A Scottish immigrant couple now living outside Innisfail is divided over the results of the Scottish referendum on independence.
Nearly 55 per cent of the electorate voted against separating from the United Kingdom on Thursday, Sept. 18. About 45 per cent voted in favour. Only Scottish people living in Scotland were eligible to vote. Reportedly, 86 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots.
Susan Lapsley and her partner Gordon Mutch live on an acreage near Innisfail. They've been here since 2008. He works at a nearby gas plant. She manages a gas co-op.
Lapsley says had they still been living in Scotland, she would have voted “no.” Gordon would have voted “yes.”
“We're a divided household,” Lapsley says with a laugh. She agrees that's made for some interesting dinner conversations in the run-up to Thursday's vote.
She says it's too bad the result wasn't more definitive, like 90 per cent vs. 10 per cent. However, it is what it is.
Lapsley figures the “no” side likely won because it offered to provide more powers to the Scottish Parliament if Scots voted “no.” She's hopeful Westminster (the seat of the U.K. government in London) will now honour those promises.
“I guess we'll wait and see,” she says. “They could definitely listen more.”
Lapsley also questions whether Scotland, with a population of roughly five million people, could afford to offer the kind of health care the U.K. can provide via taxes from a population of more than 60 million people.
She says Gordon would have voted “yes” because he believes through independence, Scotland would have greater control of the North Sea oil being obtained off Scottish shores. The revenue from that oil could help finance Scottish government operations.
Like many other Scots, he also believes through independence, Scotland could force nuclear weapons, currently located in Scotland, to be moved to England.
Lapsley notes the voting age was lowered to 16 for this referendum. She agrees with reports that many – if not most – young Scots voted for the “yes” side. She questions whether, at age 16, youth are sufficiently experienced and knowledgeable to vote on crucial issues like this.
Mutch confirms he would have voted yes if he was still living in Scotland.
When asked why, he says, Norway has a similar type of situation and have managed to invest their money and have a successful economy. Most of the UK oil reserves are in Scottish waters. We have eight per cent of the population of the UK but pay 23 per cent of the UK taxes,” Mutch says.
Mutch is doubtful another opportunity to vote on the matter again will happen in his lifetime.
He believes Scots will receive the reforms promised by the “no” side.
However, Mutch is not so sure people voted “no” because of those promises. He thinks the reason is much simpler.
“People are frightened of change,” he says.
Lapsley and Mutch come from Falkirk, a city with a population of about 35,000 but a trading area population of about 150,000. It's located about halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Lapsley says residents there were generally on the “no” side.
Lapsley and Mutch have one child, a son, Logan, 8. Lapsley is unsure how he would have voted, if he had the chance.
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"We're a divided household," - Scottish immigrant Susan Lapsley
