Tootfinder

Good Morning #Canada
In my opinion, Great Bear Lake doesn't get enough attention or respect. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest in North America, and the eighth-largest in the world. The lake has a surface area of 31,000 square km and a volume of 2,234 cubic km. Its maximum depth is 446 m with an average depth of 71.7 m. In the winter, ice hijghways are opened across Great Bear Lake to supply northern communities and provide heavy equipment for resource companies.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://youtu.be/kJXBUbVwBNo?si=fyUDnLuvMs_BgdNL

On September 28th, 1867, Toronto officially became the capital city of the new Province of Ontario, and universally accepted as the centre of the universe. It was kind of a pity decision since Toronto had recently lost out to Ottawa when the Queen, the one in England, chose the capital for the Province of Canada. Confederation decreed that the Province of Canada would be split with Canada East becoming Quebec, and Canada West would now be known as Ontario. Toronto got the last laugh because the entire country now revolves around the city, at least in the minds of certain provincial politicians who may or may not want all of Canada to pay for a tunnel under #Hwy401.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianCapitals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto

Good Morning #Canada
After recently moving to Belle Ewart (Bell You-wart), I find myself making strange pronunciations of my town to see people's reactions. Life is short... take pleasure where you can. But if you're a Canadian living in one of the towns mentioned in this CBC article, do you proudly tell people where you live, or do you mumble the answer and hope no one responds. I think you embrace the fun and show pride in your community by investing in t-shirts and hats emblazoned with your town name. But that's just me - some old retired guy with no reputation worth saving.
BTW, if you're looking for a conversation starter, here's a Geographic Fact - the distance between Dildo Newfoundland and Climax Saskatchewan is 5,551 km, about 2 days and 16 hours by car.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CivicPride
https://www.cbc.ca/television/stillstanding/the-most-hilarious-town-names-in-canada-1.5440187

Good Morning #Canada
Finally, arriving at our our 10th province, Manitoba, and putting this series to rest means no more nightmares. Friendly Manitoba, it says so right on their license plates, also has hundreds of abandoned towns, but today we'll focus on Scarf. Named for William Scarf, not for winter clothing or the more recent term for eating quickly, the settlement began in the 1880s, started to flourish after train service arrived in 1907, and died slowly after train service stopped, with the last residents leaving in the 1980s. But in 2013, the regional mayor decided to sell parcels of land in the ghost town for $10. I wasn't able to find out if this plan to bring Scarf back from the dead was successful, but perhaps the area is cursed. In 2020, a tornado touched down near Scarf, killing two teenagers when their vehicle was swept off the road.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianGhostTowns
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-rm-looks-to-sell-ghost-town-lots-for-10-1.2086700

In August of 1977, Tim Horton was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, just 3 years after losing his life in an automobile accident. Known as "the strongest man in hockey " during his career, he helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 Stanley Cups. He would have been only notable with hockey nerds except for the fact that before he died, he was the namesake and primary investor for a Hamilton Ontario restaurant selling donuts and coffee. Today, most Canadians live within 100 metres of a Timmies and don't have a clue who the founder was, or that he died crashing his exotic sports car while drunk. (Insert tasteless joke about TimBits all over the QEW...)
#CanadaIsAwesome #NHL #Fame
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Horton

Good Morning #Canada
Today, while doing my morning Google thingy, I learned that Elon Musk has Canadian Citizenship. Now I need a shower.
Canada is pretty picky when we look for individuals who should be Canadian. Only 6 non-citizens have ever been recognized as Honorary Canadians, which takes an Act of Parliament to be designated with the honour. It provides zero rights or privileges but looks good on your resume. It is far more likely that non-citizens could be awarded the Order of Canada as they are eligible if they have made a significant contribution to Canadian society or had a positive impact on the world at large. As of August 2025, 8,647 people have been appointed to the order, an average of 150 per year since the honour was established in 1967. There is no list of non-Canadian recipients, as the government doesn't track them separately, but Queen Elizabeth II was awarded her Sovereign badge in 1970.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Welcome
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/who-are-the-honorary-canadians-1.1155903

Good Morning #Canada
The list of abandoned towns in PEI is apparently so short that no one has produced any really scary histories. It makes sense being a small island that there isn't enough distance to truly "abandon" a settlement. Maybe a house here or there, perhaps a short street. But that means you are more likely to be living next door to a haunted location. So today, we have a list of ghostly tales from around the island that may, or may not, be myth. Remember, don't go into the old shed with all the sharp farm tools....
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianGhostTowns
https://pointseastcoastaldrive.com/scary-stories-of-points-east-coastal-drive/

Good Morning #Canada
On this day in 1950, the first mountain rescue by helicopter in Canada took place. Albert David Flowers, a BC Forestry fire lookout man, suffered a leg injury at the Azure Mountain Lookout. He was accompanied by his son Gerald Flowers, who was 15 years old. They radioed for help, and a 2-seater open cockpit helicopter was dispatched from a local mining site. The 15 year old Gerald had to cut down trees to prepare a landing site. There was no room for the teen in the helicopter, so he then undertook a 2-day 45km hike off the mountain.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Helicopter
https://www.barrierestarjournal.com/columns/valley-voices-wells-gray-park-helicopter-rescue-makes-history-in-1950-8027471

Good Morning #Canada
Happy Plush Animal Lover’s Day to all who celebrate this special holiday. Because we are an inclusive country, I hope all you Furries out there have a special day as well.
Today's holiday would be a good day to review Canada's top sports mascots because why not. Today, I learned that Curling Canada has a mascot, although it's not an animal. He/She has a curling stone for a head. I may disagree with the ranking - IMO, the Raptor should be ranked higher and Youppi! deserves #1 status - but overall, it's a decent collection of Canadian wildlife. The Canada Goose is missing, and sports teams are missing a lot of marketing mayhem by not having a Beaver mascot. I suspect there are some great mascots at lower levels of organized sport, or at the college/university level.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Mascots
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canadian-sports-mascots-ranking

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Mike Smith (1972) and Cory Bowles (1973), Canadian actors who both starred in the groundbreaking series "Trailer Park Boys." The Canadian mockumentary television sitcom began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, including two lead characters in and out of prison, living in the fictional "Sunnyvale Trailer Park" in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The series premiered on Showcase on April 22, 2001, and originally ran for seven seasons before concluding on December 7, 2008. During its run the series also spawned four films.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Comedy #Legends
https://youtu.be/8INC618ybFo?si=r6ZSLH7GgH_RY16d

Good Morning #Canada
In July 1871, the City of Victoria officially became the capital of British Columbia, when the province joined the rest of Canada. At the time, the city was larger than Vancouver and had served as the most important settlement in the area for decades. The Colony of Vancouver Island also stamped their little feet and demanded that Victoria be designated as the capital in return for the island to join with the mainland to become part of Canada. Captain James Cook was the first British person to set foot on Vancouver Island in 1778, and in 1843, Fort Victoria was established by the Hudson's Bay Company. There is a long history of Vancouver Island serving as a naval base, and today, Victoria is the home of Canada’s Pacific Coast naval and military headquarters in nearby Esquimalt. Victoria is a top tourist destination and is regularly rated top 5 worldwide as an awesome place to live.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianCapitals
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/victoria-bc

