Does an innocent advertising trick mask a deep and dark Laurentian worldview?
The signs advertising Alberta as a tourist attraction in the Calgary airport disclose a disturbing idea.The posters are pictures of great landscapes found in that great province.
The caption is simple but meaningful: “Canada’s Alberta.” Not the conventional locator taxonomy: “Alberta, Canada.”
At first, I thought it was a simple transposition of words to catch our attention.
But perhaps a deeper, darker secret lurks. The author knows the pictures are the eye-catching element. I wonder if the designer meant what is said, literally.
This is not the benign Alberta, Canada; this is the possessive tense of Canada, owning Alberta. A classic Laurentian worldview and framing message.
You might say I am paranoid, but that does not mean I am wrong.
Alberta is not Canada’s; Alberta is Albertans’.