A reflection of the last year in Canada

From threats to our sovereignty to an election called six months early.  From hockey arenas and living rooms where the flag and anthem suddenly carried more weight than they had in years, to an Ontario ad featuring Ronald Reagan that made international headlines and became an excuse to stall trade talks. From being blamed for a fentanyl crisis we did not create, accused of taking advantage when we haven’t, and labelled difficult when all we asked for was fairness.  From inflation squeezing families to rhetoric dividing us province by province.

It has been quite a year — one that tested all of us, and tested what it means to be Canadian.

As this year closes and a new one begins, I’ve realized something has shifted in me.  I’ve always loved this country.  I’ve always been proud to be Canadian. But watching Canada face challenge after challenge, that love has deepened into something fiercer.  I feel more protective, more present, and more aware of what this nation means — and what it needs.

We’ve heard a lot this year about what’s wrong with Canada.  Productivity. GDP. The brain drain.  Entire platforms built on telling us how broken we are.  But if someone we loved was struggling, we wouldn’t stand over them listing their failures. We’d rally.  We’d show up.  We’d help.

We shouldn’t treat our country any differently.

This year also forced us to think more deeply about leadership — in all its forms.  In moments that feel existential, people look to those who’ve benefited most from this country to stand with it.  Silence, fair or not, can feel like absence. And absence, in moments of national uncertainty, is something people notice.  The reaction wasn’t about one individual. It was about a broader expectation that leadership carries responsibility beyond personal success.

And then there’s Terry Fox. Our Terry Fox.

A young, courageous Canadian who ran across this country on one leg.  Who turned pain into purpose.  Whose legacy has raised more than $850 million for cancer research.  This year, Canada announced he will appear on our five‑dollar bill — a recognition he has long deserved. Terry Fox represents something enduring in all of us: determination, resilience, and the belief that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

In a year when we questioned so much, Terry Fox remained uncomplicated.  He still represents who we want to be.

As we turn the calendar, it’s hard not to think of that old sentiment about citizenship: not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

So let me ask: What can you do for Canada in 2026?

Can you support more local businesses?  Can you start and build a business here?  Can you defend the idea of public healthcare, even when the system is struggling?  The answer isn’t to give up on it.  The answer is to demand better.

Can you talk about what we have?

We are one of the most multicultural countries on earth — hundreds of ethnicities, hundreds of languages, millions of people who came from somewhere else and chose to build a life here.  That isn’t a talking point.  It’s a daily act of cooperation happening in cities and towns across the country.

We are the most educated country in the G7.  Nearly 65 percent of adults have completed post‑secondary education.  We have world‑class universities, researchers pushing boundaries, and young people equipped to compete anywhere.  We have natural resources that matter — to us and to the world.

We have national parks that take your breath away.  Roads that connect us coast to coast to coast.  Public schools that educate every child, regardless of income.  The Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  A reputation for fairness, even when our closest neighbour questions our right to exist as an independent nation.

And this year, the world learned something about us.  When threatened, Canadians didn’t fracture.  We didn’t panic. We bought Canadian.  We showed up.  We changed travel plans.  We remembered that polite does not mean pushover.  And in April, we voted in record numbers — the highest turnout since 1993.  Democracy isn’t a spectator sport, and Canadians proved that.

For the year ahead, I’m asking us to shift something.

Stop looking at Canada through the lens of its critics.  Start seeing ourselves as the global leader we are — and can be. Stop measuring ourselves only by what we lack.  Instead of lamenting people leaving, what if we helped them stay?  Instead of doom‑scrolling through decline, what if we invested our time, money, and attention in what makes us strong?

The challenges are real.  I’m not asking anyone to pretend otherwise.  But countries, like people, need belief to survive hard times.  They need citizens who show up — not just critics who point fingers.

So here is my commitment for the new year: I will support Canadian businesses when I can.  I will speak proudly about what’s working, not just what’s broken. I will remember that this country took in my family, educated me, keeps me healthy, and gives me the freedom to write these words.

Canada has had a hard year.  That doesn’t mean it can’t have — or doesn’t deserve — a bright future.  It needs our love more than ever.  Not blind love.  The kind that demands better, works for change, and shows up anyway.

Happy 2026 Canada!

