The Great White North

I'm freshly returned from my first visit to Canada in 25 years and my first visit to the province of Ontario.  My three previous visits, all to Vancouver, British Columbia, were in 1984, 1986 and 1988, with 1984 being the only time I actually went through the border crossing.  The other two trips, I entered Vancouver by ship, thanks to the U.S. Navy.

After 25 years, I didn't notice any real changes in Canada, even though the two areas are 2700 miles apart.  The country looked clean, the people were very polite, nice and friendly and the drivers were courteous and attentive.  Spending 18 hours in a country does not make me any sort of expert, all I have are my initial impressions, which I should have ample opportunities to reinforce, since I will be making this trip twice a week.

My trip included a stop in London and Mississauga, Ontario (ON).  London is a city of about 365,000 and the little bit I saw of it, looked about like any U.S. city of that size.  Other than drivers on the road, I saw no one on my brief stop there.  Mississauga, population 720,000, is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).  While in Mississauga, I had the chance to meet a few people.  While waiting to unload my truck, and waiting for paperwork, seven people walked by, including the only two people I will be interacting with on a regular basis.  Six of those people stopped, introduced themselves, shook my hand and took time for a few moments of small talk.  The seventh didn't introduce herself, but made sure that I knew where the coffee was located and wished me a nice day.

Seven people taking a moment to be nice may not seem like a big deal to you, but it does to me.  Five of those people will never need to interact with me and at least two will only see me a few times each year, and then, only in passing.  There have been people I've worked with for several years who never gave me more than a nod or a grunt if I told them good morning.  I can't recall how long it's been since six complete strangers offered me a handshake.  The people just seem to be happier and nicer than my fellow Americans.

No where was this quality more obvious than on the highways (which are in much better shape than our own).  I experienced some heavy traffic conditions, but did not see any road rage.  While driving nearly 400 miles in Canada, I only saw one obvious case of inattention.  I can't drive one mile here without seeing at least four instances.  People were not on their cell phones, they weren't texting, they were just driving.  If I put on my turn signal to make a lane change, people slowed and made room to accommodate me.  The people behaved as if:  A.  Driving was important, and B. Traffic was a common occurrence.  Imagine that.

The GTA is roughly half the size of the Washington, DC metropolitan area, with similar population, this makes the population density in Toronto about double of that in Washington.  Typically, the higher the population density, the higher the crime rate, especially the rate of violent crime.  However, Toronto averages about 3.3 homicides per 100,000 population compared to 21.9 for Washington, DC.  Robbery statistics show similar discrepancies, 207 to 650/100,000.  These numbers are after Washington, DC had experienced a 50% reduction in violent crime rates.

Canada has a much greater ethnic diversity than the United States.  While all ethnic groups are represented here, most are clumped together in reasonably small, isolated areas.  I'm certain this occurs in Canadian cities as well, but it doesn't seem to be the issue it is here.  Perhaps there are a few things on immigration we might learn from our northern neighbors.

I'm certain Canada has its problems and drawbacks, but from what little I've seen of it, it's a great country to visit and maybe a nice place to live.