"Canada - The True North, Strong & Free?... " a Canada Travel Page by rmdw

Spring 2005 - I am pre-empting my usual enthusiasm for and joy of my country of Canada. We are currently engaged in a political scandal of a scope never before seen in our nation. Hopefully there will be an election in the next few months when the crooks (aka The Federal Liberal Party of Canada) are tossed out on their ears ... and hopefully many of them into prison.

I took this photo to illustrate the current disgust that most Canadians have with our federal government these days.

People who have never visited Canada often have many misconceptions about the country. Let me immediately dispel some rumours:
1. Canada is not one big frozen wasteland.
2. Some Canadians do believe the country is one big frozen wasteland. They now live in Florida & Arizona.
3. We don't all live in igloos, though a few people in the extreme north actually do.
4. We are not exactly the same as Americans; there are similarities, but there are also differences.

Now let me confirm some rumours:
1. We are generally a very peaceful people but do love our [often violent] hockey ... passionately.
2. Only through much concentration (and proofreading) do we prevent ourselves from ending every sentence with "eh".
3. The Canadian male is indeed the greatest lover women from other countries have ever known.

Canada became a nation on July 1, 1867, though kept its close ties to Britain long after that. Today it is a thriving country, known as one of the top ten countries in the world in which to live.

Geographically, Canada is the second largest country in the world, with an area of 9,976,140 sq km. Yet it has one of the smallest population densities of any nation, with only 32,207,000 citizens (est. July 2003).

90% of the population lives within 80 km of the United States to the south. Most of the major cities are situated in the south because it is generally warmer and the location of these cities historically facilitated trade with the northern American cities.

I was fortunate enough to be born in Canada because of a series of events that happened long before. My father was a German citizen, born in 1931. He was 14 years old when WW II ended. He saw little future for himself in his devastated country so in 1951 he boarded a freighter and emigrated to Canada.

He first went to work in an underground mine in the far north of Canada ("because it was warmer than working on the farms!"). Then he tried living in the eastern cities of Montreal and Toronto, but found them much too cold in the winter. So one winter in the early 50's he drove a car across the frozen prairies for a car dealership in Vancouver. He never left this western paradise.

My mom was a farm girl in Lake Lenore, Saskatchewan, in the middle of the country. She trained to be a nurse and then joined 2 of her older brothers out in Vancouver.

My parents met skiing, were married in May 1963 and then I came along 16 months later.

I grew up in the center of Vancouver and am very much a city kid (don't get me started about suburbs!). The photo shows the house where I grew up, which is very close to Vancouver City Hall.

If you'd like to see more photos of various parts of Canada, as well as hear a stylized version of our anthem, then please click here.