Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!
It’s a big year for Canada, so there are two maps to celebrate such a momentous occasion on SAMC!
Since I and many others in the SA world are Canadians, I thought I’d put together a bit of why our nation is so loved and admired by so many around the globe.
When you first look at the map, you’re going to think it’s a hot mess of craziness, so I’m gonna walk you through the whole map, and show you how much love went into this.
There are three territories in Canada: from Left to Right on the top of the map – Yukon (YT), Northwest, (NWT) and Nunavut (NVT).
There are 10 provinces: British Columbia (BC), Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK), Manitoba (MB), Ontario (ONT), Quebec (PQ), Newfoundland & Labrador (NF & L), New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), and finally Prince Edward Island (PEI).
YT: is represented by the gold bar, as it is best known for it’s gold rush days, and it’s “Yukon Gold” potatoes.
The Inukshuk (pronounced inn-ook-shook) {inukshuiit is the plural form} – these are ancient symbols of the Inuit culture, and are human made sculptures that sit on a seawall trail to denote/communicate human passing through a rough terrain or hard COLD climate.
NWT and NVT : are representing the igloos, polar bears, reindeer, narwhals, and the aurora borealis (even though they do come down further south).
**there’s a sign that says “To Euro” and I know that Greenland and Iceland come first, but bear with me, I had limited space!**
Deadpool is Canadian. He’s sporting a toque (with the ever-present pompom on top!) and the best micro flag of Canada sits in his 4th wall break.
Now for the lower portion:
BC: is represented by the giant beautiful trees, and the native sculptures (totem poles) that are carved into several boreal forest areas, to ensure protection of the trees.
The mountains separate BC and AB.
AB: is represented by the dinosaur bones found all over the region, and the West Edmonton Mall, which held the title for many years as the world’s largest mall. It boasts an epic indoor roller coaster (it’s awesome! I’ve been on it at least 20 times when I lived in Edmonton!), and it has a real working submarine, water park, and of course the shops!
SK: is represented by a wheat stalk, as most of that province is farm prairies.
MB: is represented by two parts, in that Tim Horton’s tests EVERYTHING for the company in Winnipeg before rolling it out to anywhere else in the world. While I lived there, I got to try one of the first (sold) ice capps, the breakfast sandwiches, and other goodies as well. As of 2012, they had tested over 230 products in Winnipeg and rolled out over 190 of them. (my ex-husband used to work for them, and so did a lot of his family, so I got a lot of inside intel!)
Manitoba also gets to boast that they have “the heart of the country” in it, as Landmark, MB is almost dead centre in the midst of North America – so long as you include the Queen Elizabeth Islands!
There’s a moose wandering between MB and ONT.
ONT: gets to boast a few epic things. HOCKEY. CN Tower. Nickle Mines of the north, Niagara Falls, and where many of the SAMC players are from. TWO Admins are from this province alone, and most of us were hatched all within about 2 hours of one another. SMALL WORLD!
Hello Bonjour is stamped below the lower provinces, as many parts of Ontario -> eastward are bilingual.
PQ: (aka QC) is represented by two things – Native dream catcher to the north, and POUTINE, the life of all Canadians.
NF & L: are represented by three things: Fishing, beavers, and Newfoundland dogs (the mini polar bears in dog version who think they are tiny baby kittens because they are so gentle and sweet and I could seriously write a whole thing just about these adorable slobber puppies).
NB: is represented by the tartan prints that many Scottish families brought with them as they settled in NB.
Yes, I did run out of space to put in maple syrup. I am very sorry!
NS: is represented by curling rock & rink, Alexander Keith’s beer (or if you don’t drink, I guess it could be a bottle of maple syrup in a Keith’s bottle), and a musical note, as some of the greatest music from Canada has come from “down east”.
Last, but DEFINITELY not least, is PEI. It is represented by none other than Green Gables and potatoes.
The true north, strong and free.
Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!!!
~clumsypixie
