A recent opinion piece in the Calgary Herald newspaper is urging Albertans to forsake travelling to âholier-than-thouâ British Columbia in favour of âcharismatic and enchantingâ Newfoundland and Labrador.
âMany self-righteous B.C. green devotees see Albertans as rapacious oil industry intruders out to destroy their pristine and innocent province,â , referring to the ongoing political spat between the two provincesâ NDP governments over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
In the March 2 piece, Verboven even accused the B.C. government of being âduplicitousâ and stoking âanti-Alberta attitudesâ while âAlberta contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the B.C. economy.â
â(I)n turn they bite the hand that feeds them,â Verboven continued. âThereâs a world of difference between the delightful folks of Newfoundland and many of the reactionary denizens of B.C. who at times have a palatable disdain, if not prejudice, against people from Alberta. â
2016 data from Crown corporation Destination British Columbia, moreover, shows that Alberta residents accounted for $1.39 billion of roughly $11 billion in overnight tourism dollars, just behind U.S. visitors who spent $2.1 billion. Albertans, however, donât seem willing to stop visiting their western neighbours just yet.
âThey like B.C.âs weather, they like the ocean, they like the fruit,â CTV Calgaryâs Brenna Rose said after a day spent interviewing Albertans about the proposed travel boycott. âTheyâre not about to stop going to British Columbia for any reason.â
Across the Continental Divide in B.C., CTV Vancouverâs St. John Alexander said people in his province are âsurprisingly supportive of Alberta.â
âA lot of them admit that they need the pipeline,â Alexander added after interviewing people on Vancouverâs streets.
So, although columnist Verboven accused B.C. of âenvironmental hypocrisy,â the provincesâ citizens donât appear to be taking their premiersâ feuding to heart.
âWhatâs unfortunate here is that the result of thatâs been taken personally and I don't think that it's necessary,â B.C. Green Party MLA Adam Olsen told CTV Vancouver.