Of course, the stereotype is mostly a product of marketing. Fewer than 100,000 of the ~2 million workers in Alberta are employed in oil and gas. Whereas 1.5 million of them are employed in services of some sort. 81% of Alberta is urban, which is in line with the Canadian average. The average Albertan is pretty much the same as the average Canadian, an underpaid urban service worker. With a small, well paid minority of workers who really mess up the stats.
I was in a bar stateside once and met another Canadian, we got to talking about our most and least favourite cities and I mentioned that I find Calgary to be my least favourite major city. She asked why and I told her I find it to be a bit fake, among other things. She asked me what I meant by fake and I told her, ‘In Calgary the Realtors wear cowboy hats on their billboard ads, have you ever seen a Realtor in Halifax wearing a Sou’Wester?’
Anyway, this is just to agree that the perception is not unearned, their governments and local marketers chose to present them this way.
Of course, the stereotype is mostly a product of marketing. Fewer than 100,000 of the ~2 million workers in Alberta are employed in oil and gas. Whereas 1.5 million of them are employed in services of some sort. 81% of Alberta is urban, which is in line with the Canadian average. The average Albertan is pretty much the same as the average Canadian, an underpaid urban service worker. With a small, well paid minority of workers who really mess up the stats.
I was in a bar stateside once and met another Canadian, we got to talking about our most and least favourite cities and I mentioned that I find Calgary to be my least favourite major city. She asked why and I told her I find it to be a bit fake, among other things. She asked me what I meant by fake and I told her, ‘In Calgary the Realtors wear cowboy hats on their billboard ads, have you ever seen a Realtor in Halifax wearing a Sou’Wester?’
Anyway, this is just to agree that the perception is not unearned, their governments and local marketers chose to present them this way.
The number of lifted pickup trucks I see driving around 'berta seems to defy that ratio though. Well, that and bald tires.
Lots of Albertans buy into the marketing even if an actual assessment of their circumstances would show they aren’t living it.