Good Morning #Canada
In August 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec could not legally secede from Canada unilaterally. The court's decision affirmed that any secession would require a constitutional amendment negotiated with the federal government and other provinces. This ruling stemmed from a reference case initiated by the federal government following a close referendum on Quebec sovereignty in 1995. Although Quebec was represented at the Supreme Supreme Court hearing, they did not participate in presenting arguments. They essentially ignored the ruling and planned a future referendum, which never happened.
This ruling established an important precedent that Alberta separatists should pay attention to. But details such as this ruling, aboriginal rights, or common sense seem to escape their attention spans.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/supreme-court-says-quebec-can-t-separate-unilaterally-1.159509

Good Morning #Canada
A Canadian inventor gave Mothers across North America a device that was beneficial and a little scary. We are, of course, talking about the Jolly Jumper, once referred to as "the Canadian Nanny" on a 1957 CBC broadcast. Susan Olivia Poole (1889–1975) was an Indigenous Canadian inventor who created the Jolly Jumper in 1910, but it was not until 1948 that they were produced for the retail market, and patented in 1957. They continue to be manufactured in Ontario by the company that purchased the rights in 1960.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Inventors
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/olivia-poole

Good Morning #Canada
Collingwood Ontario today is known as a resort town, supporting skiers at Blue Mountains and swimmers at nearby Wasaga Beach. But the town was built on their reputation for ship building for over 100 years. The Collingwood Shipyard, established in 1882, was a major shipbuilding center, building over 200 ships including Great Lakes freighters, naval vessels, and the HMCS Hochelaga. During #WWII the shipyard launched ships for the Canadian Navy. The shipyard was famous for its unique side-launching technique, necessary due to harbour constraints, which became a significant local spectacle. It closed in 1986, and after significant remediation efforts, the site is now a waterfront park with mixed housing and a marina.
#CanadaIsAwesome #History
https://definingmomentscanada.ca/all-for-9/historical-articles/whats-a-side-launch/

Good Morning #Canada
I've been a bachelor since Thursday as my wife is in Toronto helping my daughter with her latest chemo session. She's back late Monday when life, for me, returns to normal. According to #StatsCan, being married at our age (late 60s) is the most prevalent relationship. But Canadians in younger age brackets are more likely these days to be living common-law and getting married later in life, if at all. Canada has one of the highest rates of common-law relationships worldwide and the highest in the G7. Between 1981 and 2021, common-law couples increased 447% while the number of married couples grew by only 26%. Common-law unions are most prevalent in Nunavut (52%), Quebec (43%), and the Northwest Territories (36%). It's no surprise that more than half of Canadians believe that marriage is not necessary, and even less surprising that this opinion is stronger with young men versus young women.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Relationship
https://madeinca.ca/marriage-statistics-canada/

Good Morning #Canada
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, as of January 2025, only 38 countries recognize same-sex marriage, out of 195 recognized nations. Canada has been a leader in LGTBQ rights and, in a recent ranking, places us 5th worldwide in protecting same sex and gender affirmation. The USA ranks 23rd but is likely to drop further as the report was based on 2024 data before the MAGA morons took office.
#CanadaIsAwesome #LGTBQI
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/lgbt-rights-by-country

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Lilly Saini Singh, actor, comedian, author, television host, born on this day in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. As a well-known Internet personality, Lilly Singh has amassed nearly 15 million subscribers and more than 3 billion views since launching her popular channel of #YouTube videos under the name IISuperwomanII in 2010. She has since appeared as an actor in films and TV series and published the book How To Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life (2017), which topped the New York Times Business Best Sellers list. In 2017, she ranked No. 10 on Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid YouTube stars. And occasionally, she lampooned our American neighbours.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Comedy
https://youtu.be/bcmbKN1aIOU?si=FDL23I5TZya_CWpp

Good Morning #Canada
I have one final chapter for The Dirt on Canadian Farming, and it's more of an opinion piece.
As I conducted research on each province for information on their agriculture, there were numerous news stories about how farmers and farm organizations were fighting against loss of farmland. Urban growth, new housing development, and sprawling industrial parks are gobbling up prime farmland. The attached article is just one example. The statistics released by each province have common trends:the average age of farmers increasing, individual farm operators in decline, larger farms are increasing, renting of farmland is growing, and overall arable land is in decline. With the sparsely populated prairies holding the majority of fertile farmland, Canada likely won't lose our global impact because of development for houses or industry. But elsewhere, our food chain will be pushed further away from where we live. Or disappear.
#CanadaIsAwesome #SaveOurFarmland
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-region-new-update-wilmot-land-plans-1.7534644

Good Morning #Canada
Normally, I'm posting about history or geography or trivia, but the July tourism numbers are dominating the news. We "Nasty" Canadians are choosing not to visit the USA, and trips across the border continue to drop month after month. At the end of 2024, U.S. tourism revenue from Canadians was projected to increase 16%. Surprise! Losses by USA businesses are already estimated to be in excess of $20B USD, and some states are bracing for government cuts due to a decrease in sales taxes.
#CanadaIsAwesome #ElbowsUp
https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2025/08/11/canadian-car-visits-us-plunge-37-percent/

Good Morning #Canada
There is a lot of news coverage about a USA president that lusts after a Nobel Prize like he attacks a family sized bucket of KFC. So let's celebrate that OTD in 1957, the first Canadian won the peace prize - Lester B. Pearson. Before he became our 14th Prime Minister, he spent the majority of his career as a diplomat. He was one of the founders of the United Nations and almost ended up as its first Secretary General. He was instrumental in ending the Suez Canal crisis by suggesting and helping to implement the first U.N. Peacekeeping Force.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianHeroes
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1957/pearson/facts/

Good Morning #Canada
For those of you dreaming of moving to an idyllic lifestyle in beautiful #PEI, consider this to be a public service announcement. No disrespect to our beloved potato province.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://youtu.be/CJxffIMhBd0?si=89VPMfodAtgSMrxS

Good Morning #Canada
In honour of #Caturday, today's post is about the little known Parliament Hill Cat Sanctuary that existed from 1955 to 2013. It was a feline colony for a group of strays living on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, in a sanctuary set aside for them. The care of the cats and maintenance of the sanctuary was carried out by volunteers, and the effort was funded by donations.
Cats were brought into Parliament in 1924 to deal with a "mild plague" of rats and mice in the basement of the then brand-new Centre Block. The numbers of rodents soon fell, but when the unneutered cats began to multiply, they were banished to the outdoors overnight in the same year. In 1955, the cats were replaced by chemicals and no longer allowed access to the Parliament buildings, but the sanctuary was set aside for their colony, and volunteers looked after them for the next 6 decades.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CatsOfMastadon
https://youtu.be/ru_QvokcIeo?si=O395ASTrDPbX3OuD

Good Morning #Canada
Recent news may have some of you panicking with the announcement that AOL Dial Up Services will officially shut down on September 30th of this year. Yikes! But, the Canadian government has your backup plan as they attempt to provide high-speed internet services to 100% of Canadians by 2030. Current estimates put access at 94.5%, and the next target is 98% by the end of 2026.
I kinda miss the phone couplers, bragging about the size of my "Baud Rate," and the beep booping screeching announcement of going online. OK.... not really.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/high-speed-internet-canada/en/high-speed-internet-all-canadians

