There's lots to like about Canada

MARTIN E-mail: Click here Archive

By SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001

OTTAWA -- It's that frigid time of year when gazillions of Canadians, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien, are in Florida, driving the locals to distraction with their, ahem, unusual motoring habits.

But once you're in Canada, it's easy to find a lot to like about the place.

So here's a list of 10 Good Things About Canada to ponder the next time you're stuck behind a Canadian driving slowly with his lights on:

1) Canada is a good place to practice your French. After alighting from a taxi at a Montreal hotel, I said, "Bon soir," to the doorman and was greeted with a stream of utterly incomprehensible French. "I'm sorry but I thought YOU spoke French, your accent is so good," the doorman apologized as he saw the dazed look on my face. Unlike the French en France, most French-speaking Canadians will obligingly switch into English as soon as they realize your linguistic reach has exceeded your grasp.

2) Canadians are almost as confused by the metric system as we are. In 1970, the Canadian government decided to get with the global program and go metric. So Canada did, sort of. Government services, engineering and medicine use metric measurements, while the home-building industry still clings to feet and inches and kids still give their weight in pounds. And a lot of people over 40 have to stop and think what the temperature really is. (Tip from a Toronto cabbie: To convert Celsius degrees into a rough Fahrenheit equivalent, double the number and add 30. Don't ask me what to do if the temperature is a minus Celsius number.)

3) The Canadian dollar actually buys something. Unlike the case in Britain, where the U.S. dollar is worth about as much as yesterday's newspaper, Americans are pleased to find that their money goes a lot further here because of the favorable (at least for us) exchange rate. For the same price as a Subway sandwich in St. Petersburg, you can get a sandwich AND a bowl of soup AND something to drink in Ottawa. And isn't it great that Canadians call their dollar the "loonie?"

4) Via Rail Canada. Canada's national railroad system is a gem. Canadian trains are clean, comfortable and generally on time, while Canadian train stations are attractive and well-appointed. Florida legislators who must implement voters' demand for a high-speed rail system in the Sunshine State would do well to study the convenient service linking four major Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.

5) The Canadian flag. Amid the stars, bars and crescents that mark most of the world's flags, Canada's red maple leaf is refreshingly different (even if it makes Quebec separatists cringe). Now if we American journalists could just remember that our neighbor's national anthem is entitled O Canada and not Oh, Canada.

6) A prime minister of the people. Recently elected to a third term, Chretien began his remarkable political career when John F. Kennedy was U.S. president. Chretien makes up in staying power what he lacks in brilliance, charisma or vision. A columnist once said that Chretien has "never had an original or daring idea in his life -- except that he might be fit to be prime minister." The secret of Chretien's success? Ordinary voters feel that this ordinary man is one of their own. "How perfect," the same columnist continued, "to have a PM whose every pronouncement is either trite or incomprehensible, so that we can opt out of the political wars without missing a beat."

7) Canada doesn't have a lot of yucky-looking living things. As I was packing for this trip, rooting through the closet in search of sweaters and boots, I came face to face with a lizard that looked like it had bits of toilet paper stuck all over its back. In fact, it was shedding its skin. Canadians may encounter moose on the highways and bears in the backyard, but at least they don't have giant palmetto bugs and ugly reptilian creatures lurking in the clothes hamper.

8) The National Post. Founded in 1998 by media tycoon Conrad Black, this Toronto-based daily may yet prove it's possible to start a successful newspaper in the Internet age. Although it still lacks enough advertising to be profitable, the Post has grown steadily in circulation and has amassed an impressive stable of lively, provocative columnists. The Post's arrival on the scene has goosed other major Canadian papers into improvements.

9) To paraphrase Sally Field's famous Oscar acceptance speech, Canadians really like us. They might think U.S. society is too violent and materialistic, and they worry that our threatened recession could hurt their own suddenly thriving economy. But this is one country where people are unfailingly gracious to Americans, even if we, in turn, know little about them and persist in making cracks about their legendary frugality (Q. What's the difference between a canoe and a Canadian? A. A canoe tips.)

10) And finally, Canada is a good neighbor. It has given us more than a century of peaceful coexistence, not to mention many great comedians (Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey and Martin Short, to name just three); fine beers (Labatt, Molson) and superb hockey players (including perhaps the greatest of all, Wayne Gretzky.)

And if Canada weren't there, what would block all that arctic air from sweeping down into Florida? Though, on this score, Canada's been falling down a bit on the job lately, hasn't it, eh?

- Susan Martin can be reached at susan@sptimes.com

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright