Published

Cultural Exchange Program

Learning to Be Neighbors (Or: Do Y'all Say 'Eh'?)

We've debated the hard stuff—healthcare systems, tax policy, firearms law, where to put the capital and whose face goes on the money. Those conversations will continue, probably forever, because that's what democracies do.

But nations aren't built on policy papers. They're built on shared stories, common rituals, mutual recognition, and the thousand small moments where someone from there and someone from here realize they're not so different after all.

In the Matter of the Adoption of Texas by Alberta: A Brief on Impossible Jurisprudence

Let's be clear from the outset: there is no legal mechanism for this to happen.

The Canadian Constitution does not contemplate acquiring American states. The United States Constitution does not permit states to join foreign nations. International law does not recognize satirical civic movements as legitimate governmental actors. No court on Earth has jurisdiction to grant what we're about to ask for.

And yet.

Currency and Economic Integration

What's in Your Wallet (And Who Controls It)?

Healthcare determines whether you can see a doctor. Taxation determines how much you keep. Firearms policy determines your relationship with the state.

But currency? Currency determines everything else.

Capital City Selection

Where the Heart of a Nation Should Beat

Every nation needs a capital. A place where power resides, where laws are made, where ambassadors present credentials and protesters gather on the lawn. The choice is never neutral—it shapes national identity, distributes economic benefits, and declares what the country values.

South Alberta inherits an embarrassment of riches: two current provincial/state capitals, multiple world-class cities, and no obvious answer.

Continental Hockey League

Drop the Puck on I

Bridging 2,500 Kilometers of Somebody Else's Country

Here's a detail that the founding visionaries of Albertification may have glossed over: Alberta and Texas do not touch.

Let's be direct: this may be the issue that makes Albertification impossible.

Healthcare is complicated but negotiable—money and time can bridge most gaps. Taxation is math with politics attached—difficult but solvable. Cultural integration happens naturally over generations.

But firearms policy touches something deeper. It's not just about regulations; it's about fundamentally different understandings of rights, safety, government authority, and what kind of society we want to live in.

Alberta has no provincial sales tax. Texas has no state income tax. Both populations are fiercely protective of these absences—they're not just policy choices, they're identity markers. "No PST" bumper stickers exist in Alberta. "Don't Mess With Texas" has always implied "especially our tax code."

So here's the question that makes South Alberta genuinely interesting: what if we kept both?

Two Systems, Thirty-Five Million People, One Conversation

The constitutional questions are settled. The flag committee is arguing about lone stars versus maple leaves. But the issue that will determine whether South Alberta succeeds or fractures along its original border is far more personal: what happens when you get sick?