Tootfinder

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 1905, when Alberta joined Canada, a temporary provincial legislature resided in Edmonton and they were given the task of choosing the capital. Edmonton, by a vote of 16 to 8, was selected over their southern rival Calgary. This choice was despite Calgary's larger size and incorporation as a city a full decade before Edmonton. But the new capital had used their history as an important trading post established on the fur trade route and federal relationships to secure their status as the capital. In 1941, Edmonton was still a relatively small city, ranking 9th in population in Canada. Oil would transform the entire province, and Edmonton would rapidly grow as the gateway to the resource rich Alberta north.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianCapitals
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/edmonton

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
Listening to Christmas tunes and watching the snow fall.
Notable Canadian snowstorms:
- 1913 Great Lakes Storm. The most destructive natural disaster on the Great Lakes, causing 250 deaths & destroying 19 ships.
- 1941 March Blizzard: Brought 100 km/h winds and temps of -45°C to Saskatchewan and Manitoba, leading to the deaths of 72 people.
- 1944: 47 cm of snow hit Toronto in a single day. Unfortunately, the Canadian Army was overseas.
- 1971 Montreal: 45 cm of snow on March 4th & wind gusts of 110 km/h. 200 Ski-Doo owners provided emergency transport.
- 1977: This blizzard struck Southern Ontario January 28 to February 1. Toronto DID NOT call the Army.
- 1999 Toronto Snowstorm: A series of snowfalls paralyze the city, total snowfall for January reached 118 cm. Yes, the mayor called the Army.
- 2007 February 2007: Storm hits Central and Eastern Canada, with Ottawa setting a single-day snowfall record of 35.7 cm.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Snowmageddon
https://www.readersdigest.ca/travel/canada/worst-snowstorm-in-canada/

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
In 1896, gold was discovered on a tributary of the Klondike River, leading to tens of thousands of people (mostly Americans) racing north in the #KlondikeGoldRush. Canada feared that the United States would take control of the area (they purchased Alaska in 1867), so the Canadian government sent in the North-West Mounted Police to establish control of the region. The Klondike Gold Rush established the frontier town of Whitehorse, named for the rapids lying south of the settlement. On 13 June 1898, the Yukon Territory Act created Yukon as a separate Canadian territory and placed its capital at Dawson City. During #WWII Whitehorse became an important base of operations for the U.S. military as they built the Alaska Highway. Whitehorse was incorporated as a city in 1950, and in 1953, it became the capital of Yukon when the government was moved from Dawson City.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianCapitals
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/whitehorse

Good Morning #Canada
On this day in 1948, the longest serving political leader in the British Commonwealth retired. William Lyon Mackenzie King served 21 years and 154 days as Prime Minister of Canada, in non-consecutive terms, from 1921–1926, 1926–1930, and 1935–1948. He led Canada through the Great Depression, introduced Old Age Pensions, nationalized the Bank of Canada, passed the 1938 National Housing Act to improve housing affordability, established the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Trans-Canada Air Lines, and the National Film Board, and implemented Unemployment Insurance. His government was also responsible for Japanese Internment Camps, and he believed strongly in the occult.
This video from TVO is an excellent overview of King's career. It's probably a two coffee viewing this morning if you have the time, but IMO worth the investment.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianHeroes
https://www.tvo.org/video/mackenzie-king-at-150

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
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
Our #CanadianCapitals feature today is the oldest European settlement in North America as well as the most eastern city on the continent. Despite a history that goes back to he 1490s, St. John's Newfoundland was incorporated as a city in 1921 and became a provincial capital in 1949 upon joining Canada. The natural harbour served explorers and fishermen for centuries, and the settlement survived pirates, attacks by the French, and several devastating fires. If the Portuguese had more influence, it would have been named Rio de San Johem, which is a missed opportunity.
#CanadaIsAwesome
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/st-johns

Good Morning #Canada
Have you ever dreamed of having a pet #Moose ? Probably weekly if you're a Canadian. But apparently, it's been done, and there are records of Moose being used for farming or racing, or just cuddling up with you on the couch. This CBC article documents one of the best-known examples, but be warned, there are some dark twists to the story.
#CanadaIsAwesome #MooseOfMastadon
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/canadian-stereotype-domesticated-moose-1.5369308

