Why Canada?

Ted. We’ve just finished three weeks in British Columbia and I have been reflecting on why I feel drawn to Canada. It is not terribly different from the US, so what makes me like it so much? Part of the attraction is the quirky mixture of the familiar and the slightly exotic; sort of like the businessman I saw in downtown Vancouver wearing a dark blue suit and lime green sunglasses.

As US Americans in Canada, we are always aware that we are in another country. The money is plastic, restrooms are called washrooms, cars stop at yellow lights and people stand patiently at crosswalks until the light says “walk.” As Atlantans, we also notice that there are a lot more people of Asian ancestry than African or Hispanic.

But then we see Blue Jays ball caps and Raptors t-shirts and feel right at home. Canadians also seem to be obsessed with the news coming out of Washington – just like many folks we know in the States.

Canadians genuinely cherish their “First Nations” heritage and seem more concerned with protecting the environment than their southern neighbors. They have utilized tough zoning restrictions in their cities to carefully manage construction and preserve green spaces (something the folks in Houston now wish they had done).

In the end, I think that what I most like is the fact that Canada is similar to the US but with a LOT less people. If you drive 10 miles out from any city in Canada, you will be in forest. Drive 10 miles out of a US city and you’re in suburbs. The population density in Canada is 1/9 that of the US. Try to imagine what the US would be like with just 36 million people versus 325 million!

We have made several new friends in British Columbia and they have all invited us back. We replied that we will make it back eventually but still have many more provinces to explore. Let’s see; there’s Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland…