North Idaho statehood seems a lost cause

I guess that the idea of statehood for North Idaho is out. It’s pretty much understood that our connection with the rest of Idaho is, and always has been, a big mistake. The Salmon River will forever form a barrier between us and them. But there just isn’t the will to make a go of it alone.

Most people I’ve talked with since my previous attempts at garnering support for secessionist ideas have voiced a preference for an alliance with a preformed jurisdiction, such as the Spokane area. Spokesman-Review writer Paul Turner in his column, The Slice, has recently discussed the state symbols such a union would warrant.

Spokane has been creeping ever closer, especially with the incorporation of Spokane Valley. The greater Coeur d’Alene metropolitan area has likewise been creeping westward with the frightening growth of Post Falls, both to the north and to the west. Stateline soon will be considered a suburb of Post Falls, if it is not already.

And, of course, there is an ever-increasing percentage of the North Idaho population that is composed of either snowbirds or of those having no historical roots here. I’ve been here for only about 13 years and I can already hark back to the pre-explosive-growth, good-old-days in Kootenai County. So losing our identity in a Spokane mini megalopolis may not much matter.

The other option for North Idaho that I had made reference to was some sort of an association with the western portion of Canada. Similar to our feelings of alienation from the rest of Idaho, Alberta and British Columbia have long complained about their political isolation from Ottawa. And once again there are rumblings in Ottawa of separatist Quebec striking off on its own.

In November, Canadian Parliament recognized the French-speaking people of Quebec, the Quebecois, as a nation within Canada due to their language, history and culture. It was a symbolic gesture, but it shows that separatism is still alive in Canada.

I’m all for that; it would be nice to get French off of all our NAFTA packaging. I can read some Spanish, but no French. Quebec could join the European Union and Canada’s Maritime Provinces could join New England – I have heard rumors that parts of northeastern New England are also having secessionist debates.

Looking at an aerial view of northern North America, I’d say that Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta appear topographically similar enough to call them a fairly uniform unit. Perhaps they’d like to retain the name Canada for their country. The arctic territories might form another country, or several countries, depending on ethnic relationships that I know nothing about.

Again looking at that aerial view, it is easy to see the northern Rocky Mountain relationship between North Idaho and British Columbia. So, perhaps that is where our future should lie – as a part of the mountainous nation of “Canadian Columbia.” Based on landscape, we might also wish to invite western Montana to join.

Our climate, topography and ecology would all seem similar enough to make this a perfect match, and that would be true if human political systems were not in play. But, despite our physical similarities, North Idaho is politically about as far from Canada as one could get.

In January 2006 Canadians elected a Conservative Party majority to Parliament, which elected Stephen Harper as prime minister. Referred to by the opposition as “Bush lite,” Harper was sympathetic to many aspects of current U. S. policy. On the surface, that would make it appear that North Idaho would create a good political fit with Canada.

However, that turns out to not be the case. David Drucker, an expatriate who moved to British Columbia after the 2004 Bush election in search of a more satisfying political climate, wrote a post-election opinion piece in the Nov. 29, 2006, Spokesman-Review in which he discussed Canadian political conservatism. His conclusion was that it actually “can look awfully liberal” by U.S. standards. He further wrote, “We’ve come to the conclusion that the United States has drifted so far to the right that any self-respecting Canadian Conservative would be considered a raving liberal in Washington.”

That would not do in North Idaho. Raving liberals are rather scarce in these parts. Things such as universal health care would be repugnant. So, I guess that’s it. We’re not willing to govern ourselves, and we’re too conservative for a country led by political conservatives.

It seems that we’ll just have to be content awhile longer living under the political whims of that other Idaho, with all the budgetary neglect that entails, and without true representation in the U. S. Congress. That may not, in fact, be a worse fate than being swallowed by Spokane or overrun by part-time Californians.