Christmas in Canada

By Bill Mann, MarketWatch
PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. (MarketWatch) — Thinking of moving to Canada some day (you’re not alone these days), or just visiting there? Or maybe you or friends and family just want to investigate this huge, complex country that’s still a virtual cipher to Americans?
I’ve assembled some Canadian-themed holiday gift ideas for the last-minute, cross-border-minded shopper. These will all be more useful and suitable than the awful, Mountie-themed tchotchkes you see in Canadian gift shops — which, alas, is what many Americans buy for their Canadiana. Many of the things listed here would be just fine under a Canadian tree, too. Herewith a few Christmas-gift suggestions from the Great White North:
Books and Magazines:
A subscription to Maclean’s, Canada’s national newsmagazine. Sharply-written a la The Economist style, but with more leavening. A lively, informative read.
A subscription to Kayak, a first-rate publications for kids about Canadian history. My grandkids, who are moving to Vancouver this summer, love the cartoon stories.
A subscription to the online version of one of the world’s great newspapers, the Toronto Globe and Mail. I always grab the dead-tree version when I’m in Vancouver. I’d suggest getting Globe to Go, the online version that has all the ads, and especially the Saturday paper, Canada’s big-paper day. At 99 cents, the Saturday Globe provides hours of good reading on my iPad.
“Canadians,” occasional Globe and Mail contributor Roy MacGregor’s celebrated book of insightful essays into his “home and native land” and its people. Navel-gazing at its most insightful.
“The Game,” Ken Dryden’s brilliant book about hockey. Dryden is a former Montreal Canadiens goalie who was also a Member of Parliament and a federal cabinet minister. He’s a Cornell-educated, articulate and thoughtful writer who knows a lot about non-sports areas as well. Canadian sportswriter Scott Young (singer Neil’s father) says, “There’s nothing else to compare this book to.”
“Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town,” by Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock, an iconic (In Canada), Calvin Trillin-like master of understatement. For example, he once cleverly referred to drinking as “adopting a constitutional amendment.”
“Hockey: A People’s History,” an impressive coffee-table book filled with great old NHL photos that’s the most comprehensive history I’ve seen on the sport, arguably a window into the Canadian soul. It’s a companion to the highly regarded, 10-part CBC-TV series (available on DVD).

Maple Syrup ....

From that list  OF books from the great white north . the emphasis seems to be on WHITE 

Yuh evah see a Brown Santa Claus ? 

Fred G. Sanford

arrite :

                    http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzYO_3ZEEVmjT7lnoTIbsLs3PB7fmDvfnHSAUmijDED6lujkTCw91019tJAg

and the reindeers and elves  :cool:

                               

Brampton : ::