The magnificent Pacific Rim National Park is the only national park entirely on Vancouver Island, providing protection for substantial rain forests and an amazing marine environment on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The full force of the mighty Pacific Ocean mercilessly pounds the constantly changing shores of this rugged coastline.
Literary Review of Canada -April 2024: The latest issue features:
Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality by Ed Broadbent, with Frances Abele, Jonathan Sas, and Luke Savage
On July 6, 1975, Ed Broadbent, then a thirty-nine-year-old member of Parliament from Oshawa, Ontario, delivered a speech at the New Democratic Party convention in Winnipeg, capping off his campaign to become just the third leader in the young party’s history. It was a tumultuous time. Across the rich world, the social democratic settlement that had been brought about by the twin catastrophes of the Great Depression and the Second World War was beginning to unravel with the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system, the oil shock precipitated by the Arab-Israeli conflict, the beginning of industrial decline, and the emergence of persistent inflation. The year before, the NDP had suffered a significant electoral setback when, after supporting the minority Trudeau government in Parliament since 1972, it lost almost half its seats despite seeing its vote share decline by only 2.4 percent.
The Future by Catherine Leroux; Translated by Susan Ouriou
In The Future’s reimagined history, the French never ceded Fort Détroit to the British in 1760, and the British never ceded it to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Instead, the community has remained proudly French Canadian for centuries. (“Never forget we were two shakes away from becomin’ American,” a current resident proclaims.) But while the Motor City was once “full of people, full of music, full of words,” it now struggles in economic ruin — ravaged by pollution, poverty, and crime. It is “a place devoid of faith or law,” with poison in the river and pictures of missing children posted everywhere.
From the Bay of Fundy in the east to the rugged Pacific coastline of Vancouver Island in the west, Canada provides glorious outdoor sights. Tour the nation’s impressive scenery, sophisticated cities and peaceful countryside for a vacation you will remember forever.
In the east, the fictional home of Anne of Green Gables on Prince Edward Island will make the beloved young adult series come alive. In nearby Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, see the unusual tides of the Bay of Fundy that rise and fall up to 50 feet (16 meters) each day.
On the western coast, British Columbia has lovely harbors in Vancouver and Victoria, with whale watching, sunbathing and shoreline walks. These and other Canadian cities have eclectic neighborhoods with concentrations of artists and ethnic centers, including interesting Chinatowns.
Spread across the center of the country, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton are among the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. All have modern city centers with wonderful restaurants, shopping, museums and galleries. In addition, each has its unique personality, from old French customs to major league baseball to cowboy rodeos.
Canada’s mountainous regions offer superb opportunities for summer hiking and sightseeing and winter skiing. Visit Revelstoke and Whistler in British Columbia and Banff and Lake Louise in Alberta for some of the best Rocky Mountain slopes and views. In the east, Mont-Tremblant in Québec has excellent skiing in the Laurentian Mountains.
Head to the lakes regions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan for fishing and hunting. Travel north to Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon to camp under the northern lights. Canada’s national and provincial parks cater to Canadian and international visitors with scenic trails and adventurous activities.
In Canada try panning for gold, taste maple syrup fresh from production or even go on a polar bear safari. Across the nation you’re likely to be greeted with a friendly welcome. Arrive anywhere and keep exploring the beautiful lands and waters of this great nation.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architects Own Home 00:55 – The Family Centred Brief 01:58 – The Layout and Walkthrough of the Home 03:42 – A Focus on the Light and Sculpted Areas 04:28 – The Neutral Material Palette 04:59 – Customised Furniture Pieces 05:57 – Proud Moments and Favourite Aspects
As the project’s architect, Omar, says, the brief for this home was to create a house for his family as well as a new studio space for his budding practice. As it happens, his architecture studio grew rapidly over the course of the build, and as such, the ground floor studio space is now an extension of his original waterfront studio and a place to work on community projects with his team. This project illustrates a seamless understanding of how domestic and non-domestic principles can coexist within an architects own home.
The footprint of this house was heavily defined by the site and its setbacks from abutting properties and to the street. Cleverly, Omar has used these parameters to gently guide the architecture and ensuing build. In the house tour of an architects own home, Omar highlights the site’s various constraints, which have been reinterpreted as opportunities in designing a compelling piece of architecture. As Omar says, “the volume was resolved from the outset, so it became a process of articulation and sculpting, and in some cases, sacrificing overall square footage for moments of joy, delight and surprise.”
Literary Review of Canada -March 2024: The latest issue features:
The Storm of Progress: Climate Change, AI, and the Roots of Our Dangerous Ethical Myopia by Wade Rowland
The Compassionate Imagination: How the Arts Are Central to a Functioning Democracy by Max Wyman
Scotland: experience the UK at its most elemental with a trek across the frost-covered Highlands.
