Alberta – a U.S.-State?

Alberta has often been compared to Texas. Mainly because of its oil based economy, but also because of its population which seems more American-style than in any other province. Yet, Alberta as the 51st U.S. State is most likely never gonna happen. After all, and luckily, there are still significant differences in ways how Albertans have organized society, compared to their southern neighbour. And just that might be something American author Peter Zeihan might have missed in his book, where he expresses his opinion that: (citation) "Alberta as a U.S. state would not simply be rich — the richest in the Union, in fact — but would have a vibrantly well-financed and diverse economy that would put its former (and a lot of its new-found) countrymen to shame," writes the American author in The Accidental Superpower. "Alberta produces more energy than the rest of Canada put together, their primary export market is the United States and a merger would eliminate everything from tax liabilities to foreign currency fluctuations. It’s like saying Donald Trump is gonna “shack-up” with the poorest 10 Million of Americans in order to increase his power and wealth. For one thing I have no belief in that Albertans would want to put up with the American Congress and its rather childish behaviour. Neither some U.S. Senator’s general opinions rooted in the middle ages would seem attractive to Canadians. And last but not least with Albertans enjoying free health care membership, the prospect of forking over 1000 bucks a month or more to an American-style health insurance would definitely ruin Zeihan’s idea of turning Alberta into an American State. Even though Zeihan’s focus on monetary benefits cannot be dismissed entirely, it doesn’t need to go hand-in-hand with a political union. Mentioned benefits like no currency risks and no trade barriers can easily be reached by creating a common North-American currency. (See EURO within European Union) Even less probable seems the idea of Saskatchewan joining in on “shacking up” I would recommend Mr.Zeihan spends some considerable time between Canadians on the grass-root level, before he writes a book about a sensitive topic like a political union with the U.S. The entire CBC-article can be found here:  https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/alberta-richer-shacked-u-171715055.html