Provincial Primer

[dans]

I was talking to an Albertan associate of mine on Twitter about the NDP majority government, and I made an offhand comment about each province being deeply disappointing to me in their own unique ways. I then quickly backpedaled, simply because I didn't know enough about Prince Edward Island.

So, does any of our Canadian members feel up to giving us yanks a quick primers about the problems facing each province? I know a little about Newfoundland, when I get the chance, I listen to VOCM's Saturday Morning Irish Newfoundland Show and pick up on the news afterwards, so I know some of the economic issues impacting Newfoundland. But I know nada about the rest of Atlantic Canada. And don't get me started on the territories!

[Americalex]

They're a one party state for the past 30 years or something lol Very laid back and friendly fun place. Best province probably, but also the smallest both demographically and geographically by far. Was originally created as a way to contain French-Canada while we were a majority nationally, that purpose having been served they are somewhat of a political relic, but then again they have their own character and are an island after all. Their downside is that "their cellular coverage is spotty".

[dans]

Spotty cell coverage? I don't even have to leave Illinois for that! On AT&T, I get almost no signal in the area around where my aunt lives. And my brother on Verizon wasn't doing much better. (Two largest networks in the country, and almost no coverage, especially by the river.) The locals tell me that they primarily use some local cell provider.

[Americalex]

It baffles me that the US has such underwhelming cellular coverage. On the + side though urban areas have really superior offerings for unlimited wireless data plans.. The wireless network industrial environment is really different from Canada... a bunch of regional entities without any national guidance or formal regulation to cover X percentage of population etc. I worked for Rogers and our regulatory compliance efforts required us to provide coverage for a 90%+ (I don't remember the exact figure) of Canada's population which is no small feat considering the extremely low density of our geographic spread.

I'll never forget spending the new year on a Mesa in Arizona at the Hopi reservation, with their shaman climbing out from the ladder of the cave hut, a bunch of them dancing rythmically around it as part of their most sacred ritual, used to commemorate the seminal event concerning the origin of their tribe dating back to the early post-flood era, supplemented by Hopi guys all around us firing their rifles into the dark night air with a frighteningly powerful resonance. I remember looking at my phone and being reminded that their was zero coverage for an hour by car anywhere around us lol

Me and my ex were the only two non Hopi present there, and while we were looked upon as something of an oddity, at least we were expected and invited lol My many thanks go to the Hopi nation for their kind tolerance of our presence at said event. The reason I was there is because I wanted to get confirmation from primary sources (the Hopi directly) that some of the things described online about their myths were really factual. Their age old account of events is independently eerily similar to the old testament stories: white man became evil using magic tried to reach the stars, god got pissed and rained on the whole parade split people in many tongues.