O Canada

So, here I am. A Deep South native who thought moving 700 miles north to Virginia a while ago was like moving to another planet, only to choose to move over 500 miles further north now. A Southerner on a secret mission to find grits, Mello Yello and SEC football on TV in Toronto.

Actually, I'm just a guy lucky enough to get the chance to live in another (nearby) country for a few years. There are plenty of similarities between the US and Canada to be sure, but join me as I sort out loonies from toonies and that sport played on the ice. I'll also undertake research to find out why Mountain Dew in Canada has no caffeine (no caffeine in the Dew? How is that possible??) and why Canadians write "centre" instead of "center" and "labour" instead of "labor" but switch to US style with "analyze" instead of "analyse."

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I've been here a week and a half, and just yesterday secured a permanent place in a really cool neighbo(u)rhood (in the Fashion District, which I can hardly say with a straight face). My temporary digs are at ground zero for the Toronto International Film Festival, and I'm seeing a new documentary about The Who as part of it this weekend. I've seen the Blue Jays a few times, and hope to see Toronto FC sometime in the next month. I spent most of last weekend on the gorgeous Toronto Islands seeing the Canadian edition of the Virgin Festival. I've been running the last few nights in Queen's Park and through the University of Toronto, and I'm thrilled that a city as big as this has such leafy, quiet green spots just blocks away from skyscrapers and lots of noise.

I've moved at a fantastic time to observe political culture, as the province of Ontario (which includes Toronto) has an election on October 10th for seats in the provincial parliament, which is located in the very same Queen's Park. I've already gotten two notices from Elections Ontario reminding me when and how to register if I'm eligible (I'm not, of course--I'm a US citizen). I'm not getting any other mail yet, so I've been happy to study the emphatic messages: "Don't Let Others Speak For You!"

Provinces have an awful lot of power (more than US states, or so it seems), so while a lot of the parties have the same name as the federal parties, they're run on their own. For example, the federal Progressive Conservatives and Canadian Alliance merged into the Conservative Party of Canada several years ago, but here in Ontario the centre-right party is still called the Progressive Conservatives.

Anyway, the Liberal Party (centre-left) is currently in power in Ontario, led by the Premier Dalton McGuinty. Besides the Progressive Conservatives (AKA Tories), other major parties running include the NDP (New Democratic Party, left wing) and the Green Party.

You can read about them below. I'm off to finish some laundry...

Ontario Liberal Party

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

Ontario NDP

Green Party of Ontario