Hans Island

 

The Island That Taught the World How Disputes Should Be Settled

At a moment when headlines are filled with tension, threats, and talk of taking territory by force, it’s worth remembering a quieter story. One that actually happened. One that shows there is another way.

For nearly fifty years, Canada and Denmark had a dispute over a tiny, uninhabited island in the Arctic called Hans Island, located between Nunavut and Greenland. Both countries claimed it. Both had historical arguments. And both could have turned it into something ugly. They didn’t.

Instead, they turned it into what became known as the Whiskey War.

Whenever a Canadian patrol landed on Hans Island, they would lower the Danish flag, raise the Canadian one, and leave behind a bottle of Canadian whisky with a polite note. When the Danes arrived later, they did the exact opposite. They raised their flag and left behind Danish schnapps.

No weapons.

No threats.

No escalation.

Just flags, notes, and alcohol.

This ritual went on from the 1970s into the early 2000s, becoming a symbol of good humour and mutual respect between two countries that disagreed but never lost perspective. The island had no people. No cities. No resources worth fighting over. What mattered more was how the disagreement was handled.

Then in 2022, Canada and Denmark did something even more remarkable. They officially resolved the dispute by splitting Hans Island in half, creating Canada’s first ever land border with Denmark. The agreement was signed peacefully, respectfully, and with cooperation between Ottawa, Copenhagen, Greenland, and Nunavut.

No one lost face.

No one lost sovereignty.

Everyone gained trust.

And here’s the “ah ha” moment.

This didn’t happen because the island wasn’t important. It happened because the relationship was more important than the rock.

Which is why this story feels especially relevant today. When powerful voices talk about controlling Greenland for “security” or influence, Hans Island quietly reminds us that borders don’t need to be decided by force. They can be settled by dialogue, patience, and respect for the people and nations involved.

Two countries disagreed.

They joked instead of threatened.

They talked instead of postured.

And when the time came, they compromised.

That’s not weakness.

That’s leadership.

In a world that often rewards the loudest voice in the room, the Whiskey War reminds us that sometimes the strongest move is simply acting like a grown up.

And maybe leaving a bottle behind.

A great improvement to this year's New Year's Polar Plunge in White Rock!

 

26 years ago with unbearable knee pain while waiting for double knee replacement surgery, I was in a wheel chair.  It wasn't a long period, but it made me aware of what disabled people deal with.  That experience leaves a mark, even if the time in the wheelchair was brief.  When your own mobility is suddenly limited, the world doesn’t just look different — it feels different. Every curb, every doorway, every stretch of sidewalk becomes a negotiation.  And the emotional side of it — the dependence, the waiting, the frustration — is just as real as the physical pain.

What I went through gave you something many people never get: a firsthand understanding of how much strength, patience, and resilience disabled people have to summon every single day.  It’s not just about ramps and elevators; it’s about dignity, autonomy, and the right to move through the world without unnecessary barriers.

Susan Bains of White Rock is making this year's New Year's plunge wheel chair accessible.  She is making it possible anyone in a wheel chair to participate this year.  She plans on plunging into the cold water at White Rock Beach.  She's working with the Self Advocates of Semiahmoo who agreed to bring a couple of their beach wheelchairs for other mobility challenged participants to use!  

If you are disabled and want to attend this year's Polar Bear Plunge in chilly Semiahmoo Bay, registration starts at 10:30 AM on January 1st.   The annual plunge is at 12 Noon!

Here is a picture of last year's plunge:

https://explorewhiterock.com/polar-bear-plunge/

Jenna Bush Hager

On September 12, 2001, just one day after the September 11 terrorist attacks that would define her father's presidency, 19-year-old Jenna Bush was quietly escorted by Secret Service agents from her University of Texas at Austin classroom to an undisclosed location, but what most people never knew was that she made an extraordinary request that revealed her character in ways no speech ever could—she insisted on calling her roommate's parents personally to assure them their daughter was safe, spending hours that night comforting fellow students who couldn't reach their own families amid the national chaos. 

