How much do you know about Canada?
I think I know this much... Am I wrong?
while in Sidney, BC
Canada?
No matter where you live in the world you’ve probably heard of Canada. Even if it’s just as the blob north of the United States. Surely, everyone has heard of Canada’s big brother to the south. They are older. The United States gained its independence from Great Britain ninety-one years before four eastern Canadian provinces—Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—joined to form a dominion. And the USA is larger—if you don’t include bodies of water. So, of course, you’ve heard of the United States of America. And Canada is cool with being the little brother.
If you have heard of Canada you may know that it is divided into provinces and territories. You may even know the names of some of the provinces—Ontario, Quebec, Toronto.
No, wait. Toronto isn’t a province. Or at least it isn’t yet.
You may have heard of the province east of Quebec. You may know it as the Maritimes. However, if you type ‘the Maritimes’ into a search engine you’ll discover that it’s not one province but, in fact, five. Five? Is that correct? Let’s check our math, shall we? Geographically from Quebec east to the Atlantic Ocean, first up is New Brunswick. Then Nova Scotia. Then Prince Edward Island. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province so most people just call it PEI, for short. See three provinces. Did I say five? No, I’m sure I said three. And I’m not done. Here’s a Canadian magic trick, if you add Newfoundland to—. Wait, I forgot something. If you add the province now known—since 2001—as Newfoundland Labrador to the mix you no longer have the Maritimes. No, now—poof—you have the Atlantic provinces.
So that’s Eastern Canada. That’s where most people live. In fact, if you put Canada on a teeter tooter it won’t teeter or tooter. It would remain on a permanent tilt. So why look west? Many politicians have asked themselves that very question. Why?
Western Canada remained overlooked for so many years that some people who live on that side of the country got… Well, they got uppity. Not to name names but… Alberta. Alberta thinks it’s a prairie province. But it has too many hills and even mountains. Everyone knows that prairies are flat.
Prairies. That might be a new word for you. You may wonder what a prairie province is. Or you may not.
On the west coast—or wet coast, as some people who think they’re funny call it. Ha! Ha!—of Canada, you have Canada’s answer to California British Columbia. At this point, after naming all of the significant Canadian provinces, most people are too exhausted to say British Columbia so British Columbia became known simply as BC. The southern part of BC gets very little snow and usually enjoys mild weather. Usually. There are, of course, exceptions but people who live in BC—let’s call them BCers—don’t like talking about those days, hours. Instead, they like to talk about the flowers that bloom while the rest of Canada is still using snow shovels. They talk so much and so loud about those flowers that people who once lived in the prairie provinces now live in BC. There’s that word again. Prairies.
Up north lie the territories. They’re like Canada’s attic. Occasionally, we ask ourselves, I wonder what’s up there? But it takes too much effort to find out.
What’s up there? Let me see there’s Nunavut—established in 1999, it is the newest territory. The Northwest Territory. Where did that name come from? Maybe because the territory is north and west of Ontario. Maybe? And then there’s the Yukon or is it Alaska? I can never remember which one is American and which one is Canadian. I guess technically they’re both American—they’re both part of North America.
Okay… Okay, the prairies. Saskatchewan is a chunk of flat land close to Alberta and Manitoba is a chunk of flat land close to Ontario. Many people think that those provinces are bland and they could be right.
There you have it. That’s Canada.
I hear you. You need more. You want to learn more about the prairies, about Manitoba. Okay. Here you go then…
