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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Canada: Alberta May Trigger Domino of SeparationThe story about Quebec separatism is well known to anyone who has followed international news in the last 30 years. Much less known is the history of western Canadian regionalism, a movement that claims more political rights for the western Canadian provinces within the federation. In some western provinces like Alberta as many as 40% would consider the option of leaving the federation if the current political and economic misbalance in favor of the Central region (Ontario, Quebec) is kept unchanged. It may be that Alberta, not Quebec, will trigger the domino effect of separation, leaving the United States with uneasiness of how to tackle this new problem looming on its northern border.
HistoryCanada was created first in 1867 as a union of 4 provinces that were situated north of Great Lakes, around Saint Lawrence River and on the Atlantic coast. Gradually new provinces were joining the federation, but even now the bulk of population and industrial power remains located in the Central region. Alberta joined Canada in 1905 and for the first 4 decades as province it was largely known by its agriculture. Discovery of oil after the WWII changed these perceptions. Alberta became one of the richest provinces, arguably the richest, and its population began growing fast, accounting now for approximately 10% of all Canadians. With the current oil boom there isn't doubt that Alberta will continue attracting many new residents. For years it has been the main beneficiary of intra-provincial migration. In Canada today it's fashionable to plan relocating to Alberta. Salaries are high and taxes are low. The provincial government has redistributed to its residents part of the recent financial bonanza. It seems as everything in Alberta is going from very good to excellent, but some people there don't agree.
Financial redistributionCanada unlike many other countries has large distributive programs. This means that if you happen to live in financially bad performing province you will get more than you have deserved. If you perform more than the average, you will be penalized for this above the average success. This mechanism works within each and every level of government. It works on federal level as well. Main beneficiaries from this federal re-distribution are the Atlantic Provinces; the main benefactor right now is Alberta. It's estimated that since WWII this province has contributed to the federal coffers $200 billion* more than it has received back. This year alone these net contributions will exceed $11 billion. Not bad for a population of just over 3 million. Under the political system of Canada winner takes all, and the party in office in Ottawa has large discretion on how the federal budget is spent. The party in office in Ottawa for the last 12 years is the Liberal Party, a party that has no support whatsoever in Alberta, as well as in many other western provinces.
Political solutionsThe best solution to calm the anger of people in Alberta will be to give their party, Conservative party, the power in Ottawa. Once in office, this party may reduce the net contribution by the rich provinces and make poor provinces more responsible for their economic performances. Such solution, however have many caveats. Many federal social programs are already booked for years ahead. The Conservative party during this electoral campaign doesn't promise less spending. In fact, the only thing it really offers is different kind of spending. Unless Conservative party has hidden agenda, it won't be able to satisfy Alberta's financial aspirations.The worst solution will be that Alberta won't have political representation in Ottawa at any time soon, and this will lead to increased support for separation from Canada. There isn't conceivable way for the poor provinces to give up voluntarily the cash rain they constantly get as a prize for their economic problems. The Canadian constitution is remarkably inflexible in terms of redistributing political power between provinces. This means that in long term the only way for Alberta to have all its money, considering that it will still have oil to export, will be to opt out of Canada. In reality it may turn to be much easier than trying to negotiate partial solution with other provinces. * - All prices are in Canadian dollars ($1.00 CAD = $0.85 U.S.).
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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Alberta, Canada.
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