While the world watched her father address the nation from the Oval Office and her mother comforted a grieving country, Jenna was experiencing her own transformation in a University of Texas dorm room, suddenly understanding that her college dreams of anonymity and normal sorority life had evaporated in the smoke over Manhattan and Washington. Her English professor later revealed that Jenna had submitted a deeply personal essay weeks before 9/11 about feeling suffocated by her last name, but after that September day, she never complained again, recognizing that her inconvenience paled against genuine tragedy. 

What makes this moment even more poignant is that Jenna had spent the summer of 2001 interning at a charter school in Washington D.C., building relationships with children whose parents worked at the Pentagon, and in the weeks following the attacks, she quietly wrote letters to every single one of those families, never seeking publicity or credit. 

Today, she rarely discusses that pivotal moment when she transitioned from reluctant First Daughter to someone who understood the weight of service, but friends say September 11 was the day Jenna stopped running from her platform and started embracing the responsibility that came with her unique position to comfort and inspire others. 

Disappointing Boxing Day

I don't do Boxing Day bargain shopping anymore.  I prefer to stay out of the malls when they are busy.  However, my cousin's daughter-in-law and granddaughter were singing on Boxing Day at 7 PM at Tsawwassen Mills Shopping Center.

Tsawwassen Mills has 192 stores, is 1,200,000 sq. ft. and has 6,000 parking spots.  We often go there on weekdays when it's very quiet.  They have some great restaurants and the mall is very wide so it's a pleasant walk especially on a rainy day.

We left early to have dinner and they enjoy Julie Reich Duerichen and her daughter Holly Duerichen's performance.  We normally enter in the second entrance.  There was a police car with flashing lights at the second entrance and it was coned off.  When we passed. they were just stopping cars from entering.  As we drove down Salish Sea Drive we could see there was no parking available and cars were driving around in circles trying to find a parking space.  The line to get out of the mall was very long so we knew going in would just be frustrating.  Disappointed, we didn't enter the mall but kept driving.  Thankfully it was a lovely evening.  Highway 17 was lined with cars so we took the back roads to Ladner.  It was a nice drive as there were many houses with Christmas lights.

Julie Reich Duerichen:

With over 28 years teaching experience, soprano Julie Reich has taught in the Vancouver area at Douglas College, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Walnut Grove School of Music and Dance, and previously in Maryland at Anne Arundel Community College. 

Julie is a scholarship recipient of Calgary Opera and a 2008 laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques programme in Montreal.  She was also a finalist in the Marie. E. Crump Vocal Competition in Washington D.C.

Julie holds a Master of Music Degree in Opera Performance from the University of Maryland, and Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Calgary, both graduating with honours.  In 2005, she studied in Hannover and Cologne, Germany, and attended the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart. She is a certified practitioner of EFT Tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques).

Julie performed for several years at Vancouver's Pan Pacific Hotel Opera Buffet and appeared in the premiere of East Van Opera's Alma, singing the role of Kelsh.  Julie can be heard regularly in the Vancouver area at concerts with Burnaby Opera and Opera Lirica.  She has appeared with Burnaby Opera as Musetta in Highlights from La Boheme, Euristene in the world premier of La Spartana Generosa, and 1st Woodsprite in Rusalka.  Over 50 performances with Opera Pro Cantanti include: Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Violetta in La Traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto, and others. She has also sung with Calgary Opera, Annapolis Opera, Wolftrap Opera, and Washington Opera.

Holly Duerichen

Holly graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Music.  She went to Brigham Young University and received a Masters degree!  She has an incredible future ahead of her.

It’s always a little disappointing when you miss a performance you were genuinely looking forward to, especially when it’s artists you really admire. Julie and Holly Duerichen have such a warm, textured vocal blend — I will see them next time they perform.  

Happy Boxing Day

Another wonderful family Christmas!

Happy Boxing Day.  Boxing Day, also known as Offering Day, is a holiday celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day. Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part of Christmas festivities. It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in several Commonwealth nations.

Merry Christmas from my house to yours!

 

To everyone who reads my blog, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.  

I understand the 60 Minutes segment on You Tube I blogged about yesterday was deleted.  It may still be available if you do a search on Facebook, Blue Sky or X.  They obviously don't want anyone to see what happened.

Take 2 - see if this still works if you want to see it:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/868336185581510

Dear American friends,

We don’t have CBS in Canada. We have Canadian networks with licensing agreements to air your shows.

