Live data from Hacker News

It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

beta.theglobeandmail.com

101–110 of 116 posts

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#101
post #33

Just 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,…

Fair-weather is a bit harsh. they have been in the union for 300 years and now even if all of Scotland voted for one party, they would be automatically overridden by London alone. The rich in London have no need of change, the standard person on the street disagrees.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#102
post #92
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Scotland's economy would actually be ranked 4th (only slightly smaller than Alberta) if it were a province in Canada. So it definitely wouldn't be a "have not" province. 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 pos…

1. It's per capita income that determines how equalization payments are made. Alberta has a per capita GDP of $78K while Scotland's is $43K (both according to wikipedia). Total size of the economy is not the determining factor here. Equalization payments are made to equalize the standard of living between provinces, not the total size of their economies. 2. As I said, how Scotland secedes and how the U.K. chooses to…

1. Don't forget to convert the $43K figure into Canadian dollars. Doing so brings it well above the Canadian average of $53.8K. So, you're still being misleading and the point still stands.

>Cheese from Quebec vs cheese from France: Which will be cheaper and more competitive in Scotland?

The idea that "some products will be more expensive to import from mainland Canada than Europe, therefore it would be of no net economic benefit" is deeply flawed. That just doesn't make any sense. Ditto for the travel costs. Physical distances are increasingly irrelevant in modern economies.

What about Finance? Biotech? IT? What about oil and gas or renewables like wind and tidal power? Scotland is very strong in these areas and has a highly educated population (university is free). In fact, this article from 2014 claims it has the best educated workforce in Europe (though to be fair there have been significant reports of trouble in recent years): http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/s...

So far you've made reference to Scottish Whiskey, Haggis, French cheese and the time it takes to ship (or travel) between places... I can't help but think you're using some very out-dated stereotypes in your thinking.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#103
post #7

With the prospect of Calexit, I would definitely consider having California join Canada. Preexisting trade deals, membership in NATO and NAFTA, and a country used to bilingual culture would all be a great fit for us.

Cascadia would make a great and powerful nation. California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia. Governed by boring and competent people like Jerry Brown, it would be a good place to live.

The only reason I noticed the sarcasm is because I don't see how someone with the nickname "Moonbeam" who has a Dead Kennedys song about him can be considered boring.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically speaking, I'm not sure how many people in the Republic would even entertain the idea of joining with the North, let alone Scotland. Apart maybe from extreme nationalists, most people realise it would be nothing but trouble.

Ironically, Scotland joining might be less emotive. It's historically interesting that Scottish people displaced a lot of the native Irish centuries ago, yet I've never heard anti-Scottish sentiment here.

Scoti was the name the Romans use for the Irish, and Scotland was settled by Irish tribes who displaced the original Brythonic (Pict) speaking inhabitants. So it goes both ways.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#105
post #71
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

And we have seen how all the promises turned out to be lies after the vote. One of the major reasons for not splitting form the UK was that we would get to stay in Europe.

In what way was that a promise? The Conservatives clearly intended to hold a referendum (they had campaigned on it in 2010 but weren't able to get support from the Lib Dems) so future membership was already in question - although voting Yes would have meant Scotland's exit anyway.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#106
post #67
post #56

Earlier 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.

Who said a military occupation will happen to prevent Calexit from taking place?

Those in power will do whatever to prevent Calexit from happening in the first place.

And so if Calexit happens, will we have San Diego exit from the Republic of California too?

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#107
post #53

Earlier 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?

There are also several places in Nova Scotia that speak Scottish Gaelic. A lot of the road signs in Cape Breton are in Gaelic

Yes.

But technically it's just Scottish the language as it is referred to in English there's no need to add Gaelic at the end. Gaelic would be "Scottish language" in Scottish.

Just as Irish is a language and in the Irish language Irish is Gaeilge.

It's pretty confusing but I think I got it right! Koralatov could explain better below. I'm about 4th generation Irish folks left problem late 1800s from Co. Monaghan.

Slán!

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#108
post #8

"Prima Scotia"? (We (Canada) have a province already named Nova Scotia, roughly translating to "New Scotland".)

what part of that translation is 'rough' ?

"Scotia" is Latin for the island now known as Ireland, and though it inspired the name "Scotland" it has never technically been a translation thereof.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also several places in Nova Scotia that speak Scottish Gaelic. A lot of the road signs in Cape Breton are in Gaelic

Yes. But technically it's just Scottish the language as it is referred to in English there's no need to add Gaelic at the end. Gaelic would be "Scottish language" in Scottish. Just as Irish is a language and in the Irish language Irish is Gaeilge. It's pretty confusing but I think I got it right! Koralatov could explain better below. I'm about 4th generation Irish folks left problem late 1800s from Co. Monaghan. Slán…

I'm Scottish, and everyone here always refers to Gaelic specifically as Gaelic. Generally if someone says 'Scottish', they just mean whatever their local dialect is.

Re: It’s time for Scotland to find a new home in Canada

#110
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think you're confusing dialect with language here. Scots and Scottish English are distinct from one another. The latter does borrow some from the former which leads to confusion. Scots is a language, historically equivalent and closely related to English but still distinct. 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…

Hey, parent poster here, also living in and around Aberdeen for most of my life :)

You're bang on about Doric being difficult for people from elsewhere in Scotland; I have family from the central belt and they really struggle to understand some folk up here!

Post reply on HN