5 provinces not 3 or 1

The above historical map taken from here shows a very different Western Canada divided into five provinces, Athabasca, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Assiniboia, and Manitoba, with the NWT Keewatin district taking what is now Northern Manitoba and Northwest Ontario. It was ultimately then Liberal Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier's idea to carve them vertically, similar to British Columbia, into three basically equal sized provinces. There was even a proposal to have British Columbia grab Alberta. Of course, the other big proposal was from Frederick Haultain, Premier of the NWT, whose name rests on a building north of the Alberta Legislature, to have one big province called Buffalo to compete with big provinces like Quebec and Ontario. But Laurier wouldn't have it.

It's interesting to think of what could've been and to note that the Athabasca in the above map would be a very rich province being that it's where the oil sands are.

But I also wonder if Canada were carved up more like the United States, with smaller geographical provinces, would they get treated as equals in the senate, unlike it is now in Canada. I still don't think Liberals respect the West, with their lack of leadership on senate reform, the national energy program, and now this dumb Green Shift idea from now Liberal "leader" Stephane Dion which will basically transfer even more money from the West to the East.