It's happened again and again. I just don't understand our federal politicians when it comes to outright refusal to consider offers being made to Canada by the Turks and Caicos Islands.
They want to join Canada and Johnny Baird said no way.
The Caicos and Turks folks have been checking in with Canada on a semi-regular basis for over 40 years, and they keep getting punted, and I don't know why.
This string of islands, with only a few being actually inhabited, is home to a little more than 30,000 people, about the same as what you find on the Cayman Islands.
They have developed a strong tourism industry and are self-sufficient as a protectorate of the United Kingdom. They would prefer to be Canadian, but apparently we don't want them. Too much sand? Too warm and balmy in winter? Anti-freeze sales too low in January? Too many four-star accommodations?
Ask Johnny Baird the most recent government honcho to say no to the Turks and Caicos visitors who made another pitch to Ottawa a couple of weeks ago.
Let's see, the last island we agreed to take on was in 1949 and Newfoundland has worked out pretty well. They've been one of our "have" provinces for over 10 years. They, Alberta and Saskatchewan have been paying the way for the rest of the Canadian team for a few years now.
Baird and Stevie Wonder that Harper Boy, keep insisting we have some kind of stranglehold on a desolute Arctic island that we and Denmark keep arguing about. Apparently a cold and stormy island is preferable over a palm-leafed sandy oasis. I know we take pride in being kind of tough when it comes to adverse weather conditions, but c'mon guys, this might be our last shot at being really warm in January and still be in Canada! And yes, I'm not buying that Kelowna or Victoria warmth story sorry.
The U.S. showed a little guts in the 1950's. They took on both warm and cold by embracing Alaska and Hawaii and then annexing Puerto Rico. How has that worked out for them?
We took on the cold, and then said no mas?
Are we afraid to have an 11th province? If so, we could merely annex Turks and Caicos and embrace it as our own protectorate. That way they could continue to run a separate government, but would use Canadian cash and infrastructure, and we'd get to visit them in February and dump the snow boots for a week.
Yes, there would be problems, but it's not like we'd be asking our federal government to solve any of them. They already do a pretty good job of dodging and mumbling their way through a bunch of "not much" already, so why would another 30,000 friendly people be a big issue?
Saskatchewan has already agreed to annex Caicos and Turks even if Johnny doesn't like the idea. Premier Bradley doesn't have to listen to Johnny if he doesn't want to so there!
Welcome to Saskatchewan, Turks and Caicos, we'll teach you how to skate and cultivate, and you'll teach us how to relax and surf. And if we run into logistical problems, we'll get Stevie and Johnny to help us out with a Royal Commission on something to study the situation and report back no later than 2021. That will be about the same time that oil pipeline thing is solved and Rob Ford decides to step aside as Mayor of TO and Western Canada is welcomed into the Confederation of Canada.
And that's my thought for this week, dear diary.
