The happiest Canadians live in Quebec, while the unhappiest call Alberta home. Let that sink in for a moment.

It’s not even close. When StatsCan asked last year who were very satisfied with their lives, a cheery 57.3 per cent of those from La Belle Province replied in the affirmative. Here in Wild Rose Country, only a comparable 38.1 felt so happy. (As a whole, 46.1 per cent of Canadians were very satisfied.)

So what’s going on? Isn’t Quebec the poster child for dissatisfaction with the Canadian status quo?

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Back in 1995, it came within a whisker of voting to turn its collective back on Confederation and go it alone. Its culture is French, as is its language, and citizens regularly send separatist MPs to Ottawa while often picking a similar provincial party to represent them in Quebec City.

Is it just a ruse? A way to blackmail the rest of Canada into handing over more goodies so they’ll stay? Or have things changed for the better so much in the past few decades that the sale of Maple Leaf flags is now a thriving business in downtown Montreal?

Well, money alone might........

© Calgary Herald