Good Morning #Canada
There are over 100 ghost towns in Saskatchewan, including Saskatoon in early February. One was Bonne Madone, a community founded in 1902 in the scary Rural Municipality of Woooo Boooo. (Editor - it's actually Hoodoo). The area was granted by the federal government to French settlers, the main contingent of which arrived in 1902 from Dauphiné and Franche-Comté, led by fathers Laurent Voisin and Jean Garnier. A convent run by the Sisters of Providence was established there in 1905. Nuns with rulers are very scary. A school was built there in 1908, and the town's chapel was first built in 1910, and the town also had a Royal North-West Mounted Police station and a Post office. It was an active community in the 1920s and the 1930s, but its population dwindled over the next few decades, and by the end of the 1960s, it was abandoned..... and haunted.
BTW - Some provinces have a Ghost Town Trail, like this one.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianGhostTowns
https://www.prairiepast.com/blog/explore-3

Good Morning #Canada
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty was signed August 9, 1842, and resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (the region that very soon would become the Dominion of Canada). The treaty would end disputes and controversies over the vague indefinite terms and text of the old peace agreement of the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolutionary War. Specifically, it defined borders between Maine and New Brunswick, territory surrounding Lake Superior, and reaffirmed the western border on the 49th parallel. More importantly, it began a period of peace and friendly diplomacy between the two countries... until Americans decided a moronic spray tanner, suspected abuser of women, convicted felon, golf cheat, and narcissistic conman should be their president.
#CanadaIsAwesome #History
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/webster-ashburton-treaty

Good Morning #Canada
Today, we celebrate #PunctuationDay. I restrained myself from placing several exclamation marks after that opening line. You're welcome¡
Canada generally follows the American rules for punctuation, except when we don't. I believe punctuation was invented because the English language was not confusing enough for English professors who needed more than a comma to get angry about. But I'm not here to discuss the proper rules of using the squiggly bits because I don't know them, and rules are for civilized people.
Instead, I would like to offer an article from the archives of that radical media provider Reader's Digest Canada. Here are some unique punctuation marks that I highly recommend that we start us8ng to confuse and enrage those pesky English professors.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CreativeWriting
https://www.readersdigest.ca/culture/little-known-punctuation-marks/

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to me. It's my 69th, and mentally, I feel young, but parts of my body have exceeded the "best before date." According to bornglorious .com there are 137 "famous" Canadians born on August 24th. Most are nobodies like me - politicians, actors, or NHL players you've never heard of. But there are a few notables. Like Alex Colville (1920-2013), a favourite Canadian conceptual painter. Or chain-smoker René Lévesque (1922-1987), who tried to tear Canada apart. But perhaps the Canadian born on this day with the most impact is Rocky Johnson (1944-2020). Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Johnson was a Canadian pro wrestler and the first black champion in WWE history. Oh yeah.... he was also the father of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Famous
https://youtu.be/dhdOPhTHeoE?si=U6ddnjhi5-iyXywU

On the final day of #BeaverWeek, we focus on Beaver Rescue efforts. Many organizations across Canada care for injured Beavers, abandoned kits, or bonded pairs that have to be relocated. Here is a list of recognized Beaver rescue organizations (worldwide) in case you're feeling generous and looking for a charitable organization to support.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://martinezbeavers.org/beaver-friendly-organizations/

Good Morning #Canada
Like a Count Floyd movie night on #SCTV, the ghosts in this series are thinning out as we get to our 2nd to last province. Apparently, New Brunswick is not particularly scary unless you make an enemy of the J.D. Irving clan. (They won't find your body.) Wikipedia has no list of abandoned towns, which is definite proof they don't exist. A century old cotton mill in Fredericton, certainly ripe for ghoulish activities, is currently haunted by government employees. Ooooo....
So we'll have to rely on two of New Brunswick's most famous ghostly locations to spooky your interest, starting with the headless nun.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Halloween #CanadianGhostTowns
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/headless-nun-miramichi-1.7011713

Good Morning #Canada
It's a holiday across most of our nation today, so why not take 14 minutes to find out why Alaska isn't part of Canada and discover why Lord Alverstone is the villain you've likely never heard of.
Lord Alverstone, whose full name was Richard Everard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, played a key role in the Alaska Boundary Dispute of 1903. As the British representative on the arbitration tribunal, he ultimately sided with the United States, leading to a decision that favored the US claim over Canada's claims regarding the Alaska panhandle. At the time, the British government was trying to rebuild relationships with the U.S. and likely instructed Lord Alverstone to rule against Canadian border claims.
#CanadaIsAwesome #History
https://youtu.be/woXBk3OAtSM?si=-pTwI7OKidfK2g2L

Good Morning #Canada
Conservationists who focus on restoration of wetlands are increasingly "Leaving It To Beaver." Beavers are considered the ultimate Keystone Species because they area they re-engineer offer benefits to many other species, and an entire ecosystem can collapse if a Beaver is removed. A Beaver dam doesn't just hold and conserve water. Beavers increase the population of frogs, fish, insects, birds, and small mammals and extend the range of larger mammals like moose, deer, and bears. The quantity and variety of vegetation are increased. Water is filtered and saturates the land, refilling artesian wells. It's unbelievable that we almost lost this amazing creature because of a hat fashion trend.
#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek
https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2021/01/01/leave-it-to-beavers-keystone-species-provides-nature-based-restoration/

Good Morning #Canada
It's National Goose Day, which was intended to celebrate a roasted Goose or a special hello between very good friends. But we'll direct our energy towards the #CanadaGoose who should be our national bird but instead lost out to the Blue Jay. The original naming of the bird that really hates golfers (I'm having a flashback) is somewhat controversial. Most point to an ornithologist named John Canada, which sounds logical, but others suggest Mark Catesby (1682-1749) or Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) were responsible. Regardless of who originally named the species, we all should use the correct reference, which is Canada Goose. There is no such thing as a Canadian Goose unless they're carrying a passport.
#CanadaIsAwesome

Good Morning #Canada
March 1975, the Beaver is officially designated as a National Symbol of Canada, meaning #BeaverWeek is helping us celebrate 50 years of celebrity status for the tail slapping mammals. The National Symbol of Canada Act came about because in January of 1975, a New York Senator proposed making the Beaver an official state animal. Canadians, who loved Beavers more than Americans, moved quickly. The youngest MP in history, 23 year old Sean O’Sullivan, introduced a private member's bill to counter the American attempt to grab our Beaver. O'Sullivan should be immortalized on the $5 bill.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/the-dam-the-myth-the-legend-50-years-of-the-beaver/

Good Morning #Canada
Yesterday, hundreds of women flocked to Washington D.C. to tryout for a few dozen spots in the new Women's Professional Baseball League. It's #Historic because it last happened over 70 years ago. It gives hope to young women who played baseball or softball at a high level in their youth, but there was no career path that involved a sport they loved. Many of those participating in the tryouts are from Canada, and certainly, one of the most interesting is Alli Schroder. At age 16, Schroder pitched the final inning for Canada’s National Team that won Bronze, and more recently, she has been striking out men in a university league in B.C. while her day job is fighting wildfires. Here's a TSN feature on her released a few years ago.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Baseball #Historic
https://youtu.be/_cOhV3giZZc?si=W3mLddxEBHshxktu

