Hace unos días atrás me ocupé de buscar weblogs de canadienses de la zona de Gatineau y aledaños. El motivo era preguntarles a ellos que opinaban de su ciudad…. Les transcribo aquí una muy linda y buen arespeusta de un tal Brent que se tomo el tiempo y la dedicación de escribir un mail muy interesante. Si bien hay muchos datos que uno ya conoce me pareció que valía la pena transcribirlo. Va exactamente igual a como me llegó vía “copy & paste”. Enjoy…
Hello Guillermo,
I apologize for not getting back to you any sooner. Things have been quite hectic and busy for me lately. So anyways, you want to know more about Gatineau eh? Well, where do I begin…
Gatineau is basically a city within the National Capital Region of Canada. It is directly beside Canada’s Capital City of Ottawa. Canada has ten provinces, the two largest of which are Ontario and Quebec. Ottawa is in Ontario and Gatineau is in Quebec. Each is a provincial border city beside one another and is separated by the Ottawa River. While Ottawa has a metropolitan population of about 1 million people, Gatineau is much smaller with a population of only about 200,000 people. The entire area of Ottawa-Gatineau is what forms the unofficial state of Canada’s National Capital.
Gatineau is actually a merger of 5 distinct former cities known as Gatineau, Hull, Aylmer, Buckingham and Masson-Angers. Each of these five were recently amalgamated into one larger municipality now known officially as “Gatineau”. This new city of Gatineau is the second largest city in the province of Quebec — the first largest being the City of Montreal, which is also made up of many former municipalities. Quebec is actually Canada’s largest province geographically but is only the second largest with population behind Ontario. Just to give you an idea of the sheer size of Quebec, if it were a country, it would classify as the world’s tenth largest. In fact, the largest state in the U.S. is Texas and it would fit two times in the province of Quebec. With the exception of Ottawa, the next nearest city to Gatineau is Montreal at about 200km away. The capital city of the province of Quebec is “Quebec City” which is found further northeast of Montreal. In Gatineau, we are about a two hour drive from Montreal, 5 hours from Toronto, 90 minutes from New York State (US), 10 hours from New York City, 30 hours from the State of Florida (US).
Like Ottawa, Gatineau is made up of a very diverse community of peoples consisting of French, English, Portuguese (my wife is Portuguese), Italian, Asian, African, Spanish and Eastern European backgrounds. The two largest of which are French and English, yet there is a sizable representation of the other ethnic cultures – with their own clubs, churches, community groups, festivals, restaurants, stores, television programming, newspapers, literature, etc. French is by far the predominant existence in Gatineau and Quebec with a very small minority of English. Ottawa, our neighboring city, on the other hand is the reverse. Within Gatineau itself, the largest concentration of English is found in the old municipality of Aylmer where it is about 50%. This is where I am from. Services in this area are offered in both languages anywhere you go. Elsewhere in Quebec however, it is not easy to find English services, with the exception of downtown Montreal. Linguistically and politically, Quebec is very protective of its French language and heritage. It is for this reason, that it tends to discriminate against other languages and cultures. For example, one of Quebec’s controversial laws prohibits any business owner from displaying his own language on any signs outside or inside of his store. Another example is the education system, where it is not permitted for anyone to be educated in any other language than French. There is English education in Quebec, but it is only accessible to those who had parents educated in English in Quebec.
Something to keep in mind is that for the last 40 years Quebec has been trying to separate from Canada. There is large minority of people in this province that have been trying to obtain “Nationhood” or political independence from Canada through the democratic process. It is a non-violent effort but their persistence is very strong and they have come close to succeeding in this goal a couple of times. It is basically rooted in the old fight between the English and the French. Fortunately, a smaller majority of Quebecers still prefer to remain in Canada. Unfortunately however, the “separatists” gain more support year after year and I suspect that they will probably win their fight eventually. If this ever happens, it is my strong belief that non-francophones will be considered outcasts and will be forced to move to other provinces or submit to complete French emersion.
Quebec’s “cost of living” is much lower than anywhere else in Canada but its income tax level is among the highest in the country. Health care in Quebec is probably the most inferior to any other province in this country but when compared to other countries it is obviously much more superior. Quebec is among some of the most advanced nations on earth with regard such things as technology, amenities, transportation, health, education, television, radio, media, internet, housing, food, insurance, welfare, shopping, infrastructure, construction, energy, resources, theatre, cinema, arts etc. Housing (both to purchase or to rent) is very affordable in the Gatineau area.
As far as Gatineau goes, I very much enjoy living here. Everything you could ever want or need is close at hand and very accessible. It has all the amenities of a larger city like Montreal but because it is much smaller it feels much more comfortable. The crime rate here is also very low. This is a great place to raise a family. There is an unbelievable amount of activities here for people to enjoy. You name it, we have it! This area has four very distinct seasons…
Spring is typically April and May and very beautiful with temperatures ranging from about 0 Celsius to 20 Celsius. It will rain about every 5 to 7 days. There are unlimited activities outside for children to enjoy. Again, like I said — you name it and we probably have it. Gatineau is nestled at the foot of a very old mountain range called “The Gatineau Hills” These mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountain Range and in fact, one of Canada’s protected conservation areas is called “Gatineau Park” and the entrance to it is right in the middle of the city. It stretches for many kilometers and is abundant in wildlife, scenery, forests, rivers, lakes, etc.
Summer runs from about June to mid September and is usually quite hot and humid with temperatures ranging anywhere from 20 degrees Celsius to 30 Celsius. Some days even get close to 40 degrees. It doesn’t rain much during this period, but in late August to early September we do get a lot of violent storms, but nothing major. This is the season of festivals. There are a large number of outdoor events that take place at this time – all of which are very family oriented. We have a number of beaches in the area as well for people to go swimming. Unlike other larger areas, the air and water quality in Gatineau/Ottawa is very clean and very healthy.
