the inside. So now I'm posting it again! Because it's relevant again! As follows:

I computed Canada's "centre of population" ... and it's pretty much stationary. For this, each CMA population was assumed to have its entire population concentrated at Stats Can's listed latitude and longitude for that CMA's central city. Canada's centre of population, based on the 33 CMAs, is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It has moved 31 km Northwest since 2006 (46.3076 N, 87.7921 W in 2013 versus 46.2276 N, 87.4005 W in 2006).

[ue]

Very interesting and also kind of weird that our centre of mass is on foreign soil. I don't think there's many countries you could say that with.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Well for one as I said no one will notice until there are problems in the housing markets everywhere else.


The benefit is obvious, what I ask is at what point is the growth too extreme. The simple answer is when it starts tripping away talent from the rest of the country which is exactly what is happening.

Now I don't expect people to understand this if you cant appreciate the importance of demographics in creating a can do attitude.

Labour can and should go to where it makes the most economic sense. If a guy can make $21,000 in his outport Newfoundland town or $109,000 in Fort Mac, whose interests are being served by making it harder for him to go west?

It's not like Atlantic Canada is suffering. They're doing fine. Interprovincial migration is steady but there is by no means a tsunami of people moving west.

Also, interesting stat, VIce.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by lio45

... and the most important of all, oil.

California's boom (due to a bunch of things, in your words, "gorgeous coast line, your choice of pleasant, temperate and hot weather, sandy beaches, surfing, excellent growing conditions") and the current Western boom are not due to the same factors at all. The only similarity is that the booming area happens to be located in the western half of the continent.

I'd say North Dakota's boom is a better analogy than California's boom, but as it's far from played out yet, we obviously can't draw conclusions from it.

Los Angeles is an oil town, and always has been.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Also, there aren't many parts of the federation that are declining.

"Relative decline."

[lio45]

Originally Posted by VIce

Los Angeles is an oil town, and always has been.

Far from it, nowadays.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by ue

Very interesting and also kind of weird that our centre of mass is on foreign soil. I don't think there's many countries you could say that with.

Vietnam might, but I wont bother computing it.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by ue

Very interesting and also kind of weird that our centre of mass is on foreign soil. I don't think there's many countries you could say that with.

Probably zero...

Center of mass in the water is more likely though (I expect it the case for Indonesia, maybe Denmark, etc.)

Or, historically, examples are easier to find. The easiest examples, Spanish Empire, British Empire, etc. were likely to have their centers of mass on foreign soil or water depending on the time of measurement.

VIce: interesting work!

[lio45]

Originally Posted by VIce

Vietnam might, but I wont bother computing it.

South Africa's is likely not that far from happening to be within Lesotho, but it's obviously quite a bit northwest of it. Durban and Port Elizabeth would both have to boom for it to move over foreign soil. That country is certainly, like Vietnam, part of a very select group of possible potential candidate for such a thing.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by esquire

Labour can and should go to where it makes the most economic sense. If a guy can make $21,000 in his outport Newfoundland town or $109,000 in Fort Mac, whose interests are being served by making it harder for him to go west?

It's not like Atlantic Canada is suffering. They're doing fine. Interprovincial migration is steady but there is by no means a tsunami of people moving west.

Also, interesting stat, VIce.

But this is the point, the wage difference isn't near what you think.

its more often than can make 60k here, and make 100k there. Of course it doesn't seem like that because the middle step, getting a trade is usually skipped which is why its so destructive. People skip over skill development , become estrange from there families, end up on hard drugs and gangs so often its criminal. Not to mention the number of divorces caused by long distance living, the debt involved, and the inability to build a stable foundation.

And this is why you have no idea what your talking about

Quoting economic theories without understanding why they failing is the problem.

[VIce]

Originally Posted by lio45

Far from it, nowadays.

California is still the third largest producer of oil in the United States - a bigger producer than Alaska. Its also the largest producer of natural gas outside of the Mid-Continental oil field and Alaska. A huge fraction of all of this is centred around Los Angeles. Maybe it would be more correct to say Los Angeles (as any large world city would be) is a city of many hats, but oil and gas is still very important there.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by ue

Very interesting and also kind of weird that our centre of mass is on foreign soil. I don't think there's many countries you could say that with.

Uzbekistan maybe? Croatia seems likely. Laos is another possibility. Slight chance of Paraguay. Maybe Somalia. Possible the Republic of the Congo. A couple small west African nations I can't remember the names of.

[ue]

Originally Posted by lio45

Probably zero...

Center of mass in the water is more likely though (I expect it the case for Indonesia, maybe Denmark, etc.)

Or, historically, examples are easier to find. The easiest examples, Spanish Empire, British Empire, etc. were likely to have their centers of mass on foreign soil or water depending on the time of measurement.

VIce: interesting work!

It goes beyond that, though. It's also weird how our most populated region is a peninsula that juts out south of the rest of the country to be surrounded by an international border on three sides. Just a geographical anomaly, I guess.

[Xelebes]

Chad,

While it is obvious that you are enthusiastic about where you live, please be mindful that what you are doing is essentially trolling. Do not play the naive card because you have asked versions of the question before and you know the response it gets.

Thread locked.