Good Morning #Canada
Yesterday, we upgraded our water filtration and, to ease the pain in my wallet, I thought I would share some facts on well water for those who care.
- approximately 11% of Canadians rely on non-municipal water sources.
- the vast majority of wells are drilled wells because they are safer, provide higher volume, and generally last longer.
- dug wells (like ours) are less common and are usually placed where there is a high water table. They are more susceptible to surface runoff.
- well water, although free, is not necessarily cheaper than municipal supply. There is a large upfront cost, which can vary greatly depending on soil conditions, but $25K for drilled and $10K for dug is not uncommon.
- a pump and filtration equipment can cost another $10K, depending on water treatment needed. We needed an additional Iron Filter due to high concentration. Sediment filters and UV treatment require annual maintenance, typically $400 .
#CanadaIsAwesome #Water #GlassHalfFull

Good Morning #Canada
A very busy day and evening yesterday as we hosted some of our family in an impromptu open house. So I'm kinda "mailing it in" this morning with a ##MercerMemories. Rick and Jann visit a donkey sanctuary near Calgary Alberta.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Donkeys
https://youtu.be/jhO-FP-eDb8?si=_cJ2k3634wwnk2Ye

Good Morning #Canada
I think most Canadians know what an #Inukshuk is, but this post is intended to give you a greater understanding of these iconic piles of rock. An inuksuk, or inukshuk (plural inuksuit) is a type of stone landmark or cairn built and used by Inuit, including Iñupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the North American Arctic. These structures are found in northern Canada, north of the Arctic Circle, which is dominated by the tundra biome and has areas with few natural landmarks. These structures, often resembling human figures, serve various purposes, primarily as navigational aids and markers, but also as symbols of the Arctic landscape and Inuit culture.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Inuit #Sculpture
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuksuk-inukshuk

Good Morning #Canada
Today, we celebrate the #FallEquinox, not to be confused with the Chevy Equinox, which is an entirely different thing. The Fall Equinox means summer is officially over, and some of you missed 3 weeks of nice weather when you gave up back on Labour Day. Right now, day and night are roughly equal, more or less, across Canada, but our days are getting shorter for the next several months, until December 21st-ish. Start thinking about snow tires and Christmas shopping because the calendar moves quickly this time of year. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, please ignore this message.
Some bonus content - your Fall 2025 #Horoscope. It's from the CBC, our national news service, so you know it must be accurate. I read mine (Virgo) several times and haven't got a clue what it means. So I've got that going for me.
#CanadaIsAwesome ##WinterIsComing
https://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/fall-equinox-horoscope-2025-1.7638561

Good Morning #Canada
On August 19th, 1942, Operation Jubilee was launched. Commonly known as the Dieppe Raid, it was a disastrous Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port in northern France. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment of tanks, were put ashore from a naval force operating under the protection of Royal Air Force fighter aircraft. Aerial and naval support was insufficient to enable the ground forces to achieve their objectives. The tanks were trapped on the beach, and the infantry was largely prevented from entering the town by obstacles and German fire. After less than six hours, mounting casualties forced a retreat. Within ten hours, 3,623 of the 6,086 men who landed had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. 5,000 were Canadians, who suffered a 68% casualty rate, with 3,367 killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. The operation was a fiasco and a dark day for Canada’s military.
#CanadaIsAwesome #History #WWII
https://youtu.be/jiFKJNiXFok?si=fWzmcigVM8ZFfmHE

Good Morning #Canada
Our recent move to Innisfil, with a short walk to Lake Simcoe, has provided us with hourly flyovers of Canada Geese. Another of our country's iconic animals respected for its monogamy, aerial prowess, and prodigious ability to crap everywhere. Throughout the day, we see hundreds passing overhead as they find resting spots on Cook's Bay, the southern arm of Lake Simcoe. On visits to our community beach, there are flotillas of geese too large to count. In the early 1900s, Canada Geese had been decimated due to habitat loss and hunting, but today it's estimated that there are more than 5 millon across North America thanks to conservation efforts and regulations.
I've had #BeaverWeek and #MooseWeek series. Don't be surprised if in the future I sneak up on you from behind with a Goose Week.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadaGoose
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/animal-facts-canada-goose/

Good Morning #Canada
As #Halloween creeps up on us, we continue to highlight haunted abandoned towns. Today, we are in Rowley Alberta, a failed railway town near the gates of Hell. Maybe near Drumheller.... I wasn't paying attention. Settled around 1910, it once had about 500 residents but declined after the closure of its train station in 1965, and the construction of new highways bypassing the town. Today, it's a mix of private homes and preserved historical buildings, and the remaining 9 evil residents have worked to maintain its historic charm. They have added new features and even host monthly pizza nights to lure in unsuspecting tourists. Don't go in the old shed with all the sharp farm tools....
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianGhostTowns
https://youtu.be/6huskbX8Hh8?si=oowVXFI_s2RwVipM

Good Morning #Canada
I don't pay attention to #WorkLifeBalance much since I'm retired. I mean, every day is a weekend. But apparently, Canada ranks 7th worldwide in a study of 60 countries ranked on factors that provide the best Work-Life Balance. Canada scored well in most of the criteria that evaluated paid time off, health care, public safety, and happiness. Canada slipped out of the top 5 in this recent study, and we fell closely behind Norway and Denmark, and just ahead of Australia. The USA ranked 59th, finishing barely ahead of Nigeria.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Downtime
https://www.narcity.com/canada-ranked-best-countries-work-life-balance-2025

Good Morning #Canada
Like many provinces, Nova Scotia has hundreds of abandoned towns because of depleted minerals, harsh living conditions, or forced relocation. But the ghost town of Broughton in Cape Breton must surely be haunted because of a suicide by one of its most important residents. Founded by the promise of coal mining, no amount of money was spared on the design of its buildings and streets. But poor management and family tragedy doomed the town, and today, only ruins remain. Oooooooo.....
Here's a delightful video on Broughton with narration that is suitable for #Halloween. Don't watch it alone...
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianGhostTowns

Good Morning #Canada
#Aaarrr ....
If you're a follower of #Pastafarianism then you understand. Yes, it's #TalkLikeAPirate Day, which makes it a great opportunity to post about those scoundrels who sailed the eastern coast of Canada during the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the best-known pirates to make his mark on Canada was Peter Easton. In 1612, Easton embarked on a series of raids on European fishing fleets in coastal harbours in Newfoundland and Labrador. He turned Harbour Grace into his headquarters and destroyed a Basque fleet that was intent on capturing his fort there. Part of his myth involved capturing an Irish princess who later married one of his lieutenant and settled in Newfoundland. Easton was the rare pirate who retired in France with his wealth. He was succeeded in Canadian waters by Black Bart who captured more than 400 ships over 2 year period, but who met a bloody end when he was put out of business by the British navy.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://thisiscanadiana.com/episode-pages/2022/6/29/the-rise-of-piracy-in-canada-part-1

Good Morning #Canada
English speaking Canadians feel that Quebec ghosts are not very scary because they have funny accents. But there is a ghost town near Montreal that could send shivers down your spine, especially in early February. Out of the hundreds of abandoned towns in LA Belle Province, the town of Goose Village has the most chilling history, and ultimately, it was wiped off the face of the earth. This municipality of Montreal was officially called Victoria Town, but Goose Village was the common name. It was the infamous site of 22 quarantine sheds where thousands of immigrants, mostly Irish, died in 1847 and 1848. It continued as an impoverished neighbourhood until the entire community was bulldozed to make way for Expo 67 parking. There is ZERO chance that the area is not haunted given its history.
#CanadaIsAwesome ##CanadianGhostTowns
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_Village

