My Ancestors Were Idiots Or Were They?

Don't get me wrong. I love my family. But really, what were they thinking?

All of my family ancestry is from the British Isles. A proud collection of countries that for hundreds of years ruled the seas and colonized most of the world. So why would my ancestors decide to come to Canada when they had they whole world at their disposal? Lies, it was all a pack of lies.

All those years ago, almost a hundred now, my grandparents and great grandparents decided to leave their native lands to escape famine or religious prejudice. For some reason they thought Canada was a safe place to immigrate to. And well, they were right, it is a country of political, social and religious tolerance.

They could have moved to South Africa, for at the time the Afrikaners were in control of things and they would have been fine. They could have moved to Australia except back then it was considered beneath most civilized people to go to a land of convicts. They could have even gone to the Caribbean countries, but their social conscience on slavery prevented them from doing so.

Of course all these countries have changed over the years. Apartheid has ended in South Africa; Oz has become a respectable nation within the Commonwealth no longer living under the cloud of its past; and the Caribbean countries are flourishing with tourism dollars. All these places have become very popular places to move to NOW.

But back then the big draw to Canada was the promise of vast tracks of land for these agrarian peoples to call their own.  An opportunity for them to make a new life for themselves and their families. Just one problem; someone forgot to tell them it was horribly cold here in the winter. If they had, the Canadian prairies would still be a very lonely desolate place. But the world would also be missing most of its wheat supply. 

I'll give my ancestors this much, they were a tough breed. Much tougher than we are today. We have much better living conditions than they ever had and yet we complain about the cold. In fact, thanks to global warming, our winters aren't nearly as cold  or as long as that of our forefathers. 

So, really I can't say my ancestors were idiots, they just didn't know any better. And once they got here, they did the best they could with what they had to make the best life they could for their families. And they did this quite well. Well enough that many have been able to leave and move to those more climatic compatible regions of the globe. But for those of us who have stayed in this God forsaken corner of the world; that have endured bitter cold winters and draught filled summers, we can hold our heads high. We can be proud of what they have built and left for us.  

So, in the dead of winter, when we meet a new arrival to our country in the line up at Tim Horton's, we can smile at them and ask, "Cold enough for ya?" because we are Canadians.