Oh Canada, we stand on guard for … poutine?
By Adam Day
There is a secret Canadians whisper to each other when no foreigners are in the room. It is a fledgling secret, passed on like a rumour. But it represents nothing less than the emergence of a distinctly Canadian culture.
They are whispering: "Hey, dude, I’m hungry, let’s go have some poutine."
Not so long ago it was pretty difficult to define Canada’s national identity. Suggested definitions were usually based on exclusions, trying to reveal what we are by listing what we’re not.
Central to this type of definition was the inevitable claim that we are not American, combined sometimes with vague assertions about how pleasant we all are to each other, even the people we don’t like very much.
The core of this inability to positively define ourselves was a lack of concrete cultural artifacts. Food, for example, plays a key role in defining a nation’s culture. Can you imagine Italy without pasta and pizza, India without curry or China without chicken balls?
Fear not. Canada now can join the old and well-established cultures of the world. It has poutine – a unique dish made of French fries, cheese and gravy that evolved in Canada as a response to the cultural and environmental qualities of Canadian life.
The father of poutine is a Quebecois named Fernand Lachance. Now 80, Lachance first had his great idea in 1957 at his small restaurant in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. At first he was offering only fries and cheese curds mixed together in a plastic bag as a take-out specialty. Then one day, a local truck driver placed an order for the messy specialty and a side of gravy. Once Lachance gave him the order, the truck driver dumped the gravy into the bag, sat down at a table, cut the bag open and began to eat. Poutine was born.
The word poutine comes originally from la poutina of Southern France, which was derived from the English word pudding. The word first appeared in Canada in Acadian cuisine, where a dish of mashed potatoes, pork and spiced sauce is called poutines rapees. Roughly translated, the word poutine means "stuff stuck in a mess of other stuff which is also quite saucy."
Today poutine is available in some of Canada finest restaurants. The Ritz-Carlton constructs its poutine out of goat cheese, rendered duck skin and Yukon gold potatoes. One serving costs $24.
During the past few years, poutine has even become available in Canada from large multi-national outlets like McDonalds and Burger King.
Charlene Lo of Weber Shandrick Worldwide, the public relations company representing McDonalds Canada, says the chain is constantly searching for "specialty dishes" to introduce into national markets.
"With poutine, McDonalds did a market test in Quebec lasting nearly 10 years. Once that was determined to be successful, the decision to carry the product nationally rests with the individual franchise," Lo says.
Poutine has been picked up by franchises all across the nation. And why not, it’s a hit.
McDonalds franchises in Kamloops began selling poutine in September 2001. Anna Meyers, assistant manager of the Aberdeen McDonalds, can’t believe how well it’s selling.
"People love it, since it’s gotten cold we’re going through two pots of gravy a day," said Meyers. "At first people were a little reluctant, but now, for some customers, we have to use a special carton to give them larger portions. The regular size just isn’t big enough. … I haven’t seen anything like that with our other products."
The secret to assembling a high-level poutine? "Make sure your gravy is hot and your cheese curds are thawed, that’s the secret to making it right," Meyers says.
Still, not everyone is a poutine fan. Stephanie Koch, who works at the McDonalds in Valleyview, thinks poutine is both foreign and repellant.
"It’s gross," Koch says. "I don’t know why people eat it. It’s so fatty."
She’s right about the fatty part. According to one scale, a medium-size serving of poutine can contain more than 20 grams of fat and 450 calories. Over the course of several servings, those stats are going to add up to a lot of extra insulation, which is useful when you live in a place where the temperature drops to -30 Celsius in the winter.
Having a national identity based on nothing more than a shared dislike of the United States and being pleasant never really did seem like a solid plan. But now, thanks to Quebecois visionary and national hero Fernand Lachance, we have the first tangible (and edible) evidence of our emerging national identity.
And, as a bonus unique to cultures in advanced free market economies, the new icon of our nationality is available for eat-in or take-out.
