The native Mi’kmaq people used the isthmus as a transit point between the Atlantic Ocean and Bras d’Or Lake (they obviously didn’t call it that thousands of years ago) as it was only a kilometre long. Their lightweight canoes could easily be carried on their shoulders and brought from the Read more…
The University of Moncton serves the francophone Acadian community in New Brunswick. It was the first and still is the largest francophone university in Atlantic Canada. As such, it is the birthplace of the reawakening of Acadian nationalism in the 1960s and is the world’s premier repository of Acadian records. Read more…
When I planned my trip to Atlantic Canada, I didn’t think I was going to end up in Nova Scotia, I only planned as far as New Brunswick because Nova Scotia wasn’t fully open for discretionary travel yet. A couple of days before my departure date, Nova Scotia finally opened Read more…
Lunenburg is one of the oldest cities in Canada and was home to the schooner Bluenose, featured on some Canadian coinage. It is also one of only two UNESCO communities on the continent, the other one being Quebec City. It is the best conserved British-style colonial settlement on the continent Read more…
Louisbourg is a fishing village surrounded by the fortress’ National Historic Park on both sides of the bay. On one side is a lighthouse built near the site of the country’s first lighthouse in 1730. On the other side is the mighty fortress and its partially rebuilt village. I visited Read more…
Shediac is only 30 minutes east of Moncton. It’s the self-claimed “lobster capital of the world.” It has the warmest waters north of the US on the east coast of North America, but I didn’t go during lobster season so I didn’t get to eat any fresh lobster there. It’s Read more…
Nova Scotia’s capital and the largest city in Atlantic Canada has been a military city since the capitulation of the French in Quebec. It suffered what was the world’s largest explosion during the First World War and was a vital transit point for ships supplying Europe during the 1940s. It Read more…
Airlines are a tough business to run, most new entrants to the market are low-cost carriers battling for legroom in the market against decades-old established players. Porter, founded in 2006, has managed to find a full-service niche serving business travellers who care more about convenience than price out of Toronto’s Read more…
Fredericton is New Brunswick’s provincial capital. Its Victorian Legislative Building served as the seat of government since 1882. Its southeast corner is Secretary and King streets, quite an intersection of high and low roles. The Georgian building on the other side of the city is the old Government House that Read more…
Forts Gaspereaux, Lawrence, and Beauséjour are all part of a defensive system on the border of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. But in the eighteenth century, it was the British against the French and the French had no desire of sharing this New World with the Brits. Beaubassin wasn’t just Read more…