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Thousand Islands

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A holiday – at last! As we sped eastwards along the lake, our carriage full of masked passengers, we couldn’t convince ourselves that the pandemic was fully over. But after eighteen months of restrictions, it was a very welcome break. In less than three hours we had reached our destination: the Thousand Islands – a collection of 1,864 islands at the last count, along the Canada/US border, where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario. It seemed the ideal place for a little local exploring. Our base for the trip was Gananoque, known as the Gateway to the 1000 Islands. An aboriginal name, Gananoque means “the town on two rivers” – the St. Lawrence and the Gananoque. (For pronunciation, try saying “there’s a right way, a wrong way, and Gananoque.”) The site of the first skirmish in the War of 1812 – when American forces raided the government depot in the town, hoping to disrupt British supply lines from Montreal – the town today is dominated by tourists and summer island
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Falling into Autumn

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To state the obvious, autumn is the best season. The crisp mornings, the changing leaves, the perfect weather for warm jumpers and hot chocolate. And there aren’t any annoying insects to spoil the fun. Last autumn we saw the incredible colours in Algonquin Park . This year, of course, our opportunities for travel are more limited, but pandemic season has helped us look closer to home, and we’ve discovered amazing natural beauty within walking distance of our condo. Toronto, it turns out, is quite spectacular. We’ve been helped in our wanderings by Active TO – an initiative led by the Mayor of Toronto to close major roads beside the city’s beauty spots, and keep them exclusively for walkers, joggers, cyclists and the occasional skater. This allows social distancing on the city’s vast bikeway network. For instance, we’ve enjoyed walking beside Lake Ontario on the Waterfront Trail, a route that winds its way along the Canadian shores of the Great Lakes (some 3600km in all). Its parks and
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Staycation

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How quickly the world changed. In the Covid league tables, Canada ranks in the middle (as it does in most things) – not celebrated as an international role model, but not to be pitied either. Restrictions in Toronto have been roughly the same as in the UK, with restaurants closed then open then closed again, masks now required in public indoor spaces, and mandatory quarantine after international travel. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Canada’s border with the USA has remained shut since the pandemic began. For all that, we both feel very grateful for jobs that can be conducted from home (though Harriet has returned to the lab three days per week). Even my organ playing was virtual for a time. We live in a wonderful area of parks and quiet streets for exercising. And we’ve appreciated the time to develop our culinary skills, from ‘British Indian Restaurant’ style curries to vegetarian poutine – and infinite sourdough. Our trip home in the summer was postponed. Instead, we enjoyed explorin
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Permanent Residency

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Say hello to Canada’s newest permanent residents! We’re ten months older than when we started our application and almost $4,000 poorer, but it’s official: we can live and work in Canada indefinitely. There were surreal moments on the way: Harriet proving her English skills by discussing her favourite advert; chasing the University of Toronto to confirm that a degree from Oxford is up to Canadian standards; the medical exams conducted by the cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest . The process demanded references, bank statements, fingerprints, police checks, detailed family trees and lists of every organisation we had joined in the last decade. It was such an ordeal I wrote an article for The Globe and Mail , warning Harry and Meghan what lay ahead. Duly warned, they went to LA instead. So why did we do it? Primarily because, after two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow, Harriet can now be promoted to Research Associate – a role reserved for citizens and permanent residents that c
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Whiteout!

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After weeks of unseasonably mild weather, the blizzard hit. Within hours, Toronto and all the cities around it were covered in over 20cm of snow. For a brief time at least, traffic was stopped, industry stilled, and the skyscrapers hidden from view. (Although our mini-blizzard was nothing compared to the snowstorm that hit Newfoundland last week, burying cars and closing shops for days.) Traversing snow-covered landscapes is not new for Canadians, nor for those who lived here first. To negotiate long winter journeys, Indigenous peoples developed snowshoes that spread the wearers’ weight and prevent them sinking into the snow. European fur traders copied the idea, and now snowshoeing is a popular winter sport across Canada – though the original wooden lattice has been replaced by plastic and aluminium. So, with the snow still falling, we headed to Toronto’s High Park, enjoying a wonderful (and surprisingly upright) trek through the trees. For a better understanding of Ca
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Politics

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Canada has voted. Justin Trudeau has been re-elected, leading the Liberal Party in a minority government. Although he inspired voters across Canada (and around the world) in 2015, Trudeau lost much of that enthusiasm with a series of mistakes, from a culturally tone-deaf tour of India, to attempts at influencing a corruption case against construction firm SNC-Lavalin. And then there were the blackface photos. But his opponent, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, refused to acknowledge climate change. So, for many Canadians in this election, there was only one choice. Hopes were high for the engaging New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, particularly after his performance in the TV debates; but those of us who remember Cleggmania from the UK’s 2010 election weren’t surprised that his support didn’t materialise on Election Day. Nevertheless, the NDP could hold the balance of power in Canada’s new Parliament. Harriet’s favourite was Elizabeth May, the veteran Green Party
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Algonquin

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Canadians are not naturally city-dwellers. Although most head to the mountains at the first opportunity, Torontonians prefer the lakes – retreating to their isolated summerhouses in ‘cottage country’, several hours’ drive north of the city, for long weekends or even the entire summer. For the most part, these ‘cottages’ are cabins or bungalows, so removed from the grid that running water is considered a luxury. So, with my family in town for Thanksgiving weekend, we joined the melee northwards to Algonquin Provincial Park, hoping to reconnect with Canadian nature. The transition from urban to natural is gradual. We hired a car and negotiated the speeding, tailgating traffic which weaved in and out all six lanes of highway 407. Over time the roads quietened, until we reached the single lane of highway 60 which journeys through Algonquin itself. Our cabin stood beside Oxtongue Lake, just a few kilometres from the park’s western gate. Algonquin is remarkable firstly for its siz
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Toronto’s neighbourhoods

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This summer we set ourselves the challenge of exploring Toronto’s global neighbourhoods, sampling the culture and cuisine of each. We started in Kensington Market; nowhere shows Toronto’s diversity better. Within a few small streets nearly every continent is represented with shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. On one corner, you can find authentic Belgian waffles and a Turkish restaurant directly opposite a ‘Cocina Mexicana’ and a cannabis shop. Walk a few steps further down the street and you’ll be intrigued by the Rastafarian Society or find your mouth salivating for raspberry doughnuts. The history of Toronto has been shaped by waves of immigration. Every time the federal government allowed nationals from another country to live in Canada, that country’s expats formed distinctive neighbourhoods in the city. Today the descendants of those first immigrants have moved out to the suburbs, but the character of each neighbourhood remains. Little Portugal, for instance, in the west of
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PEI

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Prince Edward Island – a pastoral idyll, Canada’s smallest province, and the birthplace of the nation. It was first known as ' Epekwitk ' or “cradled on the waves”, a name given by the Mi’kmaq whose legend tells of the Great Spirit placing dark red crescent-shaped clay on the Blue Waters. Then the island saw French settlement, a British colony and a surprise invasion by two American pirates before it was given a new name (after the fourth son of King George III) and a starring role in the establishment of Canada. Even now the population of the entire province is barely a twentieth of Toronto’s, but it’s known as a relaxing holiday destination and – with its healthy crop of potatoes – one of Canada’s best places for fish and chips. For a long Labour Day weekend, we set out to learn why the province’s capital, Charlottetown, is called the cradle of confederation. At the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, representatives from Lower Canada (today’s Ontario), Upper Canada (Que
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