Alberta residents should stop spending their tourism dollars in British Columbia because the province doesn't appreciate them, according to an opinion piece in the Calgary Herald.
Over the weekend, agricultural advisor Will Verboven argued B.C.'s beautiful scenery isn't worth the "anti-Alberta attitudes" residents face while vacationing in the province.
"A whopping 25 per cent of the B.C. tourist economy is provided by Albertans, and if one includes summer homes it’s even more," Verboven wrote.
"But I suspect many Albertans may be feeling a sense of resentment from the attitudes of some holier-than-though B.C. residents."
The conflict centres on differences of opinion regarding Alberta's oil industry, according to the author, who recommends people try vacationing in Newfoundland and Labrador instead.
But Adam Olsen of the B.C. Green Party argued the government's focus on protecting the environment doesn't need to drive a wedge between the two populations.
"That has been taken personally and I don't think that's necessary," Olsen told CTV News. "I represent a lot of Albertans in my riding, I know we get a lot of Albertans here through the summer, and British Columbia's a very friendly place."
A select number of social media users have called for Albertans to boycott B.C. since early 2018, when the provinces' premiers were in an escalating dispute over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
But a widespread boycott, however unlikely, could be very damaging to B.C.'s economy given what a popular destination it is for Albertans.
According to numbers from Destination B.C., Alberta residents accounted for $1.39 billion of the $11.2 billion in overnight tourism dollars spent in the province in 2016.
That's behind U.S. visitors, who spent $2.1 billion, and tourists from Asia, who spent $1.5 billion.
The biggest chunk of overnight visitors came from within the province, with British Columbians contributing $3.2 billion.
With files from CTV Vancouver's St. John Alexander
(Source: Destination B.C.)
