I accomplished my goal of meeting and talking with as many Canadians as possible, something that pleased me a great deal.
With the exception of an old crank on Hornby – a wierd-looking fellow who obviously relishes the role of local eccentric – everyone there was kind and welcoming: the retiree/painter at the Qualicum arts centre, the helpful folks at Enterprise Rentals, the counter-culturalists on Denman, the .NET User Group leader at UVic, Ryan Storgaard the Microsoft Deep Dive speaker, Victoria realtor Mark Meischsner, the young land baron from Hormsby.
And this is not to mention the ladies at the local bank, the A&W and the fish market, the gent at Tim Hortons who on my first morning helped me figure out the currency, the maintenance guys at the resort who alternately kept me from immolating and electrocuting myself, the business manager who took the time to help me understand the RCI point system, the girl at Petro Canada who assured me that we had time to complete an application for a Petro card.
This is to say, I guess, that the people are as memorable as the spectacular scenery. I was treated with immaculate civility and grace.
Which leads me to wonder: how is it that Canada and the US, which were founded by people generally of the same stock, have such different values?
The Canadians I was lucky enough to meet seemed – all of them, regardless of station – well-informed, articulate and, when they had a job to do, wanted to do it to the best of their abilities.
Friends who have seen my photos remark on the same thing: how clean the environment is, how beautiful it looks. Could one say the same for here, even for Cape Cod, which the local Chamber of Commerce tells us is among the top vacation spots in North America?
Being a New Englander and from the Cape in particular, I’ve become obsessed with the cost of things. I’m not much of a capitalist, but certainly felt like one: referring to money in conversation seemed to be, at the least, a social faux pas and at worst, so outside the values of the people I met to be incomprehensible.
Western Canada isn’t cheap: BC is said to stand for “Bring Cash”. The sales taxes are outrageous. There was a lot of self-congratulatory political talk by the Liberals, who predominate the legislature, about bringing down the deficit. There was also a lot of talk about school closures and erosion of the rights of people on welfare by the opposition parties.
But, whether by good timing or good fortune, it seems that people are able to “make a life” even if they aren’t making much of a living. And, unlike the Cape, those on the lower end of the economic scale don’t seem to resent the upper 1/2 of 1% who are living well. I sensed none of the competitiveness or acrimony or sour grapes of so many people I know back in the US.
When learning that I am from the US, a number of people asked if I’m planning to move to Canada.
They’ve met numerous Americans who are thinking hard about it because “they’re unhappy with Bush”.
Well, I have a Lottery Super 7 ticket for tomorrow’s (March 18) drawing.
If I win, I’ll let you know.