The 60 Minutes CECOT episode wasn’t “leaked” or “smuggled” to Canada. It just aired at its regularly scheduled time because Canadian networks aren’t subject to American government interference.

We’re not under a dictatorship. You are. That’s why you didn’t see it and we did.

60 Minutes

I watch 60 minutes every week on Global TV.  I record it from Newfoundland and when we went to watch it they showed Entertainment Tonight instead of 60 minutes.  I then recorded it from our local station that has a later feed.  We didn't get the first version but the edited one on the broadcast. They unedited feed was on Global streaming service.  I saw the unedited version on "X".  It was also on Facebook.  

All I can say is what they did to those people, even if they are criminals was inhumane!  The entire segment sickened me.  Shame of everyone who put these people on planes and sent them to hell!

Here is the You Tube version of they haven't pulled it off:

Letters to Santa

Another year of helping Santa answer his letters is over.  This year was the least amount of letters we've ever received since I started volunteering over 15 years ago.  Actually, last year Canada Post was on strike, so we didn't help.  We talked to letter carriers who were on the picket line and helped Santa.  They used their own cars to get them to the children's homes.  Carol and I went in to the Post Office yesterday to see if there was any letters and yes there was one letter from our area.  However, the child didn't put a return address on it, so we couldn't answer it.  😒

We had a lot of nice letters, drawings and cards from children.  We also had many from adults who picked up the "free" stationery at Santa parades and Fly Over Canada.  Some asked for nice things, others wanted to know what is the best app to find a date and others wanted some advice.  We answer these too but we don't give advice.  My favorite reply is:  Always believe in the magic of Christmas! 

With Canada Post in a deficit position, I hope they ask everyone to put a stamp on the letters to Santa.  That would help with their financial problems and stop some of the "crank" letters we received.

I got an email last week from a long time friend.  Steve is their son and Grayson is their first great grandson:  

Yesterday we were all over at Steve & Betty’s for supper When we arrived little Grayson came running up to us, showing us his card from Santa! I immediately thought of you. He was just sooo excited!! That little note is a keeper!!

One of our volunteers, Carol, was a letter carrier in Ladner. She always remembers the time when she delivered the mail a little guy would come to the door and ask "is there a letter for me from Santa"? Every day he would sit at the window waiting for her to come to the door. One day when she was sorting her mail, she saw one from the North Pole. She approached the house and watched as the little boy jumped up and down, opened the letter and thanked her for delivering it. She has volunteered every year since then and Carol and I have become great friends! She always tells the new volunteers that story. That's why we do it and I hope any letters I helped with made a child's day too.

Until next year......

European Beech Tree from Flanders Fields to Victoria

A more-than-a-century-old European beech tree located in a Vancouver Island park grew from seeds obtained in Flanders Fields, likely during the First World War, and volunteers would like to know how they got there. Staff who previously worked at Dominion Brook Park in North Saanich, B.C., kept meticulous records of each plant, according to Nancy Johnson, president of the Friends of Dominion Brook Park Society.

The tree in question was planted in 1922 with seeds from Flanders Fields, an area associated with First World War battles in Belgium, and immortalized in the poem In Flanders Fields by Lt.-Col. John McCrae.  “It would be very interesting … to know how those seeds actually came to North Saanich, who that person was,” Johnson said on CBC's On The Island.

The park was started in 1912 by the federal government as an experimental farm to discover what plants and livestock would thrive in the Western climate, said Johnson. “Pretty much anything you could think of was brought in and planted to see whether it would thrive in our microclimate here,” she said. 

She said volunteers are aware of a man who worked on the property around 1913, then went to war, and returned to work on the farm again in 1922. But they are hoping someone knows for certain.  “It would be amazing if someone out there has some recollection of a grandfather or an uncle talking about this,” Johnson said.

There are a number of trees on Shelbourne Street in Saanich with the same heritage.

Shelbourne Street Trees

When the First World War broke out, the Victoria area had B.C.'s highest rate of men who volunteered to go to war, according to Jenny Seeman, president of the Victoria Historical Society.  In Saanich, more than 800 men joined the war effort, she said.  Seeman says it is also possible that one of the many women who served abroad as nurses during the war could have brought the seeds back.  Does anyone know who may have brought back the seeds?