Good Morning #Canada
If your next #RoadTrip takes you to today's #BigStuffInSmallTowns destination, your GPS might get confused. The only border city in Canada is Lloydminster, which straddles the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. This bi-provincial city is recognized for being the only one of its kind in Canada, with its unique situation reflected in its single municipal administration, which operates under a special charter approved by both provinces. And on the dividing line between the Lloydminsters are 4 of the largest border markers on the planet. Each one is 100 feet high and they stand on the boundary for the third and fourth meridian. Erected in 1994, each marker represents an important theme: oil and gas, the Barr Colonists, agriculture and First Nations & Métis.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Borderlands
https://youtu.be/kaDRDtn1-3w?si=cp99_Afi5otl70Os

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to William Eldon O'Ree, born October 15, 1935, in Fredericton New Brunswick. O'Ree is recognized for being the first black player in the National Hockey League, playing as a winger for the Boston Bruins. His accomplishment of breaking the colour barrier in the NHL has led him to sometimes be referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of hockey." But O'Ree's legacy goes well beyond the small number of games he played in the NHL. He has spent his non-playing days as an ambassador for hockey and focused on diversity and expanding the audience for the sport. His post hockey career is undoubtedly why he has collected so many honors and awards.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianHeroes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O'Ree

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to
Sir James Douglas (August 15, 1803 – August 2, 1877) who was a Canadian fur trader and politician who became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. He is often credited as "The Father of British Columbia." Douglas was born in Guyana to a wealthy Scottish planter and a free woman of colour. He was educated in Scotland, and in 1819, at age 16, he went to Canada to work for the North West Company and then the Hudson's Bay Company. After a long career managing remote outposts, in 1851, he became Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver. In 1858, he became Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, where he oversaw gold rushes and fought against American annexation.
#CanadaIsAwesome #History
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-james-douglas

Good Morning #Canada
If you live in Montreal, Vancouver, or Victoria, congratulations. According to Condé Nast Traveler, those 3 Canadian cities were top destinations based on the results from its annual Readers' Choice Awards. No other country on the planet had 3 locations named on list of the best cities in the world for 2025. In the top 10 of large cities category, Vancouver was #7, and Montreal was #9. In the small cities category, Victoria was #1 for the 3rd consecutive year.
The article takes a few swipes at Toronto for being excluded as a top tourist destination. Why so mean?
#CanadaIsAwesome #Travel #WorldClass
https://www.narcity.com/canadian-cities-best-in-the-world-to-travel-2025

Good Morning #Canada
We've arrived at our final province on Day #12 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming. It may not be the middle of the country, but I think we can all agree that it's the centre of the universe.
Ontario leads the nation in agricultural exports and is #1 in the number of farms, poultry and egg production, sheep and goat, vegetable and melon, and greenhouse, nursery and floriculture (31.8%). The province is home to one-quarter (25.5%) of total farms in Canada while making up 7.7% of the total farm area. It also employs 870K, more than any other province. There are numerous agricultural centers in Ontario but the Holland Marsh is significant. Just 50 Km north of Toronto lies 21,500 acres of rich black soil that provides vegetables to nearby cities and exports into the USA.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Farming
https://www.canadaaction.ca/ontario-farming-facts

Good Morning #Canada
The 2nd last province has arrived on Day #11 of our series The Dirt on Canadian Farming. What will be the final province? The suspense is killing me!
Manitoba is home to 14,791 farms on 17.1 million acres and, in partnership with Saskatchewan, invented Canola. So Canola and wheat dominate as crops, but a very close 3rd is Hogs, and the average farm in that sector has 5,000 pigs. Not surprising since the Bacon Centre of Excellence is located in Manitoba. Like many of our provinces with large tracts of fertile land, the agriculture in Manitoba is varied, which helps to create stability from year to year. They passed PEI in potato production a few years ago, placing them 2nd behind Alberta. They produce 72M eggs and 1.7M turkeys every year, and ranked #3 in Canada in beef and bison.
#CanadaIsAwesome #MmmmBacon
https://www.manitoba.ca/agriculture/markets-and-statistics/publications-and-proceedings/pubs/agriculture-sector-profile.pdf

Good Morning #Canada
Day #8 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming takes us back east to New Brunswick, which is not that "new" BTW. If it seems like we're jumping around the country in this series, with no logic, well, congratulations, you're paying attention.
New Brunswick's agricultural and agri-food sector reached a record of $1.23 billion in farm cash receipts in 2023, with potatoes, blueberries, maple syrup, and dairy all key products. Within that number lies good and bad news. The province had one of the largest decreases in farm operators in the country, but profits per farm have increased. Blueberry farms increased, and the province is 2nd in Canada in production. In 2024, New Brunswick announced the Agricultural Sustainability Program to assist farmers with reducing tillage, maintaining ponds and wetlands, and protecting pollinator habitat, critical and marginal landscapes, trees, riparian areas and crop management.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Farming
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/95-640-x/2016001/article/14803-eng.htm

Good Morning #Canada
To all you CFAs out there, you would find Newfoundland right scary. Large white ghostly shapes looming out of the fog and winds screaming through hundreds of abandoned settlements. OK... maybe icebergs aren't frightening, unless you sail into one, and all those abandoned towns were the result of government resettlement programs in the 60s. But.... boo. One of the largest communities to be resettled was Merasheen, whose name supposedly means "Ocean of Seadogs." How scary is that. The town of almost 400 was incorporated in 1963, but by the end of that decade, all the residents were gone. Merasheen today continues to haunt us through a website: merasheen.org
#CanadaIsAwesome #Halloween #CanadianGhostTowns
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/merasheen-resettlement-fiftieth-1.4762565

Good Morning #Canada
Happy #Thanksgiving to all Canadians, but in particular to the volunteers and visitors at Canada’s 5,500 #FoodBanks. Thanksgiving serves as an important focal point for food drives in an effort to provide meals for those less fortunate, as well as create long-term awareness of the role that Food Banks fill. Canadians are visiting Food Banks at record levels, some 4M visits so far in 2025, and 47% of those have children at home. It's not too late to donate to your local Food Bank, but please also consider a cash donation in the future to help them fill in the gaps in supply from farmers, producers, and retailers.
#CanadaIsAwesome #FoodInsecurity
https://globalnews.ca/news/11474846/toronto-food-bank-demand-thanksgiving-food-insecurity/

Good Morning #Canada
It's Day #10 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming, and today, we visit the cutest little button of a province sitting out in the Atlantic Ocean.
PEI has a total land area of 1.4 million acres and about 42.5% of the total land area (594,324 acres) is farmland. The 2016 Census of Agriculture counted 1,353 farms ranging in size from a couple of acres to 3,000 acres. Bonus points if you can identify the #2 farm crop on PEI.... and it's not potato skins. Beyond the almighty potato, the province has a healthy mix of dairy, barley, oats, wheat, corn, and blueberries. PEI-grown feed-grade cereals and soybeans are primarily fed to livestock on the island and elsewhere in Atlantic Canada and are part of their rigidly controlled crop rotation process. PEI is the only province that has laws governing crop rotation and farm size (individuals 1K acres, corporations 3K acres).
#CanadaIsAwesome #DoYouWantFriesWithThat
https://www.canadaaction.ca/prince-edward-island-agriculture-aquaculture-facts