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
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
Did you know that a Dodecahedron is a 12-letter name for any 12-sided shape. And did you also know that on this day in 1962, the Canadian Government decreed that our dodecahedron nickel was decadent and that round was right. Pre-1962 nickels are now pretty worth a nickel, but a coin in "mint condition" has been known to fetch a few pennies more.
Have you noticed there are more coin buying events in your neighbourhoods over the past few years? Some of that activity is driven by buyers taking advantage of people wanting to sell old jewelry, collectibles, or jars of coins that are sitting in the back of drawers or closets. But the rise of digital transactions, particularly increased during COVID when no one wanted to touch your infected money, has increased the collectible value of coins and, in some cases, the actual metal value exceeds the face value.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Numismatist
http://canadiancoinnews.com/otd-12-sided-five-cent-coin-becomes-round/

Good Morning #Canada
There's been a lot of references to Badlands on social media lately, something about a movie or something. Seems like an opportunity to revisit some real bad lands in Alberta. Seventy-five million years ago, give or take a million years, when dinosaurs walked the earth, southern Alberta was a subtropical paradise of towering redwoods and giant ferns. But then the glaciers came and had their way with the landscape. Today, fertile plains suddenly drop away into a world of multi-hued canyons and wind-sculpted hoodoos. Spanning east from Drumheller to the Saskatchewan border and south to the United States, this region is known as the Canadian Badlands. It is home to the largest deposits of dinosaur bones in the world. It's a little bit more famous than the Cheltenham Badlands in Ontario.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Badlands
https://youtu.be/faf8DEXtMtU?si=ryTB_1Eo7dKCoyRb

Good Morning #Canada
If you are a vintage Canadian, you will remember a 1973 commercial comparing the health of a 30-year-old Canadian to a 60-year-old Swede or taking a #BodyBreak with Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. The nonprofit organization #ParticipACTION has either motivated you to start an exercise program or caused you to feel guilty about being a couch potato. From 1971 to 2001, ParticipACTION operated independently, with government support, and focused on improving the health of Canadians through physical activity. It disappeared for a few years but was relaunched in 2007 as a nonprofit with guaranteed support from the federal government (funding and administrative).
Every year, they release the ParticipACTION Report Card, and for 2025, the data shows a failing grade in most categories. I acknowledge my contribution, or lack thereof. Despite the well documented positive impact of exercise, we are falling short.
#CanadaIsAwesome #GetActive
https://www.participaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025_ParticipACTION_Report_Card_Summary.pdf

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
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
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
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

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
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

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
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
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
Happy National Homemade Bread Day for all those with enough dough to celebrate. There's no data on how many of us make their own bread at home, but there are 1,321 bakery product manufacturing establishments and more than 1,406 retail bakeries in Canada. Canada annually ranks in the top 10 worldwide in wheat production, 6th or 7th, depending on the year, but we don't eat a lot of bread. #StatsCan says we consume approximately 30 kg per person yearly, which doesn't put us in the top 30 internationally - Turkey's citizens eat 6 times as much as us. We spend about 10% of our grocery bill on baked goods, and that has increased almost 30% over the past 5 years. Canada exports $5.2B in baked goods annually with $5B of that going to the U.S. market.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Sandwich
My favourite type of bread: Please boost for scientific significance.
Plain White (I leave my socks on too)
Bagels (Montreal preferred)
Sourdough (nothing to do with my personality)
French - loaf or baguette (I also support Bilingualism)
Italian - loaf, focaccia, calabrese (I'm also a pasta lover)

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
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
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
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
#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
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
If you haven't been living in a cave this week, you know that the #NorthernLights were putting on a show across Canada. As you know, a solar eruption sends billions of tons of superheated plasma into space and traveling at more than 45 million miles per hour it can reach Earth in less than a day. That plasma, drawn towards the magnetic pole, interacts with our atmosphere, and we get a spectacular light show. The Aurora Borealis, named by Italian astronomer Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei, is not unique to Canada, but so much of our land is in the Northern Hemisphere that most Canadians have the opportunity to experience it. This is particularly true in the Northwest Territories, where the Northern Lights are visible for 240 days every year on average. The phenomenon has a special meaning for Indigenous Canadians, some of whom believe it shows them ancestors dancing in the sky.
#CanadaIsAwesome #GetOutside
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/how-indigenous-traditional-knowledge-is-improving-our-understanding-of-aurora-borealis-1.7414899

