Originally posted by knowltok2
There is some really good humor in here, but because I am not familier with AofGG (I looked at the link, but I'm not digging through it) and I don't fully understand what is so horrible about PEI, I think I am missing a lot of it. Small seats? Hat with the bow-ribbon? 
I know that is funny, I just don't know how.
Way too much going on up north I'm not getting.
Re: that last remark, don't be so sure!
#1. Anne. I could go on for awhile, but it makes me sick, so just let me put it this way:
Imagine Little Women turned into a stupid girly fad! Imagine the fad is still alive decades later! Imagine, an entire Island crawling with stupid references to this girl in a little hat and frilly dress and her "adventures," which make the Hardy boys look cosmopolitan and urbane! Green gables is some pastoral little farm on PEI, and the entire Island is (supposedly) crawling with theme stores, gas stations named after AofGG characters and other obscene references to this annoying little girl and her cult. I say supposedly because on MY Island, we have had enough comparably masculine pursuits that I was never tempted to go to THEIR Island on the other side of the country.
I worked in the tourism industry in Victoria, and you see a lot of Japanese tourists there. And the wierd thing is, Japanese girls LOVE anne of green gables. They're hooked. When I met Japanese girls (mmmmm) travelling in Victoria and asked where in our vast country they were going, the answer was almost always:
1. Victoria, where they were, to see the fake Englishness (which is actually the wrong reason to see Vancouver Island, the natural stuff is much better)
2. Across the Rockies by train
3. Flying from Calgary or Winnipeg direct to PEI to see Anne of Green Gables stuff.
It was SPOOKY, man. They were all yakking about AoGG like she was their idol or something.
And the CBC has made far too many smarmy shows from the books, so unsuspecting males accidently run into it while wondering watch to watch when hockey season is over.
#2. The small seats - it's actually not that funny. Canada's constitution is descended from the British North America Act, or BNA act. Trudeau's biggest claim to fame was "repatriating" or moving control of amendment of that Act from Britain's parliament to ours, which unbelievably only happened in 1982, fifty years after the Statute of Westminister made Canada nominally independent from the Empire and over a century after Confederation.
Anyhow, my point is that the BNA act was written on the assumption that Canada was a confederation of only five colonies - Ontario, Quebec, PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. And, as part of the deal, Prince Edward Island was guaranteed four seats in the House of Commons, regardless of population. Back then, the House was small, and this made sense. But now there are ten provinces, and the nation's population has far outstripped any model which could accommodate four seats for the tiny province, which only has about 200,000 people. But four seats they still retain.
Pellaken is from PEI, and the only rational reason anyone would beleive that PEI is a good political launching pad is because it would be - theoretically - easy to win an election in such a tiny seat if you happened to be a quick hand at retail politics. In my experience, all this really does is make it cheaper to buy votes. But a small population in one riding doesn't make it any easier to reach Pellaken's dream of political statesmanship, because national politics in Canada is driven by the same things as anywhere else: fame (e.g. big media markets) and resources (e.g. pork and $$$).
And you don't get either by being the MP from Summerside, no matter what party you're from, because Canada is highly polarized regionally and where you're from actually becomes a major issue in judging how attractive a choice you might be for higher office. If you're from Toronto, it's assumed you're a bastard, and other Ontarians are slightly less awful. If you're from Quebec, well, that's good, particularly if you are from there but talk alot about how you can keep those guys in line. If you're from Alberta, well you MUST be a fascist. And B.C.? Kook, fringe material. The last two PMs from BC both lasted less than six months. Everywhere else? Don't be ridiculous! I can count the number of modern PMs from the other provinces on my nose, literally.
So, to summarize today's humiliation, Prince Edward Island is famous for four things, two of them unique. Lobster and french-fry quality potatoes are the non-unique parts. The unique ones are Anne of Green Gables and the fact that Confederation was negotiated in the diminutive capital of the Island. over 130 years ago. If it wasn't for the Anne of Green Gables thing, though, no one would know PEI existed. And that's pretty humiliating if you ask me. Where I come from, the national identity is determined by the quality of pot they grow (world's best, or so The Economist says
), rich native cultures (the Haida and Salish) that invented the Totem Pole, snowboarding, sailing, skiing, decent rugby players, big forests, hardcore loggers, the world's most rabid environmentalists, Michael J. Fox, the X-Files, Louisiana-style politics, superb smoked salmon, a reference in the official words of Monty Python's "the lumberjack song" and a legendary laid back attitude.
On the other hand, Pellaken can draw on the experiences of a little girl with a funny hat to inspire him.
It's enough to make a guy become a civfanatic, isn't it?
R.III
I'm 5 minutes down the highway from #1 
