It's not the West Edmonton Mall either

When Alberta just can't stand being Alberta, become something else.

It seemed the perfect way to promote the outdoor life that Canada has to offer: blue skies, clear water and a girl laughing as she runs through sand dunes.

Officials in Alberta thought that it was just the thing for a £14 million rebranding exercise to counter controversy over oil extraction but they weren’t smiling yesterday after a sailing enthusiast revealed that the landlocked province had borrowed the scene from Beadnell Bay, Northumberland, 5,000 miles away.

Because nothing says ignore those tar sand pits like a seacoast.

While the Alberta government admitted that it had “screwed up”, it insisted that there had been “no attempt to make people think that the place pictured was Alberta”. The location represented Albertans’ interest in the world around them, they said.

At about this point, the best possible recovery would have been to admit an attempt at deception and just toss up a different picture. Perhaps something from National Geographic - like this one which certain Canadian and Alberta politicians screamed was... deceptive.

But, it is Alberta.

Back to The Times:

Tom Olsen, the director of media relations for Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, said: “There’s no attempt to mislead. That picture fitted the mood and tone of what we were trying to do. Children are a symbol of the future. They symbolise that Albertans are a worldly people.”

Olsen, on the other hand, is attempting to cover an effort to mislead by misleading. How very "Harper" of him. And this "we" thing... curious.

Indeed, some Albertans are worldly people. Some even get out there and improve the world with innovation and imagination. But when they present images from around the world they make sure you know it's not Alberta.

Alberta is dripping with natural wonders and stunning wilderness. Adding an image from a tiny fishing village in the north of England certainly seems... deceptive. So why would the government of Alberta (and apparently the PMO) do such a thing?

One might note that the producers did not use a Canadian Maritimes beach nor a British Columbia beach. Of course, those places are distinct enough that it would have been noticed in an instant. Better to use a beach from some obscure fishing village in the north of England.

Beach envy coming out of Alberta isn't really all that new. The West Edmonton Mall can't seem to get out of the idea of keeping pelagic sea mammals in a landlocked pool next to the North Saskatchewan River. After facing a barrage of criticism, in 2004, the WEM removed the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins from the Dolphin Pool. It didn't stop them, however, from rebranding the indoor attraction as Sea Lions' Rock and keeping different species of salt-water animals - California Sea Lions and African penguins. (Where, according to the WEM site, "you'll have an experience like no other...") (Or you could just watch a Telus ad on TV.)

They're right. Where else could you see pelagic mammals in the middle of a prairie shopping mall?

Or you could go here and see them in the wild - in British Columbia. For penguins, you'll have to go much farther south.

And since Alberta (and apparently the PMO) wants you to get the full Alberta experience, if you're at home in Britain, thinking about a travelling vacation, you only have to go here to get the beach part. At the very least, you'll save the air fare.

More at Lilian Nattel.