Earlier quoted context omitted.
Polling models predicted that a majority of the UK population didn't want to leave the EU, so...
Yes, but Scotland had a referendum on this relatively recently, and polls prior to that were generally similar to how they are now, so it seems pretty reasonable to see the most likely outcome as another No vote.
It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
71–80 of 116 posts
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If California gets crushed, the rest of the country will starve. See? That's why Calexit will never happen.
That's actually why Calexit would happen and military force wouldn't. A military occupation shuts down all sectors immediately and they absolutely will not come back up for years. Look at what the Taiwan quake did in semiconductors. Now scale that up. An orderly exit allows the rest of the country to continue buying California products.
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or Scandinavia? Makes more sense geographically, at least.
The thing is "Scandanavia" isn't a country or any sort of meaningful confederation, more a neat way to describe a collection of geographically close countries. What's being proposed here is a country/union of some kind
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#74Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#75There are some places in Canada even speak Scottish. We have lots of Scottish people and Irish too but quite far removed, distant relatives typically of at least 100 years. It would be interesting and I can certainly see how we Canadians and Scottish people are similar especially here on the east coast. But there are also big differences I'd say Scotland is more left of center politically than Canada usually is. But…
> There are some places in Canada even speak Scottish Nit to be pedantic... but do you mean they speak with a sort of Scottish accent , or do you mean they are actually using words from Scots, Doric or some other Scottish dialect?
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#76Just to play the devil's advocate here... Such a move would pose some pretty big problems for Canada. 1. If Scotland were a Canadian province, they'd likely be a "have not" province and equalization payments from other provinces would go to Scotland. Good for Scotland, but this would be a drain on the rest of Canada. 2. If Scotland seceded from the UK and joined Canada, that would be one heckuva precedent for Quebec,…
2. I'd argue that Scotland joining Canada would present a stronger argument for Quebec remaining rather than leaving.
3. See (1)
4. This is an interesting question but between Brexit and losing Scotland I don't think they'd be in a very strong position to dictate much. Further, I don't think they'd want to antagonize Scotland (and by extension both the EU and Canada). After all, they can't trade exclusively with the Americans (who are becoming increasingly protectionist).
5. Also an interesting question - I have no idea about this.
6. The US Postal Service has different rates for "Continental USA" and non-contintental shipments. Besides - it will probably still cost far less offering services in Scotland than some of Canada's remote northern communities.
7. It's not clear to me why the distance would matter from an economic perspective. I also can't think of any good reason why the EU would not welcome Canada. Especially if it would give them better access to the US market.
>what does Canada get out of all this anyways?
Canada would get back door access to the worlds 2nd largest economy. Furthermore, if NAFTA remains in place, Canada would become the "gateway" for European companies accessing the USA (and vice versa).
Being at the geographic, economic and social intersection of the worlds two largest economies would have enormous benefits.
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There are some places in Canada even speak Scottish Nit to be pedantic... but do you mean they speak with a sort of Scottish accent , or do you mean they are actually using words from Scots, Doric or some other Scottish dialect?
Scots is a language, historically equivalent to English - very similar but different. Many modern english speakers derive from a Scots root rather than a purely English one. E.g. Scots has a plural form of you, 'yous' and other differences. Scotland has many other dialects like Doric and accents and other languages like the Gaelic of the Highlands.
It's a stretch to argue that "many modern English speakers derive from Scots root". At this point in history, most Scots speak Scottish English with some borrowing from a Scots root -- not the other way around. This is evident in the fact that the vast majority of a modern Scottish person's vocabulary is from mainline English and intelligible by someone from London. That doesn't happen by Scots borrowing vocabulary from English -- it happens from English absorbing vocabulary from Scots.
This is the situation for the vast majority of Scottish people. Coming across those who don't fit into the English-with-Scots-influence only reinforces this. Doric is arguably a descendant of mainline Scots which has converged on English, rather than the other way around, and means it's sometimes difficult to parse even for other Scots. Quite a lot of the Borders also speak a dialect which derives from Scots which has converged on English, and is difficult for other Scots to parse. They sound very similar to each other to someone who speaks neither, but are actually quite distinct -- mistaking someone from Selkirk for an Aberdonian will cause offence!
The Wikipedia has a pretty good article on Modern Scots, though I think it overstates the pervasiveness of modern Scots: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Scots It's also worth noting that most speakers of Modern Scots also speak Scottish English, and code-switching takes place frequently and fluidly.
Gaelic is spoken by ~57,500 people in Scotland. Some of them have English as a second language, having been raised with Gaelic as the language of the home. In some cases this does show their English usage. One common tell is slightly unusual phrasing -- one typical and quite common usage is "You will be having tea?" rather than the more common "Will you be having tea?" Even then, they're still speaking a variety Scottish English and not Scots.
tl;dr: Every Scottish person speaks at least one of the dialects of Scottish English. Some also speak a dialect of Modern Scots. An even smaller number speak Gaelic.
Sources: Highlander born and raised, living in Aberdeen for >10 years. One parent is a Gael whose second language is English, the other parent is from the Borders whose first language is that variety of Modern Scots. Native speaker of Scottish Standard English, with a little time spent studying linguistics and an interest in the subject.
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#78As a Canuck, I think this kind of thought experiment must be extremely offensive to the autonomy of Scottish people... I would be pissed if I read the same sort of thing coming from the U.S. towards Canada. Nonetheless I love my Scottish brothers, if it were coming from you I wouldn't say no!
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#79I read this week about a proposal for the whole U.K. to join Canada after Brexit - it would be like a reverse takeover by a former colony - they'd keep the queen since it's technically the ruler of Canada too... That would be a fun scenario to explore
With their superior numbers, the English voters will quickly overwhelm Canadian elections. They would turn it from a nation that embraces immigration and is socially and environmentally progressive, into a backward country introducing state-funded faith schools, state-endorsed xenophobia and even more short-sighted politicking.
Believe me, you don't want to see that.
Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada
#80I read this week about a proposal for the whole U.K. to join Canada after Brexit - it would be like a reverse takeover by a former colony - they'd keep the queen since it's technically the ruler of Canada too... That would be a fun scenario to explore
A fun scenario if you don't live anywhere near Canada or Europe maybe. With their superior numbers, the English voters will quickly overwhelm Canadian elections. They would turn it from a nation that embraces immigration and is socially and environmentally progressive, into a backward country introducing state-funded faith schools, state-endorsed xenophobia and even more short-sighted politicking. Believe me, you don…