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Manitoba and Saskatchewan:
The provinces of
Manitoba and Saskatchewan, a vast tract
bounded by the Ontario border to the east and the Rocky
Mountains in Alberta to the west, together comprise a
region commonly called "the prairies". In fact, flat
treeless plains are confined to the southern part of
central Canada and even then they are broken up by
the occasional river valley and range of low-lying
hills, which gradually raise the elevation from sea
level at Hudson Bay to nearly 1200m near the Rockies.
Furthermore, the plains themselves are divided into two
broad geographical areas: the semi-arid short
grasslands that border the United States in Alberta
and Saskatchewan, and the wheat-growing belt, a
crescent-shaped expanse to the north of the grasslands.
In turn, this wheat belt borders the low hills, mixed
farms and sporadic forests of the aspen parkland,
a transitional zone between the plains and the boreal
forest, whose trees, rocky outcrops, rivers and
myriad lakes cover well over half of the entire central
region, stretching to the Northwest Territories in
Saskatchewan and Alberta and as far as the treeless
tundra beside Hudson Bay in Manitoba, and in the new
territory of Nunavut.
If you're here in the
winter, when the temperature can fall to between –30°C
and –40°C, and the wind rips down from the Arctic, it's
hard to imagine how the European pioneers managed to
survive, huddled together in remote log cabins or even
sod huts. Yet survive they did, and they went on to
cultivate, between about 1895 and 1914, the great swath
of land that makes up the wheat belt and the aspen
parkland, turning it into one of the most productive
wheat-producing areas in the world. By any standards,
the development of this farmland was a remarkable
achievement, but the price was high: the nomadic culture
of the Plains Indians was almost entirely
destroyed and the disease-ravaged, half-starved
survivors were dumped in a string of meagre
reservations. Similarly, the Métis, descendants
of white fur traders and native women who for more than
two centuries had acted as intermediaries between the
two cultures, found themselves overwhelmed, their
desperate attempts to maintain their independence
leading to a brace of futile rebellions under the
leadership of Louis Riel in 1869–70 and 1885.
With the Métis and the
Indians out of the way, thousands of European immigrants
concentrated on their wheat yields, but they were the
victims of a one-crop economy, their prosperity
dependent on the market price of grain and the freight
charges imposed by the railroad. Throughout the
twentieth century, the region's farmers experienced
alarming changes in their fortunes as bust alternated
with boom, a situation that continues to dominate the
economies of Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta today.
Central Canada is not
the most popular tourist destination in the country, its
main cities caricatured as dull and unattractive, its
scenery considered monotonous. To some extent, these
prejudices stem from the route of the Trans-Canada
Highway, which contrives to avoid nearly everything
of interest on its way from Winnipeg to Calgary, a
generally boring and long drive that many Canadians
prefer to do at night when, they say, the views are
better. However, on the Trans-Canada itself, busy
Winnipeg – easily the largest city in central Canada
– is well worth a visit for its museums, restaurants and
nightlife, while, just to the south of the highway on
the Saskatchewan–Alberta border, there are the
delightful wooded ridges of the Cypress Hills
Interprovincial Park, which includes the restored
Mountie outpost of Fort Walsh. It has to be said,
though, that the Yellowhead Route from Winnipeg –
Hwy 16 – makes a far more agreeable journey, with
pleasant stops at Saskatoon and the
Battlefords. This road is also within easy reach of
central Canada's two outstanding parks, Riding
Mountain National Park in Manitoba and Prince
Albert National Park in Saskatchewan, both renowned
for their lakes, forest-hiking and canoeing routes.
Most of central
Canada's boreal forest is inaccessible except by private
float plane, but all the major cities and the region's
tourist offices have lists of tour operators and
suppliers who run or equip a whole variety of trips into
the more remote regions – from white-water rafting and
canoeing, through to hunting, fishing and bird-watching.
It's also possible to fly or travel by train to
Churchill, a remote and desolate settlement on the
southern shore of Hudson Bay that's one of the world's
best places to see polar bears. One word of warning: the
boreal forests swarm with voracious insects such as
black flies and mosquitoes, so don't forget your insect
repellent. |
