Fun Facts about Canada that Elisa Probably Doesn't Know

Last week I posted in the comments that whatever topics you suggested, I would write on. In this case "you" refers to Elisa Shearer, as she was the only one who thought it would be cool to offer her thoughts. She thought I should write about:

"Canada. Fun facts about Canada that I probably don't know."

I thought this was a great topic, and since I usually don't break my promises, here you go-

As you might have gathered from the title, these are fun facts about Canada that Elisa probably doesn't know. To make this even more fun, I have decided to do no research whatosever on the topic. I guess we'll have to see how this turns out. There are twelve facts, ten for each province I remembered, and two for the provinces I didn't.

EDIT: There are ten provinces and three territories. I had originally counted out eleven provinces AND territories. I forgot Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. That's what happens when you don't do any research.

Fact One. I live in Ontario, which is one of Canada's provinces. There's a chain around here called Pizza Pizza, which, in spite of having a redundant name, serves some pretty decent pizza. The best part about pizza from Pizza Pizza (feel the redundancy) is that they give dipping sauce, default setting creamy garlic. Gave dipping sauce, I should say- I don't think they give it free anymore, I think you have to buy it.

Fact Two. The Gay Pride Parade happened in Toronto last weekend. There are a lot of gay people in Toronto, particularly on Church Street. This area of the city has been dubbed "the gaybourhood."

Fact Three. People don't really like Montreal, because apparently they wanted to leave Canada at one point. I don't really mind people from that province, since I think it's cool that they speak French and that their city is so old and cultural.

Fact Four. Margaret Atwood is Canadian. If you don't know who she is, then I will tell you: she is the lady who wrote The Handmaid's Tale. People who read books know about her, which is cool.

Fact Five. Once Canada and America fought each other. We burned down each other's capitals, so we sort of evened it out. Canadian history is actually surprisingly cool.

Fact Six. Speaking of Canadian history, Kate Beaton is one of my favourite Canadian webcomic artists. She writes/draws the webcomic Hark, A Vagrant!, a webcomic about historical things, and is a really nice person. You should read her comics.

A few of the other Canadian webcomic artists I know are also women, and they are Jenny Romanchuk Alison Acton, who write/draw The Zombie Hunters and Bear Nuts respectively. The former is about zombies and the second is about bears.

Fact Seven. My favourite Canadian blogger, MGK aka Mighty God King, recently wrote on national anthems. He claims that the Canadian anthem is one of the only anthems that sounds good sung in two different languages, and I am inclined to agree with him on that.

Fact Eight. People always think of Canada as cold. That being said, I recently heard a weather person on TV announce that it would get "as hot as the tropics" here this summer. He was right.

Fact Nine. All of the Canadian authors I've read these past few months, Douglas Coupland, Robertson Davies, Joey Comeau, and Gail Anderson-Dagatz, have been pretty sombre folk. I often wish that Houghton (the college I attend) had a Canadian Literature class of some sort. Not that I mind American literature, but I think we read enough of it, y'know?

Fact Ten. When I used to think about the word "Canadian" I used to equate that with white people. I also used to be six years old. Now when I think "Canadian" I think multicultural and multiethnic. I suppose I've come a long way from asking my mother whether or not I'm Canadian, confused that I didn't look like some of the people I saw around me.

Fact Eleven. Back in middle school we had extended field trips, and one of those trips was to Ottawa, our nation's capital. While we were there we visited the Diefenbunker. The Diefenbunker was a big ol' government bunker with walls of three metre concrete, or something like that. Important people were supposed to hide down there when nuclear war happened, but now it is a museum.

Fact Twelve. These are just all the Canadian facts I can dredge up in two minutes. Canadians you might know: Jim Carrey, Pamela Anderson, Mike Myers, Russell Peters, the band Three Days Grace, the inventors of Superman, basketball, and the telephone. Canada is the third largest country in the world. Beaver tails are wonderful long flat pastries served with toppings like chocolate syrup or jam; traditionally they are served with lemon and sugar. People are always making fun of Newfies, or people from Newfoundland, but I don't think I have ever met one. On the east coast a lot of America's pollution travels northward and messes up our skies and stuff. Loonies and toonies (one and two dollar coins) make far more sense than one dollar bills. Canada is a large, beautiful country, and I hope to explore more of it one day.