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Four provinces east of them.
Four provinces west of them.
Sounds pretty central to me.
Yes, if looking at a map challenges you.
I'm quite proficient at map reading.
There are four provinces east of Quebec. There are four provinces west of Ontario. Thus, everyone in te universe (except jas) is familiar with the term "Central Canada" to refer collectively to Ontario and Quebec.
Everyone in the universe is familar with the term and many people in the universe understand that it's outdated and Eastern-centric, as much of our Canadian history has been. Everyone in the universe also understands that one's geographic position in the country has nothing to do, and never has, with the number of provinces, or the number of cities, or the number of Tim Hortons stores to the east, west, north or south of you.
If we want neutral, objective, regional categories they should be based on geography and shared regional history and way of life. And I think Malcolm knows this, too.
Which would be totally valid if we were talking about changing where the capital was located... I think Churchill MB would be the most "central" candidate -- and tourists could watch the polar bears when Parliament was not in session.... but as to how to divide the forums... not so much
Are you serious? Who in Saskatchewan would be offended by being said to live in "The West?"
Damn, we define The West!
Damn, we define The West!
-----------------------------------------------------------
And in me dad's day, to have "gone West" was to have disappeared, or to have broken down. All of which reflected the powerful appeal of "The West" whenever things tanked in the East. (or should the E of Esst only be lower case in proper diminutive status?
)
Why? What's the attachment to "central"? Why even have a forum confusingly named "Central Canada", which might suggest that posts about Manitoba should go in there, when you can have a forum called "Ontario and Quebec"? Like I said, BCers don't call Ontario "central" Canada. Nor do Manitobans that I know of. Who does? Maybe only Ontario-ians.
I don't have an issue with separate Ontario and Quebec fora. In fact, given the preponderance of posts, it probably makes sense.
I merely find the whinge about the label "central Canada" to be utterly juvenile.
The three territories should not be split up and appended to the southern regions. They have more in common with each other than with the respective regions south of them.
What? Manitobans can't be overlords? Hey, they moved the mint here, they can move the centre of power.
Not sure. I think maybe Yukon and BC have more in common than Yukon and Nunavut. But only Yukoners would be able to say. In the interests of humility, it might be better also to have all provinces share a forum with at least one other. Also, in the interests of keeping the forums somewhat balanced in terms of traffic, combining the prairies with the North would help boost the numbers mutually. Also, if the mid-continent trade corridor gets established, it will be in one of the prairie provinces. That will be a further geographic, economic and political pathway linking the prairies with the north.
I don't think any configuration is going to make everyone happy, unless each province and territory gets a forum of its own. And that's not going to happen because that means there are going to be a bunch of dead forums scrolling down the front page.
I'm pretty sure that if I do separate forums for BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, this is going to cause nothing but griping in rabble reactions from newbies and others for centuries to come...we're already self-centred enough. ;)
So, I'm going to leave it as is for now, and I'll let babblers decide for themselves which forum they think their threads should go into (so, should Alberta threads go in "western provinces" or "prairies"? You decide!). Same with threads about northern Ontario or northern BC or whatever - do they belong in the Northern forum? You decide. :)
I am trying to recall anyone suggesting that Alberta have its own regional forum and can't think of any. I know there has been some good natured banter as to who is going to be stuck with us...
I think there has been something approaching a consensus along the lines of 5 groupings: Atlantic (PEI, NFLD&LB, NS, NB) Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, B.C. and the Territories.
If their is any "debate", it is only on two points. 1) Should the Territories be in the B.C. forum or the Prairies (and I am beginning to think the practical argument is tending more towards lumping them together with the Prairies... again so that their threads are not swamped by the very active Wet Coast posters) and 2) If Ontario and Quebec should have separate forums (I haven't noticed a lot of posts from Quebec members complaining about being swamped by the Ontario behemoth, but nor have I seen many posts challenging Wilf Day's observation that Quebec, after all, is a nation).
Just resurrecting this issue (as, apparently, I have nothing better to do this evening). Despite the quibble about "central Canada" it seems almost unanimous, of the posters in this thread, anyway, that a minor change or two to the regional groupings is desired. It seems unanimous that there's no need for a regional grouping called "central Canada" nor one called "western provinces". It seems in fact, as bagkitty pointed out, that everyone here is in close agreement except for whether to group Ontario and Quebec together, and whether to group the North with the Prairies or with BC. I would add that there may be a temptation to just go with whatever currently named fora right now have the most posts, but that would just perpetuate the confusion and irritation over the long term. The reason they have the most posts now is because they're broadly defined and vague. And threads about Manitoba are currently in three separate fora. Everyone here has agreed that clearly defined regional fora are preferable to unclear and subjectively defined fora, and everyone in this thread has provided reasonable suggestions based on firsthand experiences of living in those regions.
Are there any other suggestions, or can we move to implement? Michelle, are you in agreement? It seems that if a change is to be made, earlier might be better than later, so fewer threads have to be transferred over.
I think the Central Standard Time Zone should have its own forum.
I suggest Five Forums:
cool provinces
dumb provinces
provinces that think they're cool but are actually dumb
provinces that don't know how money they really are
one forum for alberta and quebec, just to see what happens