Oh Canada!

One of the best reads in the always thoughtful London Review of Books is the Letters page. In it, readers correct mistakes from previous issues, add information they felt was missing, and generally show off their wit and wisdom.
In a recent issue, dated June 26, appears an unusual letter, even for the LRB. Written by one Benjamin Letzler, of Modling, Austria, the author – for reasons best known to himself – quotes numerous renowned writers who have castigated Britain.
In particular, Letzler mentions a two-column list of which he is aware, a list that apparently fills the better part of a page, containing nefarious adjectives that were used by English novelist and poet George Orwell to depict many aspects of British life between 1919 and 1939. The list comprises: ‘faecal’, ‘verminous’, ‘lousy’, ‘dim-witted’, ‘meagre’, ‘godless’, ‘sneaking’ and ‘Canadian’.
Canadian? To be sure, Orwell did have anti-colonial streak, but still, Canada is the only member of the Commonwealth that somehow made this detritus list. Orwell died in 1950 so I can’t complain to him. And I don’t have sufficient standing to be published on the Letters page of the London Review of Books, so I’ll take this more modest stage to reply to Letzler, whoever he may be.
First off, Canada has many distinguished writers of international standing: Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Michael Ondaatje and Lucy Maude Montgomery. Second, we have eminent athletes including Summer McIntosh in swimming, Connor McDavid in hockey and Bianca Andreescu in tennis.
There is also unusual beauty in Canada. Here are just a few sights I’ve savoured: The Nelson River Valley in British Columbia; approaching the Rockies from Calgary; the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan; the sand dunes near Brandon, Manitoba; hundreds of swallows resting on the beach at Point Pelee, Ont., after spring migration across Lake Erie; 400 years of history in Old Quebec City; the tidal bore in the Peticodiac River near Moncton, N.B.; the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; and the colourful row houses of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
So, Herr Letzler, come join us in Canada for a glass of wine from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia; puff pastry or croissant from Les Co’Pains d’Abord in Montreal; fresh-caught bass from Lake Joseph in Ontario; and pie from Humble Pie Kitchen in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Maybe some of that dessert will keep you quiet about places and people about which you apparently know so little.