:lol: Let me tell you a story!! :lol:
I was born in Burnaby. My father was from Quebec and my mother was from BC (Vernon). My father, being in the RCMP, moved around the whole country, so, as a youngster, I've lived in BC, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. When I got older, I became a sailor and worked on the Great Lakes. This allowed me to see Nova Scotia and the North shore of Quebec along the St Lawrence. Because of the lack of continual work, I joined the Navy. For the first two years of my carrer I lived in Halifax and spent some time in Newfoundland. Later I moved back to BC (Victoria/Esquimalt) and have spent the last fifteen years here. Before I bacame a sailor I went to university in Edmonton (U of Alberta) - mostly because it had the cheapest tuition in the country. My oldest sister married a Saskatchewan dirt farmer and I've visited her sevral times there, even helping out with their harvest. Last summer I travelled across the country from Victoria to Halifax and back again to visit friends, and in-laws (my wife is from NS) in Nova Scotia and also in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. I even took a side trip to PEI so I could say that I've been to every province in the country (even though it was only a few hours). All-in-all I think that I can say that I've experienced most of the different cultures that this country can offer, and quite a few more than most people can claim. My experiences of this country, I believe I can rightly claim, are pretty unique for any Canadian. In addition to that, in my career in the Navy, I've seen close to a hundred different countries. Trying to be modest, I think this still qualifies me to be somewhat of an expert in cultural affairs. After having visited all of these different countries I have come to the conclusion that Canada is the best place in the world to live. That being said, I will give my breakdown of the Canadian personalties(from East to West with apologies to the Territories, which I have not visitied yet):
Newfoundland: These people are the friendliest I have ever met. They will invite you into their homes and treat you as a member of the family without asking anything in return. If you offer them anything they will insist on repaying that kindness in full. If they borrow anything, even a cup of milk, they will pay you back.
Nova Scotia: In line with Newfoundlanders, but a little more reserved. They are very friendly but a less than Newfies, showing a lot more distrust of outsiders. Along with the other Maritime Provinces they display an openness that is very unfamiliar to urbanites, but which can be very eyeopening for the cynics who believe there is no trust anymore.
New Brunswick: Again along the same line as the Newfs and Nova Scotians. Because of the bilingual nature of NB you also experience the Acadian culture in it's rawest form. You might envision this as a totally negative experience but the reality is far from that. Acadians can be considered a distinct society in their own right - their cultural differnce from Quebecois is as great as their cultural difference from English Maritimers. My father, who spoke excellent Quebecois French, couldn't understand a word that the Acadians spoke. Nonetheless, as long as you respect their culture, they are very friendly and the same as any other Maritimer.
Prince Edward Island: My experience with PEI is very minimal. I've visited it for a few hours and most of the people I've met from there are friendly - no more, no less.
Quebec: The great enigma of Canada. Half of my family bloodline comes from Quebec and it still very puzzling to me. The whole idea that Quebec is a 'Distinct Society' is not without justification. The problem is that most Seperatists refuse to accept that almost every other region of the Canada can make the same claim, as well as sub-regions within every province. Leaving those arguments aside, Quebec is a very diverse and dynamic province. If you go the the Gaspe you can meet people whose culture more closely resembles the people of the British Channel Islands. Around Quebec City you can find examples of the Feudal French of the 1700's. Around Montreal you experience the international flavour of Paris. People are very friendly regardless of whether you can speak French or not and if you try to speak french they are even friendlier.
Ontario: My personal experience of Ontario is that it is the worst example of what Canadians are really like. The French-speaking people of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario tend to personify all the negative things that people say about French-Canadians and the people of Toronto and Southern Ontario tend to personify all the negative things that people say about English-speaking Canadians. Having said that I find it necessary to qualify my statements in order to lessen their impact. Ontario also personifies the over-all image that Canada gives to the world; an honest, modest, self-deprecating country that wishes no harm to any other and only wants to make things better in the world. Since Ontario presents this image to the world as a whole I can only say that it's too bad the rest of the world doesn't see how friendly the rest of the country is.
Manitoba: My experience of this province is like PEI. I can only say that if they are like the othe Prairie Provinces, they are pretty good.
Saskatchewan: I like to joke that I've only known one person that has moved to Saskatchewan - my sister. Sasakatchewan farmers are like Maritimers, willing to give you the shirts off their backs without asking anything in return. The biggest difference is that they aren't as out-spoken as Maritimers. Unless you are patient you'll have a great deal of difficulty in understanding how friendly and generous they truely are. If you are patient, the rewards are truely worth it. They are modest to a fault, but just as, if not more so, generous.
Alberta: Albertans are just like Saskatchewans with the difference that they are more confident. Despite all their bluster, Albertans are just as willing to put up with other people's faults as they are with their own. Prairie people are by-in-by very tolerant people but Albertans have a tendancy to be less tolerant of people who show no common sense. This tends to give the impression that they are more red-neck but the truth is that they are just less tolerant of those people who don't understand them.
British Columbia: A psychologist could publish a thesis on BC. It has often been described as the California of Canada, as if that could describe all the idiosynchrities of the province. I have lived in the Okanagan, Vancouver, and Vancouver Island and I still have a problem describing th differences of those regions. Various regions of BC almost comprise a broad cross-section of Canada. Fishermen of the Coastal regions are a lot like the Maritimers. People in Vancouver exhibit a lot of the traits of Toronto (with a west-coast flair). The Interior exhibits a lot of the traits of the Prairie farmers plus some of the feeling of the Niagara peninsula and Georgian Bay area of Ontario.
My apologies to those from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon since I have not yet had the opportunity to travel to those regions.
Let me summarize all of this. Of all the areas and countries I have been to I would not trade a single country for the experience of having lived in any region of this country. Canada is the best country I have ever been to - bar none - the people are the best, the climate sucks at times but is still tolerable, and no matter how much we complain, the government and its institutions are among the best in the world.
:wink: the kootenays tho, what a place, its so beautiful there, last time I was around revestoke, I thought I had descended into tibet, the mountains there are so humbling, nature at its best :wink:
