When I first came to Canada just over 20 years ago people would ask how Scotland was governed. One of the reasons I came to Canada was that its federal system meant I had more say in how I was ruled than I did back in Scotland. Basically, a lot of the powers exercised by the Scottish Office, in matters such as health, education and policing, were provincial government responsibilities in Canada. And the provincial government was democratically elected. In Scotland the Scottish Office was a colonial administration, taking its orders directly from Westminster. I would say, imagine Alberta had no Legislature, just a bunch of guys appointed by the Feds in Ottawa and you've pretty much got how Scotland is run. Of course, I left before Devolution but I had a pretty good idea that thon Tony Blair would not deliver what we thought he'd promised. Time will tell how that story ends.