Note From A Small Country

When Bill Bryson wrote Notes From A Small Island, he was speaking about the English habit of thinking of their country as being very large: people in London (or points further south) imagine traveling to Scotland as being a vast trek, whereas in Canada the same distance wouldn't get you from where I live to the next province.

But Canada is a small country. Our population is a scant 30 million people, and we string ourselves along a narrow strip along the southern border. But in many ways we, like everyone else, form smaller villages within our communities or knowledge groups: like goes to like. But now and then, we will experience an event that links the entire country together, and we become part of the nation. We stretch ourselves beyond our homes to be with others who think as we do, even if it's just for a short while. Quoting Ken Dryden: "Hockey is Canada's national theatre."

But sometimes the world that makes us feel big and the world that reminds us it's small collide.

Bob McKenzie has details.