A Land of Promise

“The national voice of Canada is muted” said the writer George Woodcock many years ago. Canadians often leave it to foreigners to glorify their land before they themselves join in.

In 1946, Field Marshal Lord Montgomery noted about Canada: “I saw a great and wonderful country; a land containing in its soil everything that a man desires; a proper land, fit for proper men to live in and to prosper exceedingly.” More than a century earlier, another Brit, no less a figure than Charles Dickens, also had keen words about the land: “Few Englishmen are prepared to find out what it is. Advancing quietly: old differences settling down, and being fast forgotten; public feeling and private enterprise alike in a sound and wholesome state; nothing of flush or fever in its system, but health and vigor throbbing in its steady pulse; it is full of hope and promise.”

One can find the Canadian dream all along the country’s 3,400-mile (5,500 km) border, from Montreal’s European appeal and modern mentality, to Toronto’s urban street vitality, diverse restaurants and theatres, all the way to Vancouver on the far west coast, where individuality is a core value and every part of life includes a young culture’s pioneer spirit.

These cities are surrounded by untouched wild landscapes which are some of the most beautiful in the world. Nearly three dozen national parts are inhabited by wild birds and grizzly bears. 68 “natural regions” have been assigned, 39 on land and 29 in the sea. Forests comprise half the countryside, and it is not rare to see trees up to 200 ft (60 metres) tall.

Art, theatres, restaurants, awestriking scenery. Canadians have alot to be proud of their country and land.