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
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
Before #WWII, Canada could still be considered a tiny nation in terms of our influence on world affairs. But after the conflict broke out, we contributed well beyond expectations and our navy was an example. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) started the war with only 13 vessels, but when WWII ended, we had the 4th largest navy in the world. By 1945 the RCN had 450 ships in all, plus many smaller auxiliary units. This 1945 figure breaks down as follows: 2 cruisers, 17 destroyers, 68 frigates, 112 corvettes, 67 minesweepers, 12 escort ships, 75 Fairmile motor launches. During WWII, Canadian shipyards built a total of 4,047 naval vessels and 410 merchant ships for a grand total of 4,457 ships. The naval vessels included over 300 anti-submarine warships, as well as thousands of landing craft, escort ships, minesweepers, and tugs.
#CanadaIsAwesome #RemembranceDay
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Royal-Canadian-Navy/Second-World-War

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
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
I slept in this morning, getting an extra 90 minutes or so of extra #ZZZs. I usually get 7 to 8 hours of sleep, meeting the Canada Health recommendations, and apparently better than most Canadians. The attached article has some sleepy stats from a study commissioned by IKEA but doesn't address sleeplessness due to stress related furniture building. Some additional data:
- 60% of Canadians say they wake up “well rested”.
- Albertans are sleep-deprived as only 9% say they never find it hard to fall asleep. Compared to Saskatchewan and Manitoba (19%), Ontario (20%), B.C. and Atlantic Canada (27%), and Quebec (28%).
- 47% of us say money and financial matters affected our sleep.
- Quebec residents use more sleep medications (11.5%) than those in Ontario (6.7%), and we have Doug Ford.
- Only 5% of Canadians would give up intimate relations for better sleep.
(Data from Research Co., Leger, #StatsCan)
#CanadaIsAwesome #WakeUp
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/canadians-are-losing-sleep-at-an-alarming-rate-recent-reports-suggest/

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
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
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
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
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
#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
While the excitement and disappointment of the #BlueJays season is fading a little, we can still take pride in the fact that we invented the game of baseball. You read that correctly - Canada was the birthplace of North American baseball as we know it today. From Wikipedia:
"... the first official baseball game with a documented score card took place not in the U.S., but in Canada in 1838. While Canada invented the version of baseball we know today, innovations made by New York City clubs became the basis for the modern game, far removed from its English ancestor, but extremely similar to the Canadian version".
It turns out that the earliest, detailed, reputable account of baseball being played in North America came out of a game in Beachville, Ontario on, June 4, 1838. And there are decades of records detailing Ontario teams regularly beating American competitors in league play or matches.
#CanadaIsAwesome ##SportsHistory
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadians-in-baseball-the-lost-tribe-feature

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

BTW - I don't think we should brag but, we invented #Hockey, #Basketball, #Baseball, AND #Football.
#CanadaIsAwesome #YoureWelcome
https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/how-canada-invented-american-football-baseball-basketball-and-hockey

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
I bet you thought that I forgot about this unfinished series, but I was just waiting for a slow historical news day. Iqaluit is our newest provincial/territorial capital, as Nunavut was officially separated from the Northwest Territories to become the largest and northernmost territory of Canada on April 1, 1999. No fooling. Iqaluit, which means "place of many fish," has a long history as an Inuit hunting and fishing ground. In 1880 the British Government transfers the Arctic archipelago to the Canadian government which begins a century of colonization efforts to protect Canada's sovereignty in the area, with a bit of resource extraction that prompted settlements in Nunavut. Officially named "Frobisher Bay" In 1942 as a military airfield during WWII, the town reverted to its Inuit name in 1987.
#CanadaIsAwesome ##CanadianCapitals
https://www.iqaluit.ca/visitors/explore-iqaluit/history

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
I don't post much about #Hockey as I've fallen out of love for the game in recent years. But in my youth, I was a goalie, and one of my early sports heroes was Glenn Hall. On this day in 1962, Hall set a record that will never be broken when he played in his 502nd consecutive NHL regular-season game and 552 straight, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This was an era when goalies didn't wear masks or helmets and were routinely stitched up after being cut so they could return to the net. I didn't become a fan until after his streak ended, but his dominance over the next few years made an impression on me and my style of goaltending. He was the pioneer of the butterfly style, which at the time enraged NHL coaches and confounded scorers. His goaltending for St. Louis in the Stanley Cup series of 1968 was some of the best I've ever seen.
#CanadaIsAwesome #NHL #GOAT
https://www.nhl.com/news/glenn-hall-holds-nhl-record-that-likely-will-never-be-broken

