Reading this section of Britain, Empire, and a Wider World was especially intriguing and even memorable for me. I used to live very close to Canada for eight years (I lived in North Dakota, 20 miles south of Manitoba) and my family and I would take frequent trips into Manitoba, to towns like Deloraine, Boissevain, and Dauphin. I remember that we almost moved to Deloraine when I was about 10 years old, as my parents were searching for employment there. Alas, it never happened, but someday, I want to visit Canada again and possibly move there if I get the opportunity. I noticed that much of what is noted in the excerpt is true even today, and so I thought that in this post I would take the opportunity to compare my personal experience with what is being described here.
A lot of what this excerpt is describing is true in Canada, even today. It is mentioned that it's "great natural advantages should still be so little known" (1003). Most of America and most of the world knows little about Canada, but with the press coverage Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been getting recently, people are starting to become more aware of our neighbor to the north. The excerpt also mentions how Canada's laws and regulations are modeled after England's and that it's citizens "might be taken for English emigrants" (1003). This is because Canada was colonized by both the English and the French, with the English descendants settling in the western part of Canada (Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, etc.) and the French descendants settling in Quebec. When answering the question of who would be fit to live here, the excerpt states "those who are obliged to do so" (1004), and then it goes to describe that Canada would be a good place to live for those looking to improve their lives. This is true, and you can do the very same thing here in the United States as well, but immigrations laws in both Canada and the United States have drastically changed since this excerpt was written. Canada accepts immigrants normally through a point system, where you are awarded points for your education, job status, ability to speak another language (Canada is a bilingual English-French nation, so you can earn more points if you can speak French fluently), and so on. The excerpt goes on to describe that there is plenty of work in Canada, but it mentions doctors having to travel many miles to see a patient (1005). This is true for most areas of Canada, as Canada is more of a "rural" country, and many people live in small towns. However, there are big cities there, such as Toronto, Vancouver, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, and so on. The excerpt even mentions Canada's "fine and healthy" climate (1004), but it does alternate between very cold and very hot (I've experienced temperatures up to -60 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer). One thing I miss is going up there with my family in the wintertime and seeing the snow, and seeing the endless fields of grain, sunflowers, and purple flax seed flowers in the spring and summer that dotted the prairie. Of course, I could see these things in my own backyard in North Dakota, but knowing that I was in another country made it all the more a special experience for me. I hope to go back someday and get another taste of that special experience.
Although this is only an excerpt, it covers a great deal about Canada, and a lot of it is true, even today. Canada is truly a special and wonderful place to live (in my opinion), and there is so much more I could cover (if the excerpt was a full article), but I invite you to do your own research and see for yourself what Canada is like. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised, much like I was 14 years ago when I went to Manitoba for the first time. Longue vie au Canada!
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