Thalidomide!

It was 1936. Frances Oldham had applied for a research position at the University of Chicago's pharmacology department. The department head, impressed by her credentials, offered her a scholarship and assistantship.

But he thought she was a man. Frances—with an "e," not an "i"—knew the mistake. She also knew that men were "the preferred commodity in those days." So she asked her professor at McGill what to do. Should she write back and explain?

"Don't be ridiculous," he told her. "Accept the job. Show up. Let him discover the truth for himself." She did. Twenty-four years later, that same stubborn refusal to back down would save thousands of American children from catastrophe.

Frances Kathleen Oldham was born on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1914. By age fifteen, she had graduated high school. By twenty, she held a bachelor's degree from McGill. By twenty-four, she had earned her PhD in pharmacology from the University of Chicago—and married a fellow pharmacologist, F. Ellis Kelsey.

In 1950, she added an MD to her credentials. For the next decade, she taught pharmacology, practiced medicine, and raised two daughters. Then, in 1960, the Kelseys moved to Washington, D.C., where Frances took a job at the Food and Drug Administration. She was one of only seven full-time physicians reviewing new drugs for the American market.

Her second month on the job, an application landed on her desk.

The drug was called thalidomide.

Thalidomide was a sensation. Introduced in West Germany in 1957, it was marketed as a sedative—a sleeping pill so safe it was sold over the counter. By 1960, West Germans were consuming one million doses per day. The drug had been approved in Canada and more than twenty European and African countries.

Now the American pharmaceutical company Richardson-Merrell wanted to sell it in the United States under the brand name Kevadon. They expected approval to be a formality. Frances Kelsey was not impressed.

The application was sloppy. The testimonials contained no scientific methodology. Some of the authors had published suspicious articles before. And something about the drug's side effects—particularly reports of peripheral neuritis, a nerve condition—troubled her deeply.

"The peripheral neuritis did not seem the sort of side effect that should come from a simple sleeping pill," she later explained.

Under FDA rules, she had sixty days to approve or reject the application. If she did neither, the drug would automatically go to market. So Kelsey did something clever: every sixty days, she requested more information from the company. Each request reset the clock. Richardson-Merrell was furious.

The pressure campaign began immediately. Company representatives crowded into her office. They called her phone day and night. They contacted her and her supervisors more than fifty times over the next eighteen months. When she still wouldn't approve the drug, they got belligerent. "Most of the things they called me," Kelsey later said, "you wouldn't print." But she had backup. Her husband, Ellis, helped her check her conclusions. Her superiors at the FDA stood by her. And her own scientific training—decades of studying how drugs cross the placental barrier—told her something was wrong.

She demanded animal studies proving the drug wouldn't harm unborn babies.

The company sent more data. Kelsey scrutinized it with suspicion. What she didn't know—what Richardson-Merrell had concealed—was that the company had already discovered birth defects when thalidomide was tested on rats. They sent her misleading partial data instead. Month after month, she held the line.

Then the reports started coming from Europe. In late 1961, two doctors—Widukind Lenz in Germany and William McBride in Australia—independently linked thalidomide to a horrifying epidemic. Babies were being born with severe deformities: missing arms, missing legs, hands and feet projecting directly from shoulders and hips. The condition was called phocomelia—from the Greek words for "seal limbs."

The numbers were staggering. Over 10,000 babies worldwide were affected. Approximately 2,000 died. More than half the victims were in West Germany, where the drug had been most popular.

In March 1962, Richardson-Merrell finally withdrew their FDA application. By then, they had already distributed thalidomide samples to more than a thousand American doctors as part of unregulated "clinical trials." Approximately 20,000 patients had taken the drug—including several hundred pregnant women.

The official count of American babies born with thalidomide-related defects was seventeen.

The true number is almost certainly higher. Dozens of victims were likely never identified. Scores of miscarriages and stillbirths were never counted. To this day, American halidomide survivors—now in their sixties—continue to find each other, discovering they were never officially recognized.

But because of Frances Kelsey, America was largely spared.

On July 15, 1962, Washington Post reporter Morton Mintz broke the story on the front page. Kelsey was hailed as a national hero. "She prevented," Mintz wrote, "the birth of hundreds or indeed thousands of armless and legless children."