The snow might be starting to thaw from the East Coast’s big storm this week, but student bloggers in New Mexico and Canada are still in winter wonderlands. Check out the wicked winter pictures. [JakeCast; Geoff at Mount Allison]
Saskatchewan a jobs 'hot spot' in Canada
- Story Highlights
- Saskatchewan projected to lead Canada in economic growth in 2009
- Province helped by infrastructure investment, oil production
- Premier: We are "a story of success" that wants to help those struggling
- Relocation services business sees more people looking to move to province
By Mallory Simon
CNN(CNN) -- Normally, "hot spot" isn't the first phrase that comes to mind when talking about Saskatchewan, Canada.
But with most of Canada suffering from devastating job losses, this cold province is becoming exactly that.
It's an asterisk to the entire country when it comes to the economic climate, and Premier Brad Wall is shouting it as loud as he can.
"It's a great time to come to Saskatchewan," said Wall, who even called the Toronto Star newspaper to tout his province's economic success and let Ontarians know there were jobs for the taking.
"For those who are losing their jobs, we need them to know we have thousands of jobs open right now in both the private and public sector," Wall said. "We have a powerful story to tell, a story of success and that's something we want to share with those who are struggling."
Wall's province is one of the exceptions to the unemployment increases battering provinces across Canada. Saskatchewan's unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent in January from 4.2 percent in December, making it the only province recording a decline. In Ontario and the city of Toronto, unemployment rates rose to 7.2 percent and 8.5 percent respectively. To the west, British Columbia shed 68,000 full-time jobs in January.
More Saskatchewan jobs should be on the way. To stave off any possible recession, Wall announced a $500 million infrastructure "booster shot" to help keep the economy strong.
Learn more about different towns in Saskatchewan »
"All across the country, industries are getting quite ill," Wall said. "We aren't immune to it. We see some impacts in terms of layoffs and new vehicle purchases slowing off, and so we want to be proactive in staying ahead of the curve."
On Tuesday, the Conference Board of Canada released a report that said Saskatchewan will likely continue to lead the nation in economic growth in 2009 because of the infrastructure investment and tax reductions.
The province has also been reaping the benefits of an influx from nearby Alberta. When the government in Alberta decided to raise the oil royalty rates, oil exploration and expedition companies decided to move their operations to Saskatchewan in hopes of making more money.
With the province's growing opportunities, David Montgomery, president of Calgary's Qwest Haven Relocation Services, said he is moving more people to Saskatchewan each day.
"Alberta has always been the gravy train of oil," said Montgomery, who is also a former resident of Regina, the capitol and second-largest city in Saskatchewan. "But with the new royalties, oil companies are saying 'Why stay here and make less when the opportunities right next door are even better?' Many other companies may start to follow suit."
Montgomery said people looking to move have said that cheaper land and insurance prices are among the other reasons they are headed to Saskatchewan.
"There, government insurance is cheaper than anywhere else in the country and it comes with your license plates," he said. "With the amount of jobs, cheaper opportunities and great way of life, the government there has made it very attractive to move there."
That means more business for Wall's province and more jobs coming to the area.
Not that there's a shortage of jobs. On Tuesday night there were nearly 6,000 private- and public-sector jobs on the Web site Saskjobs.ca.
A constant stream of revenue from oil production and exports also buoys the economy in the province.
Saskatchewan falls just behind Alberta, as the largest oil exporter in Canada, and Wall's province sends more oil to the United States than Kuwait. Wall said the province is the leader in uranium production and produces a third of the world's potash.
The province continues to keep ahead of the curve, Wall said, finding ways to diversify its resources and embark on ambitious green projects and new oil projects. The province is working with Montana on a $212 million climate change initiative that would create the first major greenhouse gas storage project in North America. The carbon dioxide from coal-fueled power plants would be stored in the ground in Montana and later be withdrawn for use in oil production.
