> I'll start by saying that Sam probably got the idea that Canadian provinces are too big by looking at a map...

While I realize that the Canadian provinces are geographically large yet have smaller populations than the average U.S. state, geography does matter. Put a million people in one city, and they're far more likely to unite on views than if you spread them out over a thousand square miles. Local culture changes, sometimes accents and dialects change, and the particular social and political issues that crop up locally and affect people's political awareness are different. Not always, and I actually don't know a lot about western Canada, but it does seem that everything I hear about Quebec seems to indicate that their government is not particularly close to the will of the people.

Excellent post, by the way.