On August 7, 1962, President John F. Kennedy presented Frances Kelsey with the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service. She was only the second woman ever to receive it.

But Kelsey insisted she wasn't the only hero. Her assistants, Oyama Jiro and Lee Geismar, deserved credit. So did her FDA superiors who backed her against corporate pressure.

The thalidomide disaster transformed American drug regulation. In October 1962, Congress unanimously passed the Kefauver-Harris Amendment. For the first time, pharmaceutical companies were required to prove their drugs were both safe and effective before marketing them. They had to report adverse reactions to the FDA. They had to obtain informed consent from patients in clinical trials.

The modern era of drug safety had begun.

Frances Kelsey didn't retire after her moment of fame. She continued working at the FDA for another fifty years, eventually leading the Division of Scientific Investigations. She worked into her nineties, taking on the challenges of other dangerous drugs seeking approval.

She died on August 7, 2015—exactly fifty-three years after receiving her medal from President Kennedy.

She was 101 years old.

Today, thalidomide is back. Under strict controls and rigorous pregnancy prevention measures, it treats certain cancers and complications of leprosy. In the United States, the prescribing doctor must ensure the patient is using two forms of contraception and taking regular pregnancy tests.

The drug that once caused the largest man-made medical disaster in history is now saving lives—because someone finally learned how dangerous it could be.

And we learned that because a young woman showed up at the University of Chicago in 1936, even though the acceptance letter was addressed to "Mr. Oldham."

She didn't correct them. She just proved them wrong.

A beautiful Royal duo!

 

I couldn't resist posting this gorgeous picture of Catherine and Charlotte!  Mother and daughter at their finest. This heartwarming moment showed the close-knit bond of the royal duo. 

Travel to the US

Yesterday marked my first drive across the Canadian–U.S. land border in 15 months. My neighbour, Jason, was flying directly from Bellingham to visit his parents in Mesa, Arizona, and since we both have Nexus, I offered to take him to the airport.

Four cars ahead of us, when we reached the booth, the border guard asked me, “Where are you going?” I replied, “I’m driving my friend to the Bellingham Airport.” He then turned to Jason: “Where are you going?” Jason answered, “To visit my parents for Christmas.” The guard smiled and said, “Have a good trip!”

The entire process was polite, efficient, and seamless. Although the weather on the drive down was dreadful, Jason is fortunate to be heading toward the Arizona sunshine. I briefly considered stopping at Costco or Trader Joe’s, but ultimately decided I’d rather spend my money here at home in Canada.

I saw this online:

We have friends going to Cuba for Christmas.  Many other friends I know are going to Mexico to an all-inclusive this winter.  

The Canada Post Heritage Club every year fills a 52 passenger bus to Tualip to gamble and shop for Black Friday.  This year they only had 25 people who wanted to go.  We had a nice trip planned to South Dakota to visit Mt. Rushmore, but with $100 per person on top of the admission charges, that got cancelled.  It would appear they don't want us to go to their country.  On our last trip we did the south west and visited six national parks.  That won't happen as long as the $100 surcharge per National Park visit for foreigners is being charged.

Ozikizler Turkish Restaurant

I love Vancouver for it's diversity.  We have so many cultures and I enjoy trying their food.  We've been to Turkey but it was a short stop on a cruise so we never really had the cuisine.  A new Turkish restaurant opened close to where we live.  Two different people told us how good it is, so we went for lunch yesterday.

They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The food is amazing.  Right now they have a lunch promotion 15% off your entire bill or your choice of free items!  The lunch was a large portion so we took the 15% off.  We tried Turkish Tea for the first time and enjoyed it very much.

Lots of entrees to choose from but we had the Lamb Shish Kebob.  

They had some great desserts but we couldn't eat any more.  We will definitely be going back.

Newfoundland & Labrador Tour!

NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR DISCOVERY

I went on this wonderful tour!  It was excellent and the tour guide and driver were fantastic. It's a small group tour in a 52 passenger bus!  If you are interested, let me know as it books up fast:  lfisher@maritimetravel.ca

GUARANTEED DEPARTURE  June 15 – 27, 2026

$5,984 CAD per person

Taxes of $735 included. Per person, Double occupancy, Land only.

