[Alberta's Child]

Like Britain, Canada has become a decidedly secular country. It is also a model of multicultural integration. The critics who complain that it is too European only in economic terms — high-tax, low-growth, and stifled by socialist regulation — are simply uninformed. True, there is great regional variety, but Alberta has almost the lowest taxes in North America, and no provincial sales tax whatsoever.

With all due respect to the author, his statement is not a valid one because he has missed a very crucial point here. From an economic standpoint, Alberta isn't even part of Canada anymore and therefore can't be held up as an example of a "strong-growth, free market economy in Canada." Just about every single measure that the Alberta government has taken to lay the grounds for a robust economy has been done under strong opposition from Ottawa.

[IvanT]

Oh, Alberta seceded already? I must have missed that. ;)

[eBelasco]

Just about every single measure that the Alberta government has taken to lay the grounds for a robust economy
Including sticking all that oil in the ground. That was a smart move.

[McGavin999]

Alberta OUGHT to be it's own country. I worked up in Canada for 4 years from Calgary to New Brunswick and I found the people of Alberta to be completely different than the Canadians in the east. They're fiercely independent, fun, ethical and, except for buying into the socialized medicine, would all make good conservatives.