Words that should be banned: Calgaria
Cats: banned words|Past posts on banned words (31)
Like most ill-conceived, thoughtless and dare we say stupid enterprises, the Delusional Calgaria campaign by Rodney MacDonald’s Nova Scotia government is floundering.
Yesterday, they dropped the word “delusional” after complaints that the campaign trivializes mental health issues. (Thanks to deepti for alerting GT to this.) Now the disease of people who leave Nova Scotia to find work is simply called Calgaria.
You may call this political correctness. You may call it respect. Your choice.
But real issue remains: Rodney MacDonald’s attempt at a humorous trope to lure Nova Scotians back to this province is hollow and insulting to the very people it attempts to lure back. And if you needed evidence you only had to read the litany of letters from those people published in yesterday’s Herald.
The campaign fails to recognize that Nova Scotia simply cannot match Boomtown Calgary in jobs, salaries and opportunities available. It pokes fun at the people who left the province and it takes a cheap shot at Calgary which enjoys an economy Nova Scotia could only dream about.
As we said before, Rodney, build it and they will come. But build a website, and they probably won’t. Now, you are the one who looks delusional. And you have turned your province into a national laughing stock.
March 31st, 2007 at 4:52 am
I have become much more cynical about enterprises such as this campaign since I read that they are really targeted at those of us who remain in Nova Scotia, rather than actually luring anyone back here. They are designed to make Nova Scotians feel superior and secure in staying here, and make us think there is something wrong with those who left the province. This certainly makes sense of the observation that when Halifax runs a ‘pro-Halifax’ campaign, extolling the virtues of Halifax, most of the adspace is purchased on the sides of buses in (wait for it) Halifax. Preaching to the converted? - no - just trying to make the converted feel superior to everyone else. Now if we could get Rodney to leave town - say to Fort McMurray - and then run a campaign extolling the virtues of Fort McMurray - now there’s a plan….
March 31st, 2007 at 5:28 am
yes, TB it’s galling when they use our tax dollars to make us think they are doing something.
Remember that novel Confederacy of Dunces? that is Nova Scotia and Rodney is Chief Dunce.