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Canada
is almost unimaginably vast. It stretches from the Atlantic to
the Pacific and from the latitude of Rome to beyond the
Magnetic North Pole. Its archetypal landscapes are the Rocky
Mountain lakes and peaks, the endless forests and the prairie
wheat fields, but Canada holds landscapes that defy
expectations: rainforest and desert lie close together in the
southwest corner of the country, while in the east a short
drive can take you from fjords to lush orchards. What's more,
great tracts of Canada are completely unspoiled – ninety
percent of the country's 28.5 million population lives within
100 miles of the US border.
Like its neighbor to the
south, Canada is a spectrum of cultures, a hotchpotch of
immigrant groups who supplanted the continent's many native
peoples. There's a crucial difference, though. Whereas
citizens of the United States are encouraged to perceive
themselves as Americans above all else, Canada's concertedly
multicultural approach has done more to acknowledge the
origins of its people, creating an ethnic mosaic as opposed to
America's "melting-pot". Alongside the French and British
majorities live a host of communities who maintain the
traditions of their homelands – Chinese, Ukrainians,
Portuguese, Indians, Dutch, Polish, Greek and Spanish, to name
just the most numerous. For the visitor, the mix that results
from the country's exemplary tolerance is an exhilarating
experience, offering such widely differing environments as
Vancouver's huge Chinatown and the austere religious enclaves
of Manitoba. Canadians themselves, however, are often troubled
by the lack of a clear self-image, tending to emphasize the
ways in which they are different from the US as a means of
self-description. The question "What is a Canadian?" has
acquired a new immediacy with the interminable and acrimonious
debate over Québec and its possible secession, but ultimately
there can be no simple characterization of a people whose
country is not so much a single nation as a committee on a
continental scale. Pierre Berton, one of Canada's finest
writers, wisely ducked the issue; Canadians, he quipped, are
"people who know how to make love in a canoe".
The typical Canadian might
be an elusive concept, but you'll find there's a distinctive
feel to the country. Some towns might seem a touch too
well-regulated and unspontaneous, but against this there's the
overwhelming sense of Canadian pride in their history and
pleasure in the beauty of their land. Canada embraces its own
clichés with an energy that's irresistible, promoting
everything from the Calgary Stampede to maple-syrup festivals
and lumberjacking contests with an extraordinary zeal and
openness. As John Buchan, writer and Governor-General of
Canada, said, "You have to know a man awfully well in Canada
to know his surname." |
