At first, I thought with wealthy families it could be someone with local knowledge resentful of their significant influence and overstating it, plus less sensible of the extent to which wealthy families would play similar roles in many other places.

But this article makes a good case. The Irvings, in particular, own oil refineries, car dealerships, hardware stores, are the largest employer in the province all together... and own 97% of the English-language media. That's pretty dominant.

Their extensive industrial holdings also connect to the mystery disease - they'd have a reason to push the scientist out if he thinks there's some environmental cause, e.g. pollution.

I remember reading about this mysterious disease at some point when I was visiting New Brunswick, but I can't remember why exactly I stumbled across it.

Er, when I was visiting Nova Scotia. So now I'm even more confused about how I ran across it.

On the subject of New Brunswick mysteries, I got very confused about why there's a whole big section of New Brunswick that's tons of small cemeteries but nothing else. Turns out it's a bunch of towns that they kicked out to make a giant military base, but when they removed the towns they kept their cemeteries.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/cfb-gagetown-expropriation-70-years-later-1.6525278

Oh yeah, I always mix up Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Nova Scotia is the one Kate Beaton came from.

I was starting to make some too many large landholder joke about how Nova Scotia is just like the old Scotia, and realized it wasn't working well with New Brunswick is just like the old Brunswick, and thereby realized I'd made a mistake!

What I really get confused though is Saint John New Brunswick and St. John's Newfoundland.

I have a strong and mostly irrational lifelong dislike of New Brunswick. It's objectively the worst of the Atlantic provinces.

Nova Scotia at least has one decent-sized city, Halifax (metro area 466k), whereas in the smaller New Brunswick you have to combine Moncton, Saint John, and Fredericton to get even close to that number.

I'm familiar with its pier, alas.

7: Co-sign.

Yep, NB is a big company town. NS is owned by a different series of families and has some (perpetually threatened by development and logging) provincially owned lands.

Let's all list our favorite Canadian province and views on oligarchy. I'll start. Quebec and it's a growing horror.

5: if anything the problem with the old Brunswick was too many small land holders. It split up in a truly boggling way.

11: Quebec and it's a growing horror

And that's the best one!

Saskatchewan is the best one, self-evidently.

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The inky diffusion of clear water.
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I was recently listening to the 1988 song Newfoundlanders by Charlie King & Martha Leader.

Manitoba, represent! My favorite province due to a pleasant visit to the International Peace Garden by bicycle in 1983. Also because of the name of the forest in the Southeast corner of the province, Northwest Angle Provincial Forest.

Semi-related: my wife and are taking a cruise around Newfoundland in September. We have full day pre-cruise in St. John's. Anyone have recommendations for there, or anywhere in coastal Newfoundland, St. Pierre, Cape Breton, Isle de la Madeleine, or REd Bay Labrador? Of course L'Anse Aux Meadows is included,

Cape Breton? That seems far afield but come visit me! I'm at the park.

Red Bay has a whaling museum? I was there once 20 years ago. Cape St. Mary's has a big amazing gannet colony but the fog can't be guaranteed to hold off. Witless Bay has a puffin/murre/gull colony that's worth a visit IMbiasedO.

Downtown St. John's is great to wander around. If the Duke of Duckworth (?) is still open probably worth visiting and I've heard great things about the archeology museum.

If you're in St John's hiking Signal Hill is definitely well worth it. My 2nd favourite city hike after Arthur's Seat.

Hydrobatidae is right about downtown. It's great.
Gros Morne National Park is spectacular, but Newfoundland is really, really big. The park is a 7 hour drive from St John's.

Every time you turn a corner, you find new land.

The thing I saw that I remember most in Canada is the Columbia Icefield. But I don't know if I was in Alberta or British Columbia, so I didn't count it toward my favorite province.

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The Pygmy people, an Indigenous community native to the Congo basin, generously gave her two hectares of coffee to cultivate in exchange for the chicken.

I know this grows more unlikely by the day, but I still cherish a faint hope of retiring to Gimli, Manitoba. Here in the Home of the Northwest Angle, our oligarchy is diffuse enough that it's difficult to pin any one problem on any specific family. Too many fucking rich people, in other words.

We're all about the gold, actually.

You Smoke Too Tough. Your Swag Too Different. You Delved Too Greedily. They'll Kill You, Durin Son Of Durin.

Thanks, Matt D and Hydrobatidae! a hike at Gros Morne National Park is on the schedule. Hydrobatidae, which park? The Cape Breton stops are at Fortresss of Louisberg and them Baddeck, which seem not close to Cape Breton Highlands Natioal Park.

About 2.5 hours from FoL and 1.5 from Baddeck so a bit of a drive to my side of the park.

Check out the Barn swallows at FoL in the Artillery Building which may be/was the largest colony of in Canada. Admire the size of the beams and note how the birds have mostly selected to nest on the sprinkler system.

And have a good visit! Should be some great scenery. Hopefully you'll see an iceburg (but not too close).

Because the residents are notoriously cold-shouldered.

I think this is the most interesting article that this author has published in a long time, the same thing he is talking about happened in Spain before with female companions, which is why it caught my attention so much.

OT: How bad is Windows 11? Like if I'm buying a laptop for a kid going off to college, is it worth it to stick with Windows 10?