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2000 Soap Box Archives Our Neighbor To The North We recently did a concert in Alberta, Canada and had the opportunity to see a lot of country since the venue was several hundred miles above the U.S. border. I was reminded once again about the pristine beauty and wide open spaces of our good friend to the north. I think that we tend to take Canada for granted since they’ve been our good friend and ally for so long. They’ve always been there for us in time of need and other than a few bumps on the rocky road of international trade there’s never been a ripple on the water. Canada is a huge country as diverse and colorful as any place on earth. Their population is roughly one tenth of the United States population so there’s a lot of elbow room. I have had the pleasure of traveling Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the maritime provinces to British Columbia, across the magnificent Canadian Rockies and the windswept plains of Manitoba. As in the U.S. the major part of the Canadian population is located in the eastern half of the Continental Divide boasting such bustling, cosmopolitan cities as Toronto, New York City’s northern counterpart where business and entertainment thrive and Montreal ,the French speaking capitol of Quebec where there is a lively film production industry and the onion soup rivals that of Paris. One of the fascinating things about Canada is that you can be riding through sparsely settled plains and ride up on a city of over a half million people complete with traffic and skyscrapers. Then when you go out the other side there is a whole lot of nothing but farm land. Calgary is the cowboy capitol of Canada, located in the midst of the cattle and oil producing region. Before I ever saw this beautiful city an acquaintance of mine told me that Calgary looked brand new, like it had just been uncrated and set out on the plains. And indeed he’s right. From a distance the Calgary skyline could well remind one of the Land of Oz with it’s cluster of high rise buildings shimmering in the clear Canadian air. The Calgary is one of the premier rodeo events in the world drawing top professional rodeo cowboys, many of which are Canadian natives. Almost all the major cities have professional football teams and the competition is fierce in the Canadian Football League. Canada also boasts two major league baseball teams, the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays, who beat my Atlanta Braves in a World Series a few years ago. Football and baseball are big but the national passion is hockey and the Canadians pursue it with a gusto and loyalty. Canada's far west is made up of millions of acres of timber and rivers and lakes enough to make any sportsman’s heart skip a beat. Vancouver on the west coast is a major shipping port with all the trimmings, bright lights and bustling streets, a very exciting place to visit . If you’ve never been to Canada I would hardily endorse it for a vacation which can include just about anything you want to do from fishing in some of the greatest streams in the world to golfing on courses which will almost take your breath away. There’s lot’s to do in Canada and you’ll love it. You’ll love the sights, the sounds just the overall ambiance, and oh, by the way, you’re going to love the people. What do you think? God
Bless America and Canada
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