CHRISTMAS IN CANADA

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33083, 25 November 1972, Page 6

CHRISTMAS IN CANADA

A white Christmas is eagerly awaited in Canada, and most Canadians found it difficult to comprehend a Christmas day in the sun, Mrs A. H. Seager said at a meeting of the Canterbury Travel Club yesterday morning.

For the 16 years Mrs Seager, the former Miss Madeleine Pyne, of Christchurch, lived in Toronto she found Christmas a very exciting, festive time. It was a time of fellowship. Unlike New' Zealand there were no end-of-year worries, such as examinations and preparations for holidays, so everyone relaxed and enjoyed the festive season.

Of Canada’s 20,000,000 population, 40 per cent are of British descent. Thirty per cent are the French-speaking descendants of the original French colonialists; most of these lived in Quebec province, but also in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba. The third largest ethnic group is of German descent, and live mainly in Ontario. Eskimos and North American Indians make up only 12 percent of the population. However, there were now people of almost every nationality living in Canada, Mrs Seager said. During her time in Toronto it had changed from what was laughingly referred to as a W.A.S.P. city (White, AngloSaxon, Protestant) to a very cosmopolitan place. This ethnic variation was

reflected in the Christmas celebrations.

Many national restaurants had been established in Toronto. “One street has eight different ethnic restaurants, and at Christmas time they serve their special menus and decorate the place with works of art they have brought to Canada,” she said. Because darkness fell early—from about 4.30 p.m. —lights were a feature of the very lavish Christmas decorations. Everyone from the poorest to the most affluent had a Christmas tree covered in lights. In some stores they would be as high as 30 or 40 feet.

Many residents lit the evergreen trees in their gardens, and even put up Santa Claus and his reindeer on the roofs of their houses. Every year there was a Christmas lights tour of the city and many people put their Christmas trees in front of a window so that they were visible from the street. People would spend much time just watching the moving displays in store windows which Mrs Seager considers are works of art. Store staff wore cheerful Christmas corsages, and Christmas carols were piped over the subway sound system, she said. “Much as I enjoy carols I’d had them by Christmas time.” One of the city’s big stores held a Christmas Santa Claus parade which heralded the arrival of Christmas for the children, she said. An eagerly-awaited event, the enormous parade with bands and wonderfully elaborate floats was a year in preparation;