Alberta as the 51st State?.... Ha!

I nearly spit out my morning coffee when I came across a story in the National Post about the possible secession of Alberta to become the 51st State in the Union (Link). I was even more surprised when I learned that this old ghost of an idea was being floated by a former employee of the respected strategic intelligence firm, Stratfor.

It is an idea that has been the subject of fear mongering by Canadian politicians since before Confederation in 1867 (admittedly stoked now and then by some equally nutty Americans), but one I actually thought had more or less been killed in the wake of the 1988 re-election of Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives and the subsequent formalisation of free trade with the United States.

It sounds sexy, but few actually stop to consider whether such a move would be welcomed in the United States itself. Just for fun, let's take the idea seriously.....