Good Morning #Canada
For Day #7 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming, we head west young man to a province we don't want to leave, but we wish their government would just go away.
Alberta's oil industry overshadows the importance and size of their agricultural sector. It's one of only two provinces where the number of farms increased in the most recent StatsCan reports (2021), and their farms generate the highest revenues per operator in the country. Due to the dry climate in they have invested heavily in irrigation, and over 72% of all irrigated farmland in Canada is in Alberta. Oil seed and grains, and beef cattle, dominate with almost 70% of their 40K farms involved in those products. Alberta ranks worldwide as a top exporter of beef, wheat, canola, and pulse crops. Which is interesting because if they separated, they would be surrounded by border checkpoints and tangled up in customs negotiations as a tiny country.
#CanadaIsAwesome #AllHatAndNoCattle
https://www.canadaaction.ca/alberta-farming-facts

Good Morning #Canada
The Dirt on Canadian Farming now enters Day #6, and we'll hang around the east coast today.
Nova Scotia is one of the most challenging regions for agriculture as it is limited by ocean, a rocky landscape, cool and wet climate, and acidic soil. Some of those conditions are ideal for blueberries and apples, and those farms have increased recently with the rise in fresh fruit prices. Grape growing and wine production is another sector increasing and difficult to keep bottled up. Wineries are French hybrid stock suitable for the local conditions. The rest of Nova Scotia's agriculture is made up of dairy, pigs, and maple syrup. Mink production, once a sizeable portion of the province's exports, has decreased significantly since fur coats have thankfully gone out of fashion.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Pies
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/96-325-x/2021001/article/00003-eng.htm

Good Morning #Canada
One of the most important #CanadianCapitals, perhaps top 3, has to be Charlottetown, the largest city in the potato province. The city is famous for hosting the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, a pivotal meeting that initiated the process leading to Canadian Confederation. So it's a bit of a mystery why the "Birthplace of Confederation ", according to PEI marketing propaganda, took 6 years to decide that they too wanted to become Canadians, and joined us in 1873. Charlottetown's history began with French settlers in 1720, and a British survey in 1764 led to it becoming the capital of St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) and receiving its topically British street grid. The island has survived pirates, American mercenaries, hurricanes, potato blight, and Anne of Green Gables fans.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Confederation
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/charlottetown

Good Morning #Canada
On August 7, 1927, the Peace Bridge, an international bridge spanning the Niagara River between Buffalo, New York, and Fort Erie, Ontario, was dedicated. This event commemorated over a century of peace between the United States and Canada. I'm guessing there won't be a ceremony for 200 years of peace since we're now the "nasty Canadians."
#CanadaIsAwesome #History #ElbowsUp
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canada/peace-bridge-0

Good Morning #Canada
So you're planning a weekend #RoadTrip and maybe thinking about something exciting like.... mushroom hunting. Well, Vilna, Alberta, is an addition to the #BigStuffInSmallTowns list because of a giant mushroom that is greater than 3 metres in height. A mushroom statue may not make a lot of sense in some parts of the world, but in Vilna, mushroom hunting has been a tradition since the early Ukrainian settlers arrived in the early 1900's.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://www.travelalberta.com/listings/worlds-largest-mushrooms-5627

Good Morning #Canada
Welcome to Day #3 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming.
When you think of Newfoundland and Labrador, fishing, rocks, and icebergs all come to mind. But there is a healthy farming industry in the province primarily built around vegetables. They also have the highest percentage of sales direct to consumers of any province, with farmers selling from stands and small retail shops on their property. Amazingly, there are no local farm crops used to make Screech.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Newfie
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/96-325-x/2021001/article/00001-eng.htm

Good Morning #Canada
More like good afternoon.... sorry, but I had a busy morning. Welcome to the late edition of Day #4 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming.
Today, we leap west to British Columbia since it's still early morning there. B.C. has a wide variety of farm produce spread across the province, and most Canadians recognize it for fruits, nuts, vegetables, and wine. That last one doesn't grow on trees, BTW. Likely, the most recognizable region would be the Okanagan Valley. The valley is roughly 200 km long and 20 km wide and lies between the Columbia and Cascade mountain ranges, providing a unique warm and sunny climate with semi-arid conditions. This area is famous for its world-renowned wine and fruit industries, stunning natural landscapes with lakes and mountains, its farm-to-table food culture, and the legendary Ogopogo monster of Okanagan Lake.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Agriculture
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/agricultural-land-and-environment/agricultural-regions

Good Morning #Canada
We are firmly launched into October, and it's safe to start thinking about #Halloween. So, a new semi regular series on Canada’s abandoned and spooky towns seems appropriate. Today's town is Barkerville in British Columbia, where wolves howl night and day. OK, maybe not, but there's definitely some stalking of tourists in the once bustling gold rush town. After the Caribou Gold Rush ended and town residents drifted away, Barkerville was designated a historic site, and most of the buildings were preserved. Today, it's one of the largest heritage parks and museums in North America. There are hundreds of people in old timey clothes walking about, but they're not ghosts, just park staff. But the prices are scary.
A good ghost town runner-up would be Ocean Falls, abandoned after the pulp mill closed, but a sinister and mysterious Bitcoin operation still utilizes the old hydroelectric dam.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianGhostTowns
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/barkerville

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Sir Isaac Brock (1769 - 1812), who kept Canada from becoming the 51st state. Technically, we would have become the 19th at that time if the U.S. didn't retreat so frequently. Brock was the military commander and administrator of Upper Canada when the War of 1812 commenced. His early capture of Fort Mackinac, forcing the total surrender of American troops, was a rallying cry for Canada and took away USA military momentum. His actions in that victory were considered rash, and his next rash decision cost him his life at the battle of Queenston Heights.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianHeroes
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-isaac-brock

Good Morning #Canada
As the sun comes up over the grain elevator, we discover we are in Saskatchewan for Day #9 of The Dirt on Canadian Farming. And it's flat.... like crazy flat.
Saskatchewan is commonly known as Canada’s breadbasket because of the volume and diversity of crops that they grow. The province had set a target of $20B in exports by 2030 - which was achieved in 2023 with export revenues of $20.2B, placing them at #2 in Canada. The 34K farms in Saskatchewan manage over 40% of Canada’s farmland, and they are likely the top producer of any grain, oilseed, or pulse crop you can think of. For example - Saskatchewan produced 87% of Canada's chickpeas and was responsible for 91% of chickpeas exports. Which tells me Canadians don't really like chickpeas. The province is also a leader in new technology with GPS guided machinery and numerous testing sites for robotic farming. And don't forget the pigs - they exported 2M in 2023.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Bread #Oink
https://www.canadaaction.ca/saskatchewan-farming-facts

Good Morning #Canada
There are #RunfortheCure events all across Canada this morning. My wife and I will be participating in Barrie in support of our two daughters. But our running days are long past so we'll be walking for the Cure.
Canada has some outstanding cancer treatment centres, like Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, recognized internationally. The World Health Organization (WHO) gives Canada a "B" grade in its evaluation of our country's treatment of cancer. Canada ranks highly in the survivability of lung and colon cancers and Universal Healthcare generally leads to better outcomes versus other countries. But WHO also notes that Canada needs to improve diagnostic processes and technology, early detection programs, and more research into prevention.
#CanadaIsAwesome #FuckCancer
https://cancer.ca/en/research/cancer-statistics/cancer-statistics-at-a-glance

