Glorious Canada: The True North, Strong & Free

LiteracyBase member Grecy Garcia (@grecy095) asks where her fellow writers come from, and what it’s like there. As I come from a very vast country that is in some ways so very unique, it’s not a question easily answered in a forum comment!

I am a Canadian, and being Canadian is different from being an American or a Brit, or one of the many peoples who speak French for that matter! Even though we share a common language – and with the Americans we share many years of common history – Canada is distinct. Read on to find out why!

This post is an overview of Canada’s geography, people, history and climate. I will have a follow-up for you that talks more about the social climate and the cool contributions our people have made to popular culture and food.

An Overview of Canada

Geography and Demographics

Canada is the second largest country in the world by surface area, smaller only than Russia. We are a very diverse nation with a really small population of only a little more than 30 million people. Most of the people live in the south of the country, and many are gathered around large cities like Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver.

I used to live in Montreal, which is an island megacity. The megacity and outlying regions taken together, it has a population of about 4 million people. That’s just over 1/10 the population of the entire country living on one island in the Saint Lawrence River!

Canada spans the entire upper portion of North America with the exception of Alaska. We are bordered by three different oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic Ocean. It is very fitting that the national motto of Canada is A Mari Usque Ad Mare, “From sea to sea.” A lot of people like to say it, “From sea to sea to sea,” to emphasize the often forgotten Arctic Ocean.

History of Canada

Canada has a rich history that reaches back to the 15th century and beyond. Our nation was developed by three major groups of peoples: the French, the English, and the First Nations peoples who had been living here long before the Europeans arrived. Canada therefore recognizes English and French as its two official languages. There are too many different Indigenous languages to list them all as official. But in the northern territories where it’s still more common for people to speak the native languages of their forebears, those languages are official languages of the territory and its Legislative Assembly.

Many of our aboriginal languages have sadly been lost or become endangered as a result of historical attempts to assimilate native peoples. Today, many people who have aboriginal heritage do not understand or speak the language of their ancestors. There are currently at least 88 endangered languages in Canada, making our nation fourth only to India, Indonesia, China and the U.S. for languages at risk of being lost permanently.

My youngest daughter is learning the language of the Ktunaxa people in whose traditional territory we live. It is a unique language, with no ties to any other language in the world. The local chief says there used to be about 2,000 native speakers in this region. There are now only 6 who are fluent. We are thrilled that our Katydid has the opportunity to learn a language that is vulnerable in this way. The only chance for Ktunaxa to survive is for people to learn it and pass it on. No other related language exists, to preserve even the seeds of this language if ever it should die out.

Climate in Canada

Many people associate Canada with cold and snow, but our country actually encompasses seven different climate regions. Some parts of Canada are classed as rain forest, while still others are desert or tundra. Much of Canada is covered by temperate or Boreal forest, and there is also a great deal of water in our rivers and lakes.

In my little corner of the BC Interior we have mountains and glaciers very close by. But we are within just a day’s drive of both a desert and a rain forest to the west, and of the prairie to the east. There is a local microclimate that keeps our weather very mild. In summer we have warm days and cool nights. In winter, we get very little snow and the days are only moderately cold. Our growing season is longer than in the neighbouring area because of this microclimate, making our region a big one for homesteading and growing fruit. My town has an annual influx of young people and migrant workers who come to harvest the crops, especially the cherries.

Canada and Water

I left this subject for last, because in so many ways water is central to Canada and yet most Canadians take it for granted. You may know some of our waterways because of their reputation as tourist attractions. Take for example, Niagara Falls. The Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side, is one of three waterfalls straddling the Ontario-New York border. It is one of the biggest waterfalls in the world, by sheer volume of water displaced. It’s absolutely deafening to stand near the falls. You have to shout just to hear yourself!

This waterfall and others in Canada are used to generate clean hydroelectricity, to supply the needs of the population. It has also been the site of many a stunt by daredevils wanting to make a name for themselves. Many have gone down the falls in a barrel, or devised some other death defying trick. Not all have survived.

Four of the five Great Lakes are located partially in Canada, in the province of Ontario. Together, this series of interconnected lakes makes up the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world. They hold 21% of all freshwater on the planet.

Connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean to the east is the Saint Lawrence River. By volume of displacement this is the biggest river in North America, and one of the biggest in all the world. It is longer than the Ganges, the Danube and the Indus rivers, and displaces more water than the Mississippi. It has long been an important part of both transportation and commerce in Canada.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway, built along the river, is a series of locks and canals that allow for smooth navigation all the way from the Atlantic coast to the heart of Canada in Great Lakes country. The canals are used mostly for smaller pleasure craft now, as the main part of the river was made deeper for ocean liners to get through. So today these canals are a quiet place to walk, bike, or take a picnic. I have spent many a wonderful afternoon walking or cycling along the Lachine Canal, and it’s one of the places I miss the most since we’ve moved away from Montreal.

Please watch for a second part of this overview of Canada! In the meantime, if you aren’t already a member of LiteracyBase I hope you will join me. You can use this link to register. It’s free!