Long before the final vote was cast in the historic referendum on Scotland’s independence, the Scottish book-makers had already called it a no, says a Scotsman and St. Albert resident.
But even without listening to the word on the street, John Smith had expected the vote on Thursday would turn against a break of the 307-year union with England.
Scotland has a great history but the idea of independence is now little more than a romantic notion, he said.
“I think the rah-rah of Scotland and all the Braveheart stuff is now more or less mythology,” he said. “But the real thing with the Scottish people is that they actually get a lot of money from Britain.”
More than two million people, 55.3 per cent of registered voters, said no to independence on Thursday. More than 1.6 million, or 44.7 per cent, voted yes.
Smith said it’s for the better that the vote was cast against independence.
The country has no military to defend itself, workers come in from all parts of Europe now, and the economy depends largely on Britain, he said.
If Scotland had become independent, big companies may have left to settle across the border, he said.
The country would have also lost its membership with the European Union, and may not have become a new member for a very long time, he said.
“They have all these wonderful ideas that they will have this Scottish whiskey money and this dependency on oil,” he said. “But the oil resources are depleting. And the money (Scottish pound) is no good.”
A 10 per cent difference between yes and no is still a substantial vote toward independence, said Edmonton resident and Scotsman Peter Dolan.
Dolan also expected the vote would turn to a no. But the British government will now have to honour its promises to the people of Scotland, he said.
These include granting more powers from Westminster to the Scottish parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.
“That’s a big message that they send to the government that something should be changed,” he said. “Some things have to change. So that’s a good sign.”
Dolan said many people in Scotland are happy with the status quo.
But he agrees that there are also those who hold on to a romantic notion of a free Scotland as portrayed in its history.
He added that the vote might have been strongly influenced by those who were allowed to vote in the referendum.
These included citizens of Great Britain who reside in Scotland, as well as citizens of EU countries and the Republic of Ireland. Votes could also be cast by students as young as 16 years.
“I think it’s good that people from different races got to vote because they are the people that actually get to live in the country these days,” said Dolan.
“There are lots of displaced Scottish people throughout the world. If all of these people voted it might have been a different thing.”
But Scotland will not cease to be Scottish because of a referendum, added Smith and laughed.
For that, Scotland will always have too proud a history and people, he said.
“I will still wear my kilt and my sword with a no vote,” he said. “You can’t take Scotland out of me.”