$5,984 price includes early-booking savings, if booked by February 28, 2026.

Join the experts at Maritime Travel as we explore remote fishing villages, enjoy stunning ocean vistas and sample succulent seafood and local delicacies.

Surround yourself with Newfoundland & Labrador’s fresh, salt air and get set for what National Geographic Traveler calls “one of the world’s most transformative travel experiences.” Meet and mingle with warm and charming people, enjoy a Viking Feast, go whale-watching, and so much more.

This is Nicole the Tour Guide:

Originally from Newfoundland & Labrador, Nicole now lives in Nova Scotia where she’s been a Maritime Travel advisor for more than 25 years. When it comes to Eastern Canada, Nicole’s passion for the region is unmatched. Guests rave about her caring manner, wonderful local stories, little surprises, and the fun she adds to the travel experience.

“Having Nicole – a Newfoundlander – be so knowledgeable about all the places we went was a bonus. The small villages were a treat to see – we would not have known about all the history and culture without such a fantastic guide… Being on the ocean, breathing the air, seeing the incredible landscape were highlights, but so were the whales, icebergs, puffins and the friendliness of the folks in the hotels and restaurants… Some very lucky people will sign up for this tour next season!” – 2025 guest comments

Quick trip to Toronto

Cheryl, Lexie and my friend Laurie decided to take a quick girl getaway.  On Friday we flew on Porter Airlines and stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriot very close to the CN Tower.  It was -13C/8.6F as a low and didn't get any warmer than -6C/22F!  The wind was blowing and it was COLD!  

We had a wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant the first night.  The second night we went to The Loose Moose!  A fun pub with great food.  

After The Loose Moose, we walked to the CN Tower for a night view!  It didn't disappoint as it was a clear night and very cold.

We got up early for our flight home as Lexie has an exam to study for.  It started to snow as we departed.  We had a great flight home.  When we arrived we thought it was going to be raining, but we had sunshine and it was warm  +15C/+59F at 3 PM.   I'm glad I live in Vancouver!

The sky at dusk in sunny warm Vancouver!

Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams

 

Not every heroic epic is found in the pages of a comic book or on the grand screen. Some began in the most ordinary of places: a crowded dormitory, a half-empty refrigerator, and the chaotic corridors of the Juilliard School in New York. It was there that two young, aspiring actors—Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve—met for the very first time.

They were yet to achieve iconic status, just two struggling students united by poverty and a hunger for the future. Christopher embodied quiet discipline, order, and focused determination. Robin was a whirlwind of creative chaos, incessant improvisation, and infectious, brilliant laughter. Polar opposites in every way, they forged a bond that transcended personality and defied the vast distance their future careers would create.

Success arrived swiftly. Reeve soared into cinematic immortality as Superman, a beacon of hope and strength. Williams conquered comedy and drama as Mork and later in films that seamlessly blended tears and profound laughter.

Then, in 1995, fate dealt a catastrophic blow. A tragic horseback riding accident left Christopher paralyzed from the neck down. He endured months submerged in darkness, despair, and anger, teetering on the edge of giving up entirely.

His life was salvaged not by medicine, but by a joke.

One day, the hospital door burst open, and a grotesque figure—a Russian proctologist with a bizarre, thick accent—entered, demanding to perform surgery immediately. Christopher looked up at the absurdity and burst into hysterical laughter: it was Robin, in costume and character, determined to force a smile.

Reeve later recalled that moment of genuine laughter as his rebirth. "Robin saved my life that day," he confessed. "And he continued to save it every time he came to visit."

Williams remained a constant, steadfast pillar of moral, emotional, and financial support, always discreetly away from the camera glare. "He was my Superman," Williams once stated simply. "I was just giving him a little happiness."

When Christopher passed away in 2004, Robin carried the profound weight of that lost love. At the funeral, the man whose genius could summon laughter with a single glance openly wept, wrestling with a profound sorrow that no joke could cure—the aching, final silence left by the absence of his best friend.

We remember Christopher Reeve as the incredible hero who showed us strength when things seemed impossible. We cherish Robin Williams for his brilliant wit that chased away the darkness. But the most powerful chapter of their shared story is the simple truth: the funny guy helped his friend heal, and the superhero found the reason to live again by listening to a joke.

