If the real rulers of Greece -- who would be German bankers, I guess -- need advice on how to put the democratic genie back in the Greek bottle, they need look no further than the Canadian province of Alberta to see how to properly manage a potentially restive population.

They've had a bad scare these past couple of days, those Europeans, what with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou coming up with the nutty idea of actually giving the citizens of a his country a vote on things that affect their lives and livelihoods, and those of their children.

Sherwood Park is the Charlie Brown of Alberta communities.

Sherwood Park is a hamlet with a population of more than 60,000 on Edmonton's eastern border. (Really! We’re not making this up!)

It’s a "hamlet" -- legally speaking -- because it's part of Strathcona County. People out there like it that way because its weird legal status keeps residential taxes low.