The Prairies

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

The Discover Canada series bills itself as “a chance for armchair
travellers in Canada and around the world to explore the diverse
geography and people of this country.” Each book features 70
full-color photographs by some of Canada’s top photographers.

The images are stunning. There are stock photos of Canada as a land of
shining seas, towering mountains, pristine forests, endless wheatfields,
and exciting city skylines. Striking action photos depict bucking
broncos, swirling ice skaters, graceful yachts straining under full
sail, and happy consumers enjoying a downtown mall crawl.

The captions leave a little more to be desired. Some are inaccurate.
For example, the one on page 56 of the Toronto volume informs readers
that much of Fort York “was destroyed by French forces in the War of
1812.” Actually, it was the Americans who committed that act of urban
vandalism. Other captions are somewhat bewildering, such as one in the
Ottawa volume that states “Many of Ottawa’s landmarks line Sussex
Drive: the National Gallery, Notre Dame Basilica, the Royal Canadian
Mint and the prime minister’s residence.” Unfortunately, none of
these landmarks appear in the photo.

Finally, armchair explorers might wonder at the near-exclusion of
Quebec from this series. While Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta
all have their own books, the largest province in Canada receives only
10 pages in the general Canada volume. Even Montreal, Canada’s senior
great city, receives only three pages, while Toronto and Vancouver both
rate their own books. Let us hope that this omission is rectified before
the next Quebec referendum.