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Considering that Atlantic Canada was actually the first area of North America "discovered" and settled by someone from over the pond about 500 years ahead of the poser Columbus, I'd say the interest in it should be higher.
Naah. Too much shopping to do. Too many reality TV shows to watch. Too little time.
I live in Nova Scotia - for the first time in my life (in other words, I have never lived in Atlantic Canada before and I am related to no one here, which is unusual in this neck of the woods). I have lived many places in Canada and the US - from very large cities, to smaller cities and towns, to the smallest of all now. And, not only that but I chose to live in one of the most rural parts of the mainland - the furthest northeast tip.
What is it you want to know about this area?
Yes, it is beautiful. Yes, there is a lot of history here. Yes, there is a lot of tradition here - and some of it is good. People live a pretty simple life which is nice but many are also unemployed or only seasonally employed or go away to work and return occasionally. The way things are going everywhere (not just here) I don't foresee a 'boom' any time soon unfortunately. But, living here is peaceful. However, I always say I am two hours too far from anywhere (I might want to go). And it is 500 miles drive to the border with Maine, a 1000 miles to Ottawa. I do those drives several times a year. A reasonable size grocery store for me is at least 70 miles, but, we have a small coop grocery in town so one manages.
Yes, it is not a rich province and for me, it is 5 hours drive (which means one doesn't go without at least an overnight stay) to either Halifax or Moncton NB. Housing is cheap here. Food and other things not so much (and finding what you want is often difficult - online shopping is big here I think). Climate where I am is better than Ottawa (in my opinion) by a long shot but we do get a lot of wind. Cool breezy summers, warmer usually less snowy winters, occasional humidity but without extremes of temperature it is bearable most of the time - but though it is a maritime climate, it is not BC coastal maritime.
I grew up in NB and moved to Ontario after university... part of the generations-old pattern of "going down the road" to find work, and never going back "home" to live ever again.
In the 20 years I've been away, unfortunately, the region seems to have turned yet another corner down the path to further marginalization and economic decay. I wish I was wrong... things seemed to start looking up a bit for NB during the late 1980s under Premier Frank McKenna... but since then, it's all continued downhill. And I think NB is a bit of a bellwether.... as it goes, so goes the region.
Atlantic Canada has some pockets of high chronic unemployment and entrenched poverty, at levels that actually rival some inner city slums of far larger places like Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, etc.... you don't often think of the dark side of places like out east, but they're there too.
Sorry to sound so pessimistic about the region. But it breaks my heart to see the continued outflow of young people, and the worsening problems of the bleaker areas. Recently found out that in my old stomping grounds... the third ward of Saint John... the poverty rate has actually worsened over the past decade. Worst child poverty rate in Canada tied with Toronto's public housing neighbourhoods. Still better than remote northern first nations, because usually the slum housing still has indoor plumbing and clean drinking water... but still, a bit traumatic to think about how dire it is for some people who feel trapped there, and who most likely are indeed trapped there.
^^ Ha. My favorite SCTV crew. John Candy - great comedic talent lost too soon.
You're right, the clip was both a funny, yet sad commentary on the link between a lack of job opportunities and a dying local way of life due to the ubiquitous "brain drain" of the youth from small towns and cities - occurring not just in that area and Canada, but others similar to it in the USA (and world-wide), as well.
The Shipping News was published over 20 years ago, so I imagine the local way of life must have changed quite a bit. The pessimist in me thinks probably not for the better, but the optimist hopes I'm wrong.
from a B.C. perspective a hardworking nice respectable people in major fishing and Oil and Gas industries as well as a major Canadian Naval presence and employer for the Atlantic region with some traditional Celtic heritage/culture for all to enjoy as well as a unique history in/of NFLD being the last to join Canadian confederation in 1948 .
As our friends seem to be getting ever more distant our, at least my, planned trip to Newfoundland seems to be drifting away. Now my lady is asking about a trip to Hawaii as one of our college friends from forty years ago just took a job out there. Hawaii is actually easier to reach than NF because of reasonable air fares and good connections. There is also the trip to the Pacific Northwest US to see the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. I was hoping to make the drive to St. John's about that time. So maybe I do the drive a year later, maybe during the Celtic Festival.
Judging from the previous posts it sounds like rural areas all over North America. Rural areas declining and cities getting ever bigger and more prosperous. This certainly applies to Northern New Hampshire here in the US with the exception that the small cities are also dying. There is a small chance that electronic communications will allow the educated kids to do their work from "home" and not have to leave for the "big city". At least I hope so.
So someday I will sit on Cape Spear with a hot coffee laced with some Screech and watch the rising sun and the setting moon at the same time.
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