St Vincent and the Grenadines: culture and conservation on a Caribbean island-hopping tour.
Kyrgyzstan: the formidable Tian Shan mountains are home to one of the world’s most enigmatic predators.
Canada: everything you need to know about planning a once-in-a-lifetime Canadian road trip.
Berlin: the movers and shakers reinventing the German capital’s enduring arts and culture scene.
Dubai: a hidden history lies behind the ultramodern facade of this grand and luxurious metropolis.
Murcia: River rafting, bar-hopping and empty beaches in one of southeast Spain’s most overlooked regions.
Bogota: Indigenous ingredients are king in Colombia’s fertile, mountain-bound capital.
Hong Kong: In Asia’s ‘World City’ unforgettable stays come with dazzling dining options and skyline views.
Plus,France marks 150 years of Impressionism; music festivals in Petra and beyond; the flavours of West Bengal; Nashville for music-lovers; Zanzibar’s hotel scene; a family adventure in North Queensland; a city break in Dijon; a woodland stay in Beaulieu; top reads for 2024; and kayaking essentials.
We talk with author Dom Joly on travelling to Canada’s Fogo Island with a flat-earther, and Louis Alexander discusses running a marathon on all seven continents. In our Ask the Experts section, the experts give advice on unique safari experiences, travelling to Japan for cherry-blossom season, off-road bikepacking trails in the UK and the best group tours for wheelchair users. The Info celebrates 50 years of Bhutan opening its borders to international travellers, while Hot Topic explores the potential disruption caused by Iceland’s volcanoes and Report asks whether the aviation industry can really achieve net zero CO2 by 2050. Finally, photographer Josh Humbert talks about capturing Tahiti’s surfers for How I Got the Shot.
Dawson City is located on the shores of the Klondike river, a northern gem surrounded by a soaring rugged landscape holding secrets of the past. While the region has been home to First nation’s people for centuries, the town site was built more recently, at the height of the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush.
Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Architect’s Own Secret Cabin 00:55 – A Shared Childhood Dream 01:26 – A Walkthrough and the Layout of the Cabin 02:39 – A Sparse and Simple Material Palette 04:01 – The Modern Kitchen Design 05:33 – Evolving The Design Elements 05:56 – Favourite Aspects of the Project
it is a deeply personal project that adds a dynamic layer to his studio’s portfolio. It is possible to visualise this secret cabin hidden in the woods in other forest settings, yet the architectural nuances bring a specificity to the design that belong only to this place. From a distance, the cabin is but a small disruption amid the ever-changing colours of the forest, yet up close, its architectural presence is monumental. The steel form is a confident expression of simple geometries and a bold reinterpretation of a typical secret cabin hidden in the woods.
A house tour reveals an aesthetic that is elemental and layered, from the bedrooms to the kitchen. The interior design, which is defined by smoked oak, raw steel shelving and wall-mounted industrial light fixtures, complements the architecture of this secret cabin hidden in the woods. As the lead architect, designer and homeowner, Omar embraced the opportunity to inject his personality into the design. He saw this project as an opportunity to experiment within the framework of his practice, thus, several pieces of furniture created in collaboration with local artisans and makers dot the interiors.
From the towering ice fields lining the waters of Eclipse Sound in the Arctic Archipelago, to the natural wonders of Sirmilik National Park.
Covering 1.5 million square kilometres, or about one seventh of Canada, the Northern Arctic Ecozone extends over most of the nonmountainous areas of the arctic islands and parts of northeastern Keewatin, western Baffin Island, and northern Quebec. It is among the largest arctic ecosystems in the world.
Winters pass in near darkness with the polar night measured in weeks and months rather than hours. Snow may fall any month of the year and usually remains on the ground from September to June. Extremely low temperatures and an average precipitation of about 200 mm per year characterize the climate. When not covered in snow, much of the landscape is typified by barren plains covered in frost-patterned soils and the occasional rock outcrop.
Literary Review of Canada – November 2023: The latest issue features Who Keeps Killing Canadian History; The Influencers – A dual biography from Charlotte Gray, and more…
Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt by Charlotte Gray
They were born the same year. Their families left Paris the same year. Their sons entered institutions that would shape their lives the same year. If Stephen Sondheim had written Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons instead of Charlotte Gray, he might have employed one of the timeless lines from his Broadway show Company to depict the lives and loves of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt: “Parallel lines who meet.”
Anthony Rota stepped down as Canada’s thirty-seventh Speaker of the House of Commons on September 27, for reasons pretty much the entire world knows. Between his unprecedented resignation and the election of Greg Fergus to take up that fancy oak and velvet chair, the electorate was treated to some familiar headlines. “Who Can Bring Back Commons Decency?” the Toronto Star asked on its front page. “Being Speaker Isn’t Easy,” the CBC reminded us. “And It Just Got a Lot Harder.”
Boomers Daily 