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
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
This morning, our old Mazda goes in for new brakes, front and back, and install the snow tires. While sipping my coffee, I was wondering about auto stats in Canada....
- Canada ranks 23rd worldwide in vehicles per 1,000 people. USA ranks 10th.
- COVID put and end to rising car ownership. In 2020 there were 473 vehicles for every 1,000 people. Today, it's estimated to be 408.
- 11% of Canadians own 3 or more vehicles, 2% own 5 or more.
- 9% own an electric vehicle or hybrid.
- 78% of Canadians say it would be impossible for them not to have a car.
- 41% wish they had better transportation options to avoid needing a car altogether.
- Compared to 2024, car ownership costs have increased 9 per cent, rising from $5,025 to $5,497 annually.
Data from Wikipedia, #StatsCan, and Car Ownership Index.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Automobile

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
On the eve of #RemembranceDay, it's fitting that we wish a ##HappyBirthday to Charles Cecil Ingersoll Merritt, who was born on this day in 1908. Merritt was the first Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross in #WWII, the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire. He was also the son of Captain Cecil Mack Merritt, who was killed in the Second Battle of Ypres on April 23rd, 1915. Merritt commanded The South Saskatchewan Regiment, Canadian Army, (Canadian Infantry Corps), and led his regiment at the failed Dieppe Raid on August 19th, 1942. He led multiple charges against fortified positions, was wounded twice, and stayed on the beach to defend his troops as they were withdrawn. He was captured by the Germans and remained a prisoner until the end of the war.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianHeroes
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/charles-cecil-merritt-vc

Good Morning #Canada
Canadians should reflect back on the glorious past few weeks and the excitement provided by the Toronto #BlueJays. A team not expected to contend for any title when the season began, they surprised the experts, the fans, and the teams that stood in their way. Some Canadians had flashbacks to previous World's Series Championships, some younger fans built their own memories, and millions jumped on board the bandwagon. We celebrated every pitch, every swing of the bat, every win that brought us closer to a championship, and each other. If you can't change the situation you're in - or the final score in a game 7 - you can always change your perspective. Don't be sad for our Blue Jays. Remember the joy they brought us individually and collectively.
#CanadaIsAwesome #LetsGoBlueJays
https://youtu.be/ENBX_v1Po1Y?si=lSY-cNmBiNozxOvM

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
Stanley Park is a 405-hectare public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. It opened in September of 1888 after negotiating a lease from the federal government who owned the land for $1 per year. On this day in 1889, it was renamed and dedicated in honour of Lord Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, a British politician who had recently been appointed Governor General of Canada. It doesn't crack the top 10 of city parks in Canada (despite what the attached article states) but it's special because much of the park remains as densely forested as it was in the late 1800s, with about a half million trees, some of which stand as tall as 76 metres and are hundreds of years old.
#CanadaIsAwesome #Parks #GetOutside
https://todayinconservation.com/2018/10/october-29-stanley-park-vancouver-dedicated-1889/

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
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
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
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

Good Morning #Canada
Happy #Halloween to all those Canadians who enjoy dressing up, and today it's totally normal. But remember, don't go into the old shed with all the sharp farm tools.
Today, I am sharing one of my favourite radio episodes narrated by the late Stuart McLean. For 20 years, #TheVinylCafe radio show aired weekly on CBC Radio and was written and hosted by the late McLean. The radio show featured stories are about Dave, owner of a secondhand record store called "The Vinyl Cafe", and also starred Dave's wife, Morley, their two children, Sam and Stephanie, and assorted other characters. If you fondly remember The Vinyl Cafe, then this episode may spark a memory. If this is your first exposure, I warn you that you may crave more.
I first heard this episode in the lead up to Halloween over a decade ago. It's about a man who is terrorized by his sister's doll, in his youth, and into manhood.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CBCRadio
https://youtu.be/vi6KKSWO5oU?si=7Tw3a7sfKuyP-M3u

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
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
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
#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

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
#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
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
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