Recent news stories have pointed out that if Scotland votes for independence they likely wouldn't be able to keep the pound and may not be let into the European Union. Clearly, Scotland is so culturally distinct - they like football, drink heavily, prefer tea to coffee, admire rolling grassy hills filled with sheep and horses, want socialized healthcare, speak English (sorta) and are mainly Christian - that it is ludicrous to expect them to stay prisoners to the dictators in Westminster who only let them have their own parliament, run their own education system, run their own healthcare system, conduct their own judicial matters, control their rail system, and set their own income tax. So the question that arises is what is next?
Clearly the natural ally of Scotland is Canada, and since we're already made up of far more disparate groups (french-speaking catholics, english-speaking protestants, and immigrants from every corner of the world speaking dozens of different languages and worshipping dozens of different gods) glued together in a devolved federation. It would be most natural for them to join as the 11th province (we have had plenty experience dealing with secessionist movements already). Scots already make up the third largest ethic group in Canada - there are almost as many Scots or people of Scottish decent in Canada as there are in Scotland - so a few more wouldn't hurt.
Furthermore, Scotland and Canada share a similar culture (after all the first & second prime-ministers of Canada were Scottish). We both prefer beer to wine, we enjoy curling, we recognize the queen as head of state for convenience but don't want more than the occasional visit, we can cope with snow and sub-zero temperatures, we both say "oot" instead of "out", we love rugged landscapes and see ourselves as a hardy people despite the mockery of pretty much everyone else. We even share a love of fiddle music and tartan (although we call it plaid).
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| Two examples of Canadian archetypes, note the ubiquitous plaid shirts. |
Geographically some parts of Canada are already closer to Scotland than they are to the other side of Canada (UK to Newfoundland is only 3,500 km, vs 6,800 km from Vancouver to Newfoundland). Scotland would be the 8th largest province in terms of area (larger than New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI). Many parts of the east coast of Canada look so similar, in terms of geology and landscape, to Scotland they were named after places found in the latter.
As the 11th province of Canada, Scotland would enjoy: the monetary security of a central bank that used to be run by Mark Carney, their own parliament with powers over education, healthcare, transport, the administration of justice, and setting their own income tax. Plus they would never have to put up with Canadian owned nukes on their territory since we don't have any (but might have to play 'temporary' host to American nuclear-missile armed aircraft or ships). As the third largest province by population, and having 13% of this new Canada's total population, Scotland would have a stronger voice at the federal level than it currently does in the UK. Additional benefits include a free-trade deal with the US, lower valued currency to promote exports, free movement to the other 10 provinces which are much less densely populated, including to Nova Scotia (New Scotland). Finally the biggest benefit is obviously access to all four grades of maple syrup as well as Canada's significant reserves of the sweet and delicious fluid, because the only thing better than a deep-fried mars bar is a deep-fried mars bar slathered in maple syrup.
Scotland, forget the pound, forget the euro, embrace the loonie.
