Scotland could join Canada, but should it? Your responses - BBC News

This is a new story that has people taking a second look. Den McGoogan is a Canadian author who thinks that Scotland could become part of Canada if its citizens were to vote for independence. McGoogan, whose works include How the Scots Invented Canada, said that geographical boundaries could be irrelevant thanks to modern technology, so Scotland should find its new home with Canadian colleagues. In an opinion piece that the author wrote for The Globe and Mail, he wrote that The Scots aren't happy with the rest of Britain. In the midst of the Brexit negotiations and as Scotland weighs a second referendum on independence, an obscure Canadian author was able to capture people's imagination with his alternative proposal. McGoogan thinks that Scotland could quit the United Kingdom and join Canada. It does seem like an idea that is improbable, but as Ken McGoogan told the BBC, in an ideal world, this might work well. His unconventional proposal has since been picked up by media outlets as far away as China, and he says he's both amazed and gobsmacked at the level of interest in an idea he initially described as a flight of fancy. Some 1,500 readers wrote to the BBC from across the United Kingdom and North America to weigh in on whether Scotland should become Canada's 11th province. Some found it was the best idea ever, while others thought the idea would be a total disaster.

The author goes on to say that technological advances could overcome the distances between the two and that many of Canada's big cities are closer to Scotland than Hawaii is to the mainland of the United States. The author says that Scotland is nearer to Newfoundland than Hawaii is to California. And he goes on to say that Glasgow is closer to Halifax than Halifax is to Vancouver. McGoogan also said that the Scots have left their fingerprints all over Canada. Under Canada, Scotland would not be fully independent but would have provincial powers, which include direct taxation for issues like schools and hospitals, and administration of criminal and civil justice. The Scottish Parliament last week voted for calling on the UK government to allow for a second referendum. Theresa May has ruled out a second one on several occasions, stating that it is not the right time for Britain to call another vote in Scotland. She has said it should wait until after Brexit. McGoogan's writing career has focused on how Scotland helped play a role in building Canada, including influencing its educational, political, and banking institutions.

The following are just some of the thoughts that readers weighed in on. One reader said that they don't want to be part of another country, that they are a country. Another said that it was their dream to gain their independence and to keep their sovereignty, and not hand it over to the EU. While another reader thinks that leaving the UK is a bad idea, but that leaving the UK to join Canada is absurd.

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland shares a border with England to the south and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and the Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland of Scotland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. This is just one of the trending news stories you will find n the BBC site. Other stories you will find include world, new technology, science, earth, trending news, trends and more. **