Skip to content

Opinion: Bill Walton, To Halifax and Back

Like the HMCS Sackville, we may need a refit.
20181013 sackville walton

My sister and I had the honour of travelling to Halifax over the Thanksgiving weekend to attend the wedding of our favourite niece. Actually, she is the only niece in our generation of Waltons, so we have all doted on her since her childhood. No bias here, but she was a beautiful bride and the groom was not too shabby either. The setting was on the Bedford Basin with photo shoots up on the Citadel in the middle of Halifax. The bride, groom, and many of the friends in attendance have military connections and they were a wonderful example of the men and women in our Forces. We are in good hands.

Halifax must be a tourist`s delight – there is simply too much to do and see for a quick visit. Why, we didn`t even have time to stop at the Alexander Keith brewery where you can sample their wares. The history of the city is all there at the museum including the story of the great Halifax explosion. Of course, there is the ocean splashing up against the rocky shores presenting endless photo opportunities. Peggy`s Cove is just down the road. The HMCS Sackville, shown above from a previous visit, is usually docked at the waterfront as a museum but she in for refit. Did I mention that the groom is a sailor and has his own ship? Well, it’s ours not really his.

Anyway, the folk in Halifax are great hosts. As were the people we met in Quebec and New Brunswick. The fall colours along the St Lawrence River and in the north of New Brunswick were fabulous. We loved seeing the large fields that promise us plenty of potatoes and corn if times get tough. There were lots of cows and one could understand how the Quebec dairy industry is uneasy about the USMCA.

We had many laughs at the reactions to Rosa on the top of our SUV. (I have a mallard decoy on the roof to make our vehicle easier to find in parking lots. Don’t ask).  One quite elderly chap in New Brunswick who had little or no English kept repeating ‘canard sur le auto’ until I laughed and he realized Rosa was a joke not a live duck. Sis and I had brushed up on our high school French but everyone we met quickly spotted our accent and addressed us in English. The international stick figure signs on the washrooms doors helped.

In just a few days we got to appreciate what a great country this is. Not only is it beautiful in its nature but the people are pretty doggone nice too. There were no signs of political unrest even though both New Brunswick and Quebec had seen some topsy-turvy changes in government recently. It was interesting to hear former Prime Minister Chretien espouse on this ‘change’ phenomena: It is just democracy in action, he said. Things have never been better in Quebec and yet the people wanted change. C’est la vie.

Here in North Bay, we are just a microcosm of our country. Sure we just have the old Chief Commanda grounded at the waterfront, not a Sackville. The old fort at the mouth of the creek where Champlain and Brulé may have slept hardly compares to the Citadel in Halifax. Our little breweries may produce as good an ale as Alexander Keith but have yet to make it on the world markets. We don’t have container ships unloading goods and trains hauling long loads of steel boxes across the country, but we do have trucks, roads, and an airport. Our downtown is not as vibrant as Halifax is, but that may be just a matter of the volume of shoppers. We both have downtown parking issues.

Being that microcosm, I will not be surprised if we see that ‘change’ in our municipal government next week that seems to be sweeping the world. Things may have been ‘good’ but we want ‘better’ or at least the effort to be ‘better’. Perhaps our politics have fallen into the doldrums, to keep with the sailing theme, and we need a fresh wind in our sails. Like the HMCS Sackville, we need a refit. Just saying.





Bill Walton

About the Author: Bill Walton

Retired from City of North Bay in 2000. Writer, poet, columnist
Read more
Reader Feedback