The editors/publishers of SurvivalBlog recommend an area in the western United States as the best place to find a resort for the time when the world comes to an end. They call it the American Redoubt, and it includes portions of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, which border on the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. This region has low population, low taxes, and lots of good land. It strongly tends to vote Republican.
The irony, from a Canadian perspective, is that the adjacent provinces have a rather different political culture. Saskatchewan has a tradition of alternating government between the socialist New Democratic Party and an unruly coalition of Conservatives, Liberals, and other free enterprisers.
Alberta, generally regarded as the most conservative province in Canada, had a so-called “Progressive” Conservative government from 1971 to 2015 (45 years), until a totally unexpected victory in the 2015 provincial election installed a New Democratic Party government under the leadership of Premier Rachel Notley. The major cities in the region are in Alberta. Calgary, 300 kilometres north of the American border, has a population of 1,090,000, and Edmonton, three hundred kilometres north of Calgary, has a population of 802,000.
If you are looking for a retreat, you do not want to be near Calgary– the head office city for the energy industry, or Edmonton– the location of the largest Army base in western Canada. They’re obvious targets. You also don’t want to be in northeastern Alberta in the vicinity of Fort McMurray, the centre of the oil sands industry.
However, if you really want to get away from it all, look at Alberta north of Edmonton. More than half of the province lies there, and the population is negligible. Start with communities like Grand Prairie, Peace River, and High Level– the largest communities north of Edmonton. Then, work out from there. The populations are: Grand Prairie, 55,032; Peace River, 6,729; and High Level, 3,641.
It’s time to get out the atlas. Although it looks like a long way north, you can, with great care, grow tomatoes in Peace River. And High Level? Well, look at this:
Sunscape Gardens High Level
Phone:780-926-2890
Location: 8 km North of High Level on Hwy 35
Website: Sunscape Gardens
We Grow:
Fruit: Raspberries, Black Currants, Red Currants, Rhubarb.
Vegetables: Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Corn, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Mixed, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Radishes, Salad Mix, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Zucchini.
So, if you really want to get away from it all, check out the Canadian Redoubt.