I was listening to “Sounds Like Canada” on CBC Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio) and the host quoted a section of an essay by Stephen Leacock which I think defines part of what it means to be Canadian. The quote:
“I never have gone to the James Bay; I never go to it; I never shall. But somehow I’d feel lonely without it.”
If you asked a Canadian to imagine Canada without its vast northern lands most of them couldn’t, even though few of us have been. The north is part of our identity as Canadians. We know that there are vast expanses of untamed wilderness to still be fully explored and that makes us love the land even more.
I didn’t realize this until this morning. Canada wouldn’t be Canada without the north. Unlike Stephen Leacock I hope to make it to James Bay and travel to the northern reaches of my country (though not that far north) 🙂