Fall (Autumn) lasts for about two months – mid September to mid November. Temperatures run from about minus -5 degrees Celsius to around plus +20 degrees. Eventhough this is our rainiest season, it is probably our most comfortable and most beautiful time of year. The heavily forested area surrounding Gatineau and Ottawa bursts into an unbelievable spectacle of color and fall scenery. Most of the trees in this area loose their leaves just before winter but prior to that they undergo a magical change in color from green – to reds, oranges, purples and yellows. This period of only about 3 weeks is popularly known as the “Fall Symphony of Colors” and I have to tell you is absolutely breathtaking — even for me who has lived here for many years! The Gatineau area boasts the most spectacular imagery of this scenery than anywhere else in the world. It is a sight to behold!
Winter lasts from about mid November to the end of March. It is our longest and coldest season. Temperatures range from about 0 degrees Celsius to minus -30 Celsius. Some nights it even gets as cold as minus -45 to -50 degrees — but this is quite rare. This is the season of snow!!! And for young children it is most likely the most “fun” season of all! Much to do outside in winter… Hockey (of course – we’re Canadian eh), snowshoeing, skiiing,(downhill and cross-country), skating, ice-fishing, snowmobiling, sleigh rides, sliding/tobogganing/sledding, making snowmen, throwing snowballs,making snow forts, making snow angels, snow sculpturing, ice-sculpturing. Winter activities are limited only by one’s own imagination. This is the most magical time of year for kids. Don’t forget, Canada is where Santa Claus lives afterall. In fact, the Christmas season is very big here. People begin to rev up to it in late October! There is nothing more beautiful than a blanket of freshly fallen snow on a Christmas morning. The largest winter festival in the world is held each February right here in the Ottawa/Gatineau area – called “Winterlude” It attracts millions of visitors each year from all over the world.
While winter in this area has its fun, it also unfortunately has its perils. It takes a lot of conviction, strength and stamina to cope during one of our winters. One interesting little fact I’ve recently discovered (according to UN statistics) is that the Ottawa/Gatineau region is considered to be the second coldest capital city in the world. We sometimes experience severe blizzards which can make driving very dangerous. Even the most subtle of snowfalls causes the roads to be quite hazardous for driving or walking. It does get extremely cold here at times and so for the very young or very old it can be quite troubling. You may be interested in knowing that there is an interesting weather phenomenon here known as the “wind-chill effect”. This is basically what the effect the wind has on the actual “mean” temperature. For example, if we have a temperature of only minus -5 degrees Celsius and if there is a pretty substantial wind blowing at the same time then, the temperature may actually “feel” like minus -20 degrees eventhough it is still only really minus -5 degrees. Heating costs in the winter are extremely expensive. Some days the cold is so severe that you cannot remain out of doors for any longer than a few minutes without seriously harming your health. For those who have not ever been acclimatized to winter in Canada, especially those from warm climates, it can be quite a shock to their systems when they first come to live here. It takes a lot of getting used to and you have to be strong to survive it. Some of the snow storms we get here can be so frightening that you would think it is the end of the world. In fact there are days when the weather changes so drastically that the temperature can go from minus -20 degrees to plus +20 degrees in just a few days or even hours or vise/versa. It’s during times like this that you wonder “what-the-hell am I doing here”. But for the most part though, winter here is quite copable. You just have to get used to it. I have many friends and co-workers who originate from all over the world and every one of them have gotten used to it and would now tell you that they love it here in the winter. One major advantage we have here because of our winter is the fact that disease and epidemics don’t exist here due to the cold. Viral diseases that spread here from other nations are basically killed off during our winter months. So, our population is relatively quite healthy comparative to other countries.
I’ve included some helpful links in this e-mail for you to check out if you’d like to learn more about this area…
-Map of the area http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&searchtype=address&country=CA&addtohistory=&address=&city=gatineau&state=qc&zipcode=
-Some photos of the area http://www.foundlocally.com/Ottawa/Images/default.asp?Page=15&Search=
-A winter scene from my patio taken in November overlooking the old village of Aylmer on the banks of the Ottawa River. http://photos1.blogger.com/img/64/3224/640/IMG_01592.jpg
-Some more winter scenes from around where I live…
-Gatineau’s web site http://www.ville.gatineau.qc.ca/gatineau/english/index.htm
-Gatineau Park http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/gatineau/index_e.asp
-Gatineau history http://collections.ic.gc.ca/gatineau/
-Quebec’s official site http://www.gouv.qc.ca/wps/portal/pgs?lang=en
-Quebec visitor info http://www.bonjourquebec.com/anglais/
-Ottawa’s web site http://www.ottawa.ca/index_en.html
-Ottawa links http://www.synapse.net/radio/ottawa.htm
-Other Ottawa stuff http://www.ottawakiosk.com/
-Ottawa traffic cams http://webcam.city.ottawa.on.ca/trafficvideo/list_en.htm Unfortunately I don’t have any of Gatineau but Ottawa is right beside us anyways.
Well, that’s pretty much it for now. I can’t think of anything else to add at the moment. If there is something more specific I can help you out with, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. As well, feel free to look me up when and if you decide to move to this area. I’d be happy to show you around – help you get settled and offer a personal tour of the area. By the way, I checked out your Blog but since it is in Spanish (I believe) I cannot understand it, so, would you mind telling me a little about yourself. Thank-you.
Brent
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{ 1 comment }
impresionante, muy buena descripción!
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