Good Morning #Canada
How did I not know that Dogtoberfest is a thing?
Yesterday, the tapping of the keg officially kicked off #Octoberfest in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Ontario. For those Canadians who live in a cave, KWs Octoberfest is the largest beer festival in the world outside of Germany. It is the 57th anniversary of the event, and in my student days, the big draw was beer and buxom women serving and keeping us in line. But in recent years, there has been an effort to reduce drunkenness and increase the family friendly activities. Kidtoberfest and Dogtoberfest are now part of the festivities that draw happy participants from across Ontario and beyond. It also has the added economic benefit of increased lederhosen production for Canadian factories. Seriously, Google dog lederhosen.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Dogtoberfest #DogsOfMastadon #ZIckeZacke
https://www.oktoberfest.ca/events/dogtoberfest2025/

Good Morning #Canada
In yesterday's post about farming and fall fairs, I ruminated about a series on Canada’s agricultural areas. OK, ruminated may be the term as it was more of a random thought, like a retriever seeing a squirrel. But over the next 2-ish weeks, I'll try to highlight the significant crop regions in each province and teach myself more about our great country.
The first post should be easy because I'm sure most Canadians don't think a lot of farming happens in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, or Nunavut. But small areas within each can sustain crops in a short season, mostly potatoes, and commercial warehouse growing operations are being funded and encouraged. With a warming climate, more land is being used to farm, and additional types of crops are being tested.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Agriculture #Farming
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/feb-15-agriculture-moving-north-arrokoth-s-secrets-the-microbiome-for-flight-and-more-1.5463847/wheat-and-potatoes-in-nunavut-climate-change-could-bring-agriculture-to-the-north-1.5463850

Good Morning #Canada
Welcome to Day #Cinq of The Dirt on Canadian Farming. Today, we are in Quebec, at least metaphorically, to discover how La Belle Province contributes to Canada’s agriculture.
If you want awesome desserts, you have to go to Quebec. They have over 90% of maple syrup farms in Canada and also produce more blueberries and cranberries than any other province. Quebec also leads the nation in the number of dairy cattle and pigs, all of which must speak French by law. If you purchase cheese, and who doesn't, it's a good chance it came from Quebec as they produce more than 50% of all fromage in Canada. Quebec is also a leader in this country in organic farming and has a high percentage of sales direct to consumers.
#CanadaIsAwesome #DrinkMilk #Cheese
https://www.canadaaction.ca/quebec-farming-facts

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Milan Chvostek (October 4, 1932 – November 8, 2018) was a producer/director at the CBC. He worked on A Case for the Court, The Lively Arts, This Hour Has Seven Days, Science Magazine and the CBC's flagship show The Nature of Things,[ which has aired in nearly fifty countries worldwide. Awards for Chvostek's shows include one from the Monte Carlo Television Festival awarded by Prince Rainier III in 1975, and the Bell Northern Research Communications Award for science programming from the Canadian Science Writers' Association (Chvostek is the only three-time winner of this award) in 1974 and 1975. After a decade of teaching television broadcast at Seneca College, Toronto (1986 to 1996), he embarked upon a freelance videography and photography career, working both independently and in partnership with his wife, journalist Isobel Warren. He also started researching climate change in the 1960s.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianLegends
https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/wife-discovers-late-husband-was-researching-climate-change-before-anyone-was-taking-it-seriously-1631676

Good Morning #Canada
With another #HeatWave hitting most of Canada this week, my goto combat plan is - Eat #IceCream. Most Canadians obviously have the same strategy as we collectively ate over $840m of tasty frozen concoctions last year. Chocolate is the most popular flavor, but I'm more of a butterscotch guy. I think a #MercerMemories video could get you motivated to get out and restock your freezer.
#CanadaIsAwesome #MMMGood
https://youtu.be/wwrHYN37yf0?si=vFdKrcCzyInsHQAo

Good Morning #Canada
Summer is over, and this morning, approximately 5.5 million primary and secondary Canadian students go back to school. Lunches are packed, stylish new backpacks have a light load, and sneakers are fashionably untied. Stay alert for school busses, crosswalks, and that speed camera newly installed outside your local school. Yes, it's hectic today as you relearn how to get your kids out the door on time. Enjoy the change of pace because soon you'll be shoveling snow.
#CanadaIsAwesome #BackToSchool #WinterIsComing
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710010901

Good Morning #Canada
Summer may be over, at least emotionally, but there's lots of nice weather as we enter Fall Fair season in Canada. Canada has incredible agricultural potential in every province - and maybe we need a series of posts on that - and fall is when rural communities celebrate the harvest with demonstrations and competitions. But city folk are invited and encouraged to visit your local event and get acquainted with plowing matches, the price of a new tractor, cattle judging, and who has the biggest watermelons. Here's a small list of some of the most prominent Fall Fairs out of the hundreds that take place annually.
BTW - In my only plant submission to one of these festivals (Erin Fall Fair), I got 3rd place for the tallest sunflower. Rookie mistake, I cut my plant at ground level, and it was 11.5 feet high. The winners ahead of me dug out the roots and submitted the entire plant. I was robbed!
#CanadaIsAwesome #FallFairs #Farming
https://www.mapquest.com/travel/the-12-best-fall-fairs-in-canada/

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Kenojuak Ashevak, one of Canada’s most famous Inuk artists. She was born in 1927 at Camp Kerrasak on southern Baffin Island and died on January 8, 2013, in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Known primarily for her drawings as a graphic artist, she had a diverse artistic experience, making sculpture and engraving and working with textiles and also on stained glass. She is celebrated as a leading figure of modern Inuit art and one of Canada's preeminent artists and cultural icons. She was the first Inuk artist inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame (2001), was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1967), and promoted to Companion in 1982. She received the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2008) and the Order of Nunavut (2012). Her work, with its superb design qualities, was used for Canadian stamps, coins and banknotes, including her best-known work, The Enchanted Owl
#CanadaIsAwesome #IndigenousArt
https://youtu.be/u4a2V_jQU98?si=s80cCelwfP8tR8nV

Good Morning #Canada
Capitalism certainly doesn't waste an opportunity, and as entrepreneurs were trying to make Beavers extinct, they made use of every part, including the Beaver's secretions. Castoreum is a yellowish exudate from the castor sacs of mature Beavers used in combination with urine to scent mark their territory. Butt for centuries Beaver Castor Oil was used to flavour food, make perfumes more interesting, and cure every ailment known to the human race. Rumors persist about its use in many products, but it's rarely used today. I will not make a tasteless, smelly Beaver joke this morning.... you're welcome.
#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek #Eewww
https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-history-of-flavoring-food-with-beaver-butt-juice/

Good Morning #Canada
We should thank Prince Albert for helping to save the Beaver. His choice of wearing a silk tophat in the mid 1800s has been cited as one of the reasons fashion moved away from Beaver hats and thereby saved them after almost 3 centuries of trapping. And silk hats were easier and cheaper to make. Whatever the reasons fashion almost made the Beaver extinct, first in Europe and then in North America. When fashion trends shifted, the Beaver was saved.
#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek #MadHatter
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/01.htm

