Wherein Zak and Lion are taught of a horrible truth

In yet another sign of the terrible, terrible collapse of the global economy, we see the reversing of the Newfie pump. For those non-Canadians, and possibly also those non-Canadians, here's a brief explanation of what I'm on about:

In the last four or so years, Calgary has been the centre of the majority of economic growth in the country. Partly, this had to do with the increasing cost of oil, which in turn made certain previously less profitable extraction methods viable, and partly it had to do with the massive global pool of cheap money, most of it flowing up from south of the border. For Calgary, this had four related effects. The first was a glut of jobs, more than Calgary itself could handle. The second was a general bump in wages, which (I assume) corresponds to a higher demand for workers to fill said jobs. The third was a huge influx of workers from out of the province - typically, these workers come from the "have-not" provinces of Canada where unemployment is quite high (the maritimes) - looking to make a quick six figures and then bounce back to their families on the other side of the country. As the above article notes, these workers file taxes back in their home provinces, which means that the Albertan economy is, and Maritimers admit as much, propping up the governments of the Atlantic coast in a very informal equalization payment kind of way. The fourth factor, which added a whole other layer of insanity to the overheating Albertan economy, was a huge increase in real estate prices, as demand for anywhere to stay or build or whatever shot up.

Calgary, being Calgary, didn't really do much to provide affordable housing to the Eastern hordes pouring in. Rent control, as far as I understand it, was minimal at best, allowing those who once offered low-cost living near the downtown core to raise prices quickly and severely, boot out all their old, poor tenants, demolish the buildings, and throw together deluxe "lifestyle" condominiums or apartment towers.

So, in simile terms, Calgary was acting like a giant demonic Roomba, rolling around Drew's apartment/Canada sucking up money and labour. Now, with the collapse of oil prices and the drying up of capital out there for infrastructure development (necessary for oilsands extraction), the city is having precisely the opposite effect. All the maritimers are packing up their things and heading home, much to the chagrin of their premiers. Calgary is essentially exporting unemployment to these provinces, provinces who spent the last half-decade gently pleading to their labourers to come back, and are now faced with the unpleasant certainty that they will.

What this means for Canada remains to be seen, although it can't be good: Calgary was a huge profit engine for the entire country, and it's booms and busts ripple across the continent in very chaotic ways. Unemployment will go up everywhere, and it will make Harper's various undirected attempts to right the ship-of-state much more difficult. What this means for Zak and Lion, though, is that their dreams of working in Calgary and earning enough to buy property in New York may require some rethinking, at least until oil prices rebound. Fruit-picking, anyone?