Wall also said what may be the largest discovery of sweet, light crude oil in the southeast part of the province means it could have even more oil to work with. The Bakken Formation could potentially have 413 billion barrels of oil, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That would be another huge untapped revenue gold mine.
Despite the growth of nearly all sectors across the board, Wall cautioned that it is possible his province may see economic stress, just later in the game than other places.
"We need to be circumspect and prudent about promoting our province," he said. "We are not immune; we do see the impacts. It isn't some sort of panacea or answer to economic questions that don't exist elsewhere. We are a bit of an asterisk that says there is some stress, but it's relatively calm here."
Wall encouraged people not to count out a move to the province based on stereotypes that it is "only winter here," and "all of the land is just rolling hills."
"'It's a beautiful, big place where life is great and right now there's also opportunity," he said. "I'm very, very biased, but I can't imagine a place I'd rather be, especially with what's going on economically around the world."
CNN takes notice of Saskatchewan's hot economy
Saskatchewan News Network
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
CREDIT: cnn.com cnnpagegrab.jpg Saskatchewan's renewed popularity may be old news in Canada, but in the United States, word about the province's economic boom is causing a stir.
An article written by a CNN.com journalist about the number of jobs available in Saskatchewan became the most viewed and second-most emailed story on the media giant's website Wednesday. By 5 p.m. local time, the story had accrued 926,403 page views, according to internal CNN data. The website, which averaged 36.4 million unique visitors per month in 2008, attracted readers to the article with headlines including "Frigid Saskatchewan a jobs ‘hot spot,'" and "Thousands of jobs open if you don't mind moose."
The story's author, Mallory Simon, thinks the article on Saskatchewan's economic success is so popular because it's full of a rare commodity: Good news.
"We've been doing a lot of stories on the economy and a lot about people losing their jobs and it seems like there's bad news every day, so we were really trying to find if there was anywhere that there was good news," Simon said in a telephone interview from CNN's headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.
"A lot of people are looking for hope right now, they're looking for places that have this glimmer of hope, and it seemed like this was really a great opportunity to showcase a story where the government was doing as much as they could to put money into the economy."
Simon quoted Premier Brad Wall boasting about the local economy as well as the president of a Calgary, Alta.-based moving company who told her more and more people are moving to Saskatchewan every day. The story also references a Conference Board of Canada report released Tuesday that forecasts the province to lead the nation in GDP growth in 2009 as well as the number of jobs currently posted on Saskjobs.ca - more than 5,700.
Saskatchewan's resource sector was also featured in the article, with Simon mentioning the province's oil, gas, uranium and potash reserves.
"Saskatchewan is the largest producer of oil in Canada and exports more oil to the United States than Kuwait. It is the leader in uranium production and produces a third of the world's potash," she wrote.
According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources, the province is the second-largest oil producer in Canada behind Alberta.
Advanced Education, Employment and Labour Minister Rob Norris could barely contain himself over the CNN story, describing Wall variously as "one of the top ambassadors in Canada," "a champion" and "the best premier going."
"Saskatchewan's message is obviously spreading right across the country and right around the world. It's a message of optimism. We know we're not immune from what's going around us but at the same time on a relative scale we're as well-positioned as any jurisdiction to continue our growth," he said.
Meanwhile, Kent Smith-Windsor, executive director of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, said "it's very cool," to be on CNN.com. The chamber is comfortable with the attention the province, and its largest city, is getting from the online report.
"We genuinely have hope in a way (that) too little of the developed world has right now, and that makes it extraordinarily newsworthy," Smith-Windsor said.
Simon believes the article shows that despite the recession, there are still places where the economic mood remains upbeat.
If you get one person who doesn't have a job that considers it, if one more person decides that they want to move there that's great," she said. "If we can give people the option to just look, whether they find something or not, that's what we're trying to do."
100 Cans by Andy Warhol
Power lines between centre campus and north side.