Good Morning #Canada
I think I'm starting a semi-regular series on #CanadianCapitals, highlighting the governmental centres of power in each province. Toronto, beloved by all Canadians, was featured last weekend and I'll randomly post about the remaining eleven to fill in between my other Good Morning posts. But today, let's review how each provincial capital got its name. Halifax could have been named Dunktown but was saved by a city founder having a fancy title. Imagine living in PEI's capital if King George III was married to someone named Bertha. Native names are used for many capital cities, like Pile of Bones or Muddy Water. And I think Newfoundland missed an opportunity to have an exotic sounding capital when the original name "Rio de San Johem" was lost.
BTW - I know all Canadians will be cheering for the Hogtown Blue Jays in the upcoming playoffs.
#CanadaIsAwesome #WhatsInAName
https://natural-resources.canada.ca/maps-tools-publications/maps/geographical-names-canada/origin-names-canadas-provincial-territorial-capitals

Good Morning #Canada
When I'm on the interwebs looking for material to post every morning, I occasionally come across an interesting bit of history that isn't taught in school. Today, courtesy of @…, we get the tale of two French aristocrats who are embezzling from the colony of Quebec that they were sworn to oversee and protect. The wife of one of the men is having an affair with the other, apparently with permission. After narrowly escaping death by British cannonball, the trio fled to France after Quebec City fell to Britain. There, they faced scandal and were blamed for the loss of France's colonies, facing prison and banishment. French aristocracy knew how to have a good time.
#CanadaIsAwesome #LoveTriangle #History
https://youtu.be/PsdPCuBg3fs?si=olJU6_qOFUK_im8F

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to my eldest daughter and, coincidentally, one of my favourite painters, Tom Thomson. Born in 1877 and raised in rural Ontario, Thomson displayed no immediate artistic talent and worked several jobs in sign making and graphic design. He didn't start painting seriously until he was almost 30, and during his short career, he produced roughly 400 oil sketches on small wood panels and approximately 50 larger works on canvas. His art consists almost entirely of landscapes, depicting trees, skies, lakes, and rivers. An excellent collection of his work can be seen at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.
#CanadaIsAwesome ##CanadianArtist
https://thegroupofseven.ca/tom-thomson/

Good Morning #Canada
We are wrapping up a Canada-cation with the family at Blue Mountain in Collingwood, Ontario. This area has exploded as a year-round resort since my wife and I skied here in the mid-70s. One of the big tourist attractions that we never visited was Blue Mountain Pottery. Started in 1953 to help increase revenues in the gift shop for the ski resort, it produced pottery with distinctive mixtures of glazes, the most common of which included a blue-green and a dark grey or black glaze. The pottery became popular in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s; it was also exported to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. After Blue Mountain Pottery closed in 2004, the pottery became popular among collectors, and examples are held by the Royal Ontario Museum and the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Pottery #CanadaCation
https://www.mountainlifemedia.ca/2014/07/how-pottery-saved-blue-mountain/

Good Morning #Canada
There is a little known reporting tool on the ##StatsCan website called Canada’s Quality of Life Hub. First proposed in 2021, and launched in 2023, it is a framework that gathers data and evidence to inform priority setting and guide decision-making in various policy areas, including the budgetary process. The Framework comprises five domains –prosperity, health, environment, society, and good governance – and two cross-cutting lenses: fairness and inclusion, and sustainability and resilience. Not enough Canadians have heard of it, and I suspect very few government policies are implemented before analyzing the impact on quality of life measurement by this tool. On a positive note, #StatsCan is looking for feedback on how to improve the hub.
#CanadaIsAwesome #QualityOfLife
https://www160.statcan.gc.ca/index-eng.htm

Good Morning #Canada
It's 1866, and there's no TV or interweb, so what do you do? We'll, if you live on a dairy farm near Ingersoll Ontario, you make a 7,000-pound wheel of cheese. It's helpful if you are also not lactose intolerant.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Cheesy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/mammoth-cheese-ingersoll-ontario-1.7157633#:~:text=More than 150 years ago,enough milk to create it.

Good Morning #Canada
I don't want to alarm you but... #WinterIsComing. That means it's time to start thinking about installing your #SnowTires because I don't want you behind me on a slippery slope if you're not prepared. Outside of Quebec, where winter tires are mandatory, over 76% of Canadians are putting on the special rubber to protect themselves and others. Atlantic Canada leads with 94% using winter tires, and tropical Saskatchewan and Manitoba have the lowest usage at 64%. But you need to be alert because 31% of Canadians surveyed say they won't buy or replace their snow tires because of affordability. The friendly rotund Michelin Man recommends that every vehicle should have snow tires from December 1st to March 15th. Why would he lie to us.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Snowmageddon
When the temperature is consistently below 10°C
November 1st
Like everyone else, the day after the first significant snowfall
All Season tires are fine
Snow Tires are a scam, a conspiracy imposed on us by capitalist rubber and insurance oligarchs

Good Morning #Canada
The Beaver is the only mammal, besides humans, that is able to re-engineer their environment to support their lifestyle. Humans can use this Beaver superpower for good, rebuilding #Watersheds and increasing storage of water to combat drought and wildfires. Provinces are reintroduc8ng Beavers to their historical habitats, and even moving pairs of Beavers to desert regions in the U.S. to totally transform landscapes.
#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek #Engineering
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nuisance-beavers-relocated-1.7268057

Good Morning #Canada
Many people, that includes you, are worried about #Skynet assuming control of all military systems, but what happens when it starts harvesting our crops? Canadian agricultural scientists are blindly charging ahead in their efforts to fill our farms with robots. It started with self-driving tractors pulling conventional equipment and evolved to fully autonomous vehicles that plow, plant, fertilizer, weed, and harvest. Organic farming is seeing the biggest benefits as robots can hand weed 2 hectares per day, eliminating herbicides.... and farm workers. Almost 15% of Canada’s dairy farms use robotic milking cubicles where cows enter when they need milking, with no cold human hands involved. IMO, using robots to replace hard back breaking labour or tedious driving of equipment up and down a farm field is a good use of technology. But I hope the tech is not priced out of the reach of small farms.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Robotics #Farming
https://news.uoguelph.ca/2024/08/these-self-driving-weed-cutting-robots-transform-the-future-of-farming-says-u-of-g-researcher/

Good Morning #Canada
In the Ojibwe culture, a dreamcatcher is made with willow hoop, on which is woven a net or web and decorated with sacred items such as feathers or beads. Traditionally, dreamcatchers are hung over a cradle or bed as protection during sleep as Native Americans believed that at night the air was filled with dreams, both good and bad. Today, based on current events, we need numerous and bigger #Dreamcatchers to filter out the crap. I'm fortunate that the world's largest dreamcatcher, measuring 12.93 metres (over 42 feet) in diameter, is in my backyard, only 45 minutes north of where I live. It was created by Dale (Bobbie) Williams and located in Rama First Nation, Ontario, Canada, near Orillia. Williams was inspired to create it after learning the Guinness World Record holder for a dreamcatcher was in Europe and he felt it didn't meet the traditional definition. I think it had sausages hanging from it.
#CanadaIsAwesome #BigStuffInSmallTowns #RoadTrip
https://www.orilliamatters.com/local-news/worlds-largest-dream-catcher-aims-to-provide-powerful-energy-in-rama-8721002