They like to keep things moving out west and that includes the license plate designs. Albertans are about to get a new one based on a photographic depiction of the rockies with a field of prairie grass beneath the numbers (inset top). The new plate moves motorists into the digital age for the time time whether they like it or not. The plates announce Alberta.ca at the bottom. The new plate was the top vote winner in a public survey of three designs. It garnered 48.5 per cent support. It seems like a tradition to refresh the plates in Alberta. Here in Ontario the stodgy blue and white markers instructing us the province is Yours to Discover are pretty much unchanged since 1982. At that time the William Davis government said goodbye to the friendly urging that we Keep it Beautiful. Alberta has had to deal with the rise and fall of political parties which co-opted provincial slogans. The Alberta Wildrose Party pretty put an end to the Wild Rose Country license plates. It was a bit like the arrival of the Yours to Discover political party in Ontario. This said, it may be time for Ontario to think about something more inspiring. Of course, there isn’t a lot of money. In Alberta the provincial debt is negligible.
