Ontario. 2nd ed.

Description

299 pages
Contains Illustrations, Maps, Index
$24.95
ISBN 2-89464-011-0
DDC 917.28704'53

Year

1996

Contributor

Reviewed by Janet Arnett

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

 

Review

This guide will be somewhat useful as an orientation work for visitors
from outside Ontario, because it gives an overview of the province and
mentions many major attractions.

For most uses, however, it is too abbreviated and contorted to be
helpful. For example, residents of Midland and Parry Sound will be
shocked to learn that they live in southwestern Ontario. East and west
are relative, of course, so this novel version of Ontario’s geography
can be forgiven. Not so the absence of some provincial parks (Awenda,
Bass Lake, Craigleith, for example) and major tourist attractions (such
as Ste. Marie Among the Hurons and Discovery Harbour).

Following introductory remarks on its history, politics, climate,
currency, time zones, etc., the province is presented as a series of
tours, which makes it difficult to find information if you do not know
what tour it might be part of. The tours, activities, accommodations,
restaurants, and entertainment are each listed separately, so assembling
the information for a given town or area means constant doubling back
through the text.

Much of the reporting is superficial and brief to the point of being
pointless. The exceptions are Toronto and Ottawa, for which the coverage
is quite generous and detailed, if uninspired.

Citation

Couture, Pascale., “Ontario. 2nd ed.,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed October 13, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/3599.