I've always wondered how Canada is perceived by other countries, ever since I went to Japan and most of my Japanese co-workers derided the company-selected primer on Japanese culture as being "hilariously exaggerated" and "maybe true in the 19th century." I see that the company that made the primer on Japanese culture has also made a primer on Canadian culture, and I keep threatening to seek it out someday.
I recently came across this article in the British newspaper the Guardian. It says how the Calgary City Police has been actively recruiting British police officers to bolster Calgary's forces. Apparently, the British bobbies find Canadian criminals to be quite polite, and that patrolling the mean streets of Calgary is a lot more relaxed than the mean streets of London.
The article sums up with this description of Alberta and its culture. I would like to point out that I did not add any emphasis...I bolded exactly what was bolded in the original article.
"Alberta is the second most western of Canada's 10 provinces. Three times bigger than the UK, it has a population of 3,290,350, most of whom live in Calgary or Edmonton. Despite the money which has rolled into the province as a result of the oil and natural gas fields discovered up north 30 or so years ago, Alberta is cowboy country, where beef is on every menu and rodeos are highlights of social calendars. The Rocky mountains lie to the west with the border to British Columbia, and the vast majority of the province is covered in prairies dotted with farms. And there is serious money to be made; with the energy sector booming, Alberta is growing fast, but there are far more jobs than jobseekers. By 2016, the government estimates there will be a shortfall of 109,000 workers."
So it was announced today that the CBC is preparing a film about the life of Don Cherry. The 4-hour mini-series will focus mainly on Cherry's hockey career, and end with when he first met Ron MacLean. The mini-series was scripted by Cherry's son Tim, and the CBC hopes to start filming this summer.
Ummm...why?
And in case you haven't heard, the CFL is heading back to Ottawa. I won't embarrass myself by attempting to talk about football, but I will say I think this is cool. Now, if we can only get one in Halifax to bring it up to an even 10, I just might attempt to get into this football thing.
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