| Last year, near the end of an unusually long and cold winter, Decima Research polled Ottawa residents on their favourite seasons. The result was hardly surprising: 42 per cent chose summer and a measly three per cent chose winter.
While the pollster warns against assuming those results are consistent across the country, judging by the grumbling about weather that invariably spews from Canadians at this time of year, it isn't a stretch to think we aren't exactly in love with winter – our population huddles along the country's southern border; we plan our Mexican vacations during the winter and we flee the cold completely when we retire.
But that attitude raises some poignant questions – namely, if winter is such a big part of being Canadian, why do we hate it so much?
Canada is virtually defined by winter. Internationally, people who know little of Canada at least know that it's cold. Our heritage is tied up in winter, as are our sports (at least the ones we're consistently successful at) and our culture (two cultural artifacts of virtually every Canadians' childhood are Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater and Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" – both of which are inexplicably linked to cold weather).
David Philips, the chief meteorologist of Environment Canada, thinks Canadians have two minds about winter – we grumble about it because, well, it's long and cold, but we've learned to live with it.
"I think people speak out of both sides of their mouth when it comes to winter," Phillips says. "We both curse it and bless it. It's that duality that marks what's so Canadian about it. We can brag about it, that we cut our teeth on it. We love to see people struggle against the elements, but we're the first to swear at winter when it makes us late for work."
Phillips remembers informing the country in the late ’90s that the breakup of the Soviet Union, which shed Russia of its warmer Asian republics, bumped Canada from the status of coldest country in the world. The reaction? Disappointment.
"I thought it was a good-news story, but people said 'What do you mean we're not No. 1 anymore?'" he recalls, laughing. "That's that duality."
But Phillips does think Canadians have learned to deal with winter better over the years. He's not quite ready to say we embrace it, but we certainly know how to make the best of it – a belief illustrated by the popularity of outdoor winter recreation. Technology, such as polar fleece clothing, car heaters and cellphones, has taken some of the danger out of winter, which also makes it easier to endure.
"I think people have learned to live and adapt to winter and that makes life easier and more enjoyable. I think it's not the horror story it once was," Phillips says. "Maybe a century ago, people's thoughts were 'If you survive another winter, you lived another year.'"
There are those, however, who do more than just survive winter. Author Rudy Wiebe, who has spent a career writing about Canada and, thus, winter, says he loves just about everything about the dark season – even winter driving.
"It becomes a kind of adventure because you have to have a really good car, and be prepared, and if you have the driving experience… it's one of those things that really tests you," Wiebe says. "If you stay out of the ditch and see other cars in there, you get a kind of high from it. It's enjoyable."
Wiebe says winter has shaped the character of the country by bringing people together.
"I think northern people are more communal," he says. "You can only stay cooped up watching TV so long, then you've got to get out to the pub."
He agrees with Phillips that winter isn't such a defining part of life as it used to be – partly because global warming has made the season slightly milder over the years, but mostly because Canadians have simply adapted to it.
"I think we have learned to deal with the extremes," Wiebe says. "I've been colder in Germany and England… because they don't have central heating."
A lot of the hatred and fear of winter is often perception more than reality. Like death, the anticipation of winter is often worse than winter itself. So perhaps winter isn't as far from the hearts of Canadians as we profess to pollsters.
"I personally like winter very much," Wiebe says. "I enjoy it, especially in the West. When the sky is clear and the sun is shining, it's a delight to walk and enjoy the out-of-doors. There's nothing like it." |
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