Our Neighbor to the North

It seems a good time to share some reflections from my recent trip to Canada. First of all, the major issues of the day all seem to be in transition. Although pundits are more than willing to declare failure on everything from health care to Afghanistan, the reality is that the verdict is out and will remain so until these issues play themselves out over time. Also it was a very special trip that deserves some space on this blog.

My wife and I just spent the better part of two weeks driving around eastern Canada. Our visit included Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, and a ski resort in central Ontario. I might add that though we did no skiing we were able to see the beautiful countryside via their ski lift. The fall foilage was splendid, the people were extremely friendly, and the visit offered an opportunity to explore some interesting aspects of our neighbor to the north.

One interesting note is that the headline the day we arrived in Canada was about Roman Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey of Nova Scotia, who had been arrested in Ottowa for having been found with pornography on his laptop computer. It turns out that Bishop Lahey had just recently been involved in negotiating a sex abuse settlement with a former altar boy in his diocese. Catholics appeared to be outraged, in some cases pointing out that celibacy hsd never worked, is not natural, and mandatory celibacy should be ended. Catholic Bishops for their part seemed to be saying that the answer is simply to ordain holier men to the priesthood.

I thought this story illustrated a couple of important points. It is not only the United States that has such problems, though perhaps our free press tends to give more extensive coverage to such stories. Human nature doesn't really change from place to place, and the Church still doesn't get it. Business as usual continues to be the heirarchical mantra, but this approach will catch up to the Church at some point.

My second reflection has as its focus relationships or interactions between French Canadians and those who speak only English. Many, including those in Ontario, told us that people in Quebec either do not want to or are unable to speak English, and with no knowledge of French we would have difficulty there. This proved not to be true. Everyone we spoke to in Quebec was most polite and helpful. Everyone spoke English to us as soon as they realized we did not know French. Upon discussion one person did tell us they have to speak English on their job, perhaps suggesting some reluctance on her part, but she was fluent in English and was very pleasant in our interactions.

What was interesting was that a number of people we spoke to in Ottawa had never been to French Canada and seemed to have little interest in going there, almost as if it was a separate country and they were quite happy where they were. On the other hand, a number of people in Quebec who spoke English told us they had gone to the Toronto area to study and learn their English. Admittedly these are very superficial observations on the topic but it does seem like the relationships involved are somewhat intriguing and it would be interesting to know more.

Finally, we also had a few, though certainly incomplete conversations regarding health care. Basically, there was clearly an acknowledgement of the fact that the taxes in Canada were considerably higher than here. I did not get the impression that anyone was particularly happy with that fact. Many said they would come to the "states" to make certain purchases. At the same time everyone seemed to accept their health care system as necessary and an important part of their lives. They receive their medical card at birth, and it seems it is pretty much impossible for them to conceive of their lives without this health care coverage. Many wondered how folks can survive without coverage in this country, for example, wondering what would happen to a young girl who is pregnant and had no insurance. For my part I can only say that I had an encounter with their health care system while on my trip and found all the health care officials who treated me to be kind, efficient, and competent.

The bottom line is that I just completed a truly memorable vacation in Canada. I have just touched the surface on a number of intriguing issues, but I would certainly be pleased to pursue any of them in much greater depth. In any case, our trip exceeded all expectations and I have nothing, nor do I have any desire to say anything bad about our neighbor to the north.