There’s nothing wrong with a fishing lodge, of course. Nor for that matter is there any reason to miss out on going to a golf course or cottage. I hope to spend some time there myself.
But a summer without some serious time in at least one of Canada’s great cities can hardly qualify as a productive season.
I have written about this before, and I am thinking about it again because for our June issue every year, we make a point of crisscrossing the country and reporting on some of the major farm trends that we’re seeing.
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Agriculture is so vibrant, there’s never enough room to include even the most whittled-down list of stories that we promise ourselves during planning, and more gets left out than ever gets included.
But there’s Gerald Pilger’s piece on Canada’s grain infrastructure, and Michael Kalisvaart’s column at the very back of our June issue. They are essential for grounding the entire issue in the world of the real. When you read them, you’ll know what I mean, but I hope you’ll pause over the issue’s other stories too. Every year, I’m more and more convinced that agriculture is a people story.
But I also always feel it’s a mistake to pretend that we’re covering agriculture in Canada without seriously engaging with anyone in what are, from every possible view, this country’s world-class cities.
In an earlier editorial, I wrote that Swift Current is a fine place. So are Brandon and Guelph, and Medicine Hat and Regina.
The fact is, however, that Canada has three cities that are on a different plane — Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver — and it’s as short-sighted to say you can understand this country without visiting these great cities as it is to feel that you can understand Canada if you don’t appreciate at least to a minimal degree its phenemonal, world-class ability to produce food.
If you bemoan the agricultural ignorance of the average Canadian, I hope you’ll devote time to learning this summer about Canada’s amazing urbanites. They’re as much a part of our country as we are, and we should be equally proud of them.
So take a week this summer and visit one of our great cities. Choose one that you’ve never spent time in before, or the one you know least well. Take the family too, especially if they’re unsure.
It’s unconscionable today to raise kids who haven’t spent enough time in these cities to at least understand why other kids are so energized by them.
Talk to your spouse and set a date today. In the first place, you’ll have a great vacation, which is a good thing. You’ve earned it. In the second place, if you’re like most people in rural Canada, you’ll find that most of our preconceptions about big cities are actually misconceptions.
What a great feeling it is to rise above them.
Then let me know what you think. As always, I want to hear from you. I’m at [email protected]. Enjoy!
Tom Button is editor of Country Guide magazine.