Their friendship left behind a powerful, simple lesson: Loyalty and kindness, when combined with bravery, forge an unbreakable bond. Real friendship is the most powerful hand that can reach out and save a life when everything else has failed.

The Corner Store

Another great blog from Wayne Cox:

Are there any corner stores left in this town? Well, there I go, starting off an edition of The Word with a question! When faced with a question like this, I always turn to my College Professor, Dr. Google.

According to my Prof, Vancouver had about 260 corner stores at their peak in the 1920s, but that number has dropped to around 80-90 today, maybe even less, and that’s according to officials at city hall. What caused the decline? Well, a number of things have been cited: rising costs, property taxes, and of course, competition from larger chain stores that have cropped up in the past few decades.

In the late ’50s and into the ’60s, we had a couple of corner stores in our neighbourhood. One was on a corner, but the other was one-third of the way down the block! Does that eliminate it from being a corner store? I don’t think so because it had everything to qualify as one. The store on the corner was on McDonald Street, and it was run by a wonderfully cheerful man named Jimmy Chu. Jimmy didn’t speak much English, but he was always so friendly to all of us school kids, who I’m sure could be a pain in the penny candy sometimes!

Jimmy’s Market wasn’t our main source of penny candy, though. It was the store that was 1/3 of the way down 22nd or 21st avenue in the Dunbar area of Vancouver. Memory fails me when it comes to the name of that store, but it had all the necessary corner-store supplies: bread, milk, coffee and all the other things needed in a kitchen. But the mother-load was the selection of penny candy! Grab a little brown paper bag and fill it up at a cost of what amounted to spare change, or most of your allowance! Remember the pricing of penny candy? Two for a penny, three for a nickel. Liquorice pipes and cigars were only a few cents. There were Popeye candy cigarettes and wax lips. Remember wax lips? Oh my, the list goes on, and I’m sure you can add to it. My dad’s favourite was the little yellow bananas, two for a penny, maybe? And who knows what those were made of! They would melt in your mouth and were probably so bad for you, but tasted so good!

This was also the store that was our main source for baseball and football trading cards, complete with a slab of gum that had a white powder covering it. I can’t even imagine how much money we spent trying to get the complete set of baseball cards. We’d save them, trade them, or play card games at school, where you’d throw the cards against a wall, and if your card landed on your opponent’s card, you got to take his card! Only “traders” were used for this game, because they got pretty beaten up.

 

The other corner store that wasn’t on a corner in our neck of the woods was Heather’s. It was on Dunbar Street, and I’m guessing between 20th Street and 21st Street? Heather's, as I recall, was more like a grocery store. It may have had penny candy and trading cards, but not a lot. It was run by a big man with a big smile and was really the place to buy a quart of milk, some cereal or a loaf of bread. It seemed that most, if not all, of the corner stores were also the store owner’s residence. Store up front, home in the back.

There are a few traditional corner stores in the South Surrey/White Rock area. It seems 7/11 has taken over, but we do have a marvellous corner store that sells the most wonderful flower bouquets. It’s called Howe’s Market, and it’s just down the street from Blue Frog Studios on Johnston Road. There are a few little markets on Marine Drive along the beach in White Rock, but not as many as we used to see.

One more thing, and let’s turn the clock way back. About 35 years ago, I was in Winnipeg, Manitoba (like there’s another place called Winnipeg?), shooting some commercials for a couple of casinos. I had some downtime and decided to take a trip to my mom and dad’s neighbourhood. They grew up in Winnipeg, and both moved to Vancouver after World War II. They married on the coast, but they grew up in the prairie town. Naturally, I had heard so many stories of their neighbourhood. As I walked around, I found both of their childhood homes, a street apart. I also wandered by a corner store. For some reason, I decided to go in and was greeted by a woman who was probably older than Winnipeg itself. She greeted me with the usual Prairie hospitality and asked if I was new around there. I told her why I was in the neighbourhood, and she asked the names of my mom and dad. Believe it or not, she remembered them! Not them specifically, but their families, and where they used to live.

It was a reminder of what a real sense of community we may have lost by losing so many of our corner stores, not to mention the penny candy!