Very cool idea. Although the recent oil and natural gas booms are fast transforming "The Empty Quarter" into "Extractopia" where oil, gas, logging, and mineral extraction, which are already the main industries, are going to become an increasingly important driver of overall North American economic growth.
I thought it was a pun on the Saudi Arabia Empty Quarter which had the richest oil fields in the world. For example Ghawar field used to pump quite a bit of oil, although mostly water now. May have heard of Sheyba field, another important field.
I like Thesiger's travelogues about the empty quarter.
Mel Baker commented on the article and pointed out ...
>> If you read the original work he refers to the empty quarter because of population density
I do get your point on the "Extractotopia" name for the region, but personally would be more inclined to view it as ExtractoDystopia, ( google earth - fort mcmurray then you decide)
Of course after the oil and mining companies are done with it, the name "The Empty Quarter" could once again be the most applicable
If you look to my comment below, you'll see why I used "topia", which just means "place" from the Greek topos.
(u)topia = with the negative prefix means "No Place."
(Dys)topia = with the prefix δυσ (dus) from the Greek meaning "bad, hard, difficult" place.
Obviously extractive industries are harmful, as we can see in the recent shale oil and natural gas boom, but I thought the "extract" part of that would convey the message with the additional "dys."
But my favorite explanation of all in these etymological games is that its a deliberate pun on Rub' al Khali in Saudi Arabia, translated as "The Empty Quarter", which contains some of the most massive oil fields in the world.
Already the case with Alberta, which is a major driving force in the Canadian economy, on track to surpass Quebec as the second largest provincial economy.
Feels like a bit of a slight to lump it into an "Empty Quarter."
The effect is spanning too. As Alberta has sucked up the trades for the associated housing booms, pay has jumped in Saskatchewan, and now is jumping in Manitoba.
Ontario hasn't really seen it yet, but they've started advertising for skilled and unskilled trades here too.
As someone trying to start a business it's actually a great time. 5 years ago work was getting poached by fly-by-nighters who did shoddy work for cheap prices, but now it seems they've cleared out and headed west.
Interesting that the other provinces are only now seeing the effects. I would have thought 2006 was the peak skills drain. My first year economics professor at been working in the provincial economic advisor office at the time. He said about $60 Billion was being put into Oil Sands at the time.
This may not seem like much but it works out to 30k per man, woman, and child in Alberta. Most of whom are not welders...
It meant every job was paying above minimum wage. McDonalds was paying $1 above min wage. I've heard stories of 14 year olds running gas stations all by themselves, despite the illegality of it.
2006-2007 was pretty insane in Calgary. Fort Mac would have been Hell.
And Northwest Territories is the richest province per capita, at least according to Wikipedia. (Though with ~40,000 people it won't make for a big overall economy.)
I completely agree except I feel that the "topia" suffix implies it's some sort of paradise. Given the controversy around environmental damage, something more ominous like "gasland" might be better.
