Upper Canadians

On our recent theme of the maritimes and its economic fate. I thought I should post my thoughts about a discussion I had with a girl at the Law School here.

You might be interested to know that I made the mistake, after someone from the law school told me that their friends parents bought a place on the east coast, of expressing my dismay that maritime land was being bought up by non-maritimers. Well she started going off on how in the maritimes we should be happy that these people are contributing to our economy by buying the land etc, that we are all on welfare etc, etc.

There are a few things that bothered me about this conversation.

The first thing, and I get this all the time, is Upper Canadians thinking that the maritimes is their personal playground. Like some sort of cape cod cottage country for the upper canadian upper middle classes. Not a place were people actually want development, jobs and careers, but rather a region that should re-tool itself every summer to cater to people from Ontario. As if we should bow at their feet for gracing us with their presence.

Connected to this is the huge myth that maritimers are super friendly etc. As if we are super jovial happy go lucky people. Like Newfoundlanders. I do agree that overall maritimers are much frendlier than in other parts of the country but->

I find this image of the maritimes inaccurate and somewhat insulting. I say this because it ignores the fact, and speaks to the ignorance of people from other regions, of the real and significant problems and heartaches that people face in the region.

I am reminded of one of Alistair Mcleod's Short stories, the title escapes me, about the young man from Cape Breton who decides to leave home and hichhike west to find work. Anyways, on his way he hitches a rid with a traveling salesman from Ontario, while they stop in Springhill, the salesman mentions how, after the mining disaster, he can sleep with this woman who lost her husband in the bump. For this traveling salesman, it is all a big joke and a way to get his jollies off, while the woman sometimes cries out for her dead husbands name.

I can let you all draw the connection. I guess what I am trying to get at is that the maritimes is not only a place of friendly people and beautyful scenery etc., but it is alos a place with a feeling of loss, unhappiness, aimlessness, lack of employment.

But one thing that this girl at the law school couldn't understand, was the feeling of attachement that many maritimers have for their region. This is why the girl couldn't understand why I found it frustrating that maritimers are too poor to buy their own land while land values are driven up by foreign buyers. By foreign I include Upper Canadians. For her, all buyers were the same, so long as they had the money, why complain about their purchaisng habits? Its not as if there was any real difference between Ontario and the rest of Canada.

So just to let you know, prejudices about the maritimes are still in full force here and people are not hesitant to vocalize them. I still take the view that confederation was the beginning of the downfall for the maritimes.

Peace