Canadian Crossing

Prince Charles, Camilla to spend Victoria Day in Canada

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will be in three Canadian provinces in a 4-day trip, around Victoria Day weekend. The royal couple are in Canada as part of the Diamond Julibee celebration, marking 60 years on the throne for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The festivities begin in Saint John, New Brunswick, where they will visit a Canadian base. In Toronto, the couple will view Victoria Day fireworks. Prince Charles will present Diamond Jubilee medals. The visit will wrap up in Regina, Saskatchewan, where Charles and Camilla will meet up with Prime Minister Stephen Harper (just back from G8 and NATO) and Governor General David Johnston.

The low-key highlights prove a stark contrast to the more exciting itinerary for Will and Kate during their trip to Canada last summer.

For Charles, this is his 16th trip to the Great White North. He brought Camilla for her Canadian debut in 2009.

Previous coverage:
Prince William and Kate arrive in Canada tomorrow
Royal couple protesters in Quebec stem from long-standing English-French battle

U.S. embassy issues Montreal travel warning due to student protests

The U.S. government has issued a warning to Montréal tourists about the student protests that have now gone on for more than 2 months. American tourists are advised about possible "unforeseen violence," "vandalism," and "arrests."

This story in itself is worthy of CanadianCrossing.com, but there is an added wrinkle. I am headed soon to Montréal on vacation.

I booked the trip before the protests started, and once the Canadiens didn't make the playoffs, I thought protests would be a non-issue.

Interestingly, the warning came out before the smoke bombs last week in the Metro.

One doesn't usually book a vacation in the hopes of seeing protests, unless one is protesting. This doesn't fall into a tourist must-see when traveling. Plenty of visitors are coming to Chicago this week for NATO and what would have been G8.

The good news is that these protests aren't directed at tourists, and we haven't seen stories of tourists being affected by the protests so far.

My advice, which I will literally take to heart, is this:

-- Know a second way to get where you are going. If you are going by train, know how to get around by bus.
-- Be patient and flexible. If you are staying for awhile, adjust your itinerary whenever possible if protests might interfere.
-- If you aren't going to be where the protests are (near the universities and downtown), take advantage of those opportunities.
-- Ask your concierge or hosts if they know more about where the protests might be.
-- Look like a local person. Wear a hat from a local sports team (Habs? Expos?). Okay, you might seem like a tourist wearing a local hat. So be ready to know something about the team or sport you are wearing.

Montréal also has to be concerned about visitors to the upcoming Grand Prix weekend of June 8-10, and summer festivals, especially comedy and jazz.

Should you not go to Montréal during this uncertain time? Well, I'm going. I will be smart about where I am going and keep my eyes and ears open. If nothing else, vacations are full of things and moments you can't see at home, and protests fit into that category.

Traveling is full of surprises: good and bad. Be flexible and enjoy what you can. Montréal has a lot to offer — even with a protest or two.

photo credit

'iCarly' hits Canada in search of Canadian Fat Cakes

No matter what you've heard on "iCarly," you can bring processed baked goods from Canada into the United States.

Then again, even if you are a part of the "iCarly" demographic, hopefully you know that the Canadian Fat Cakes episode was just a spoof.

The popular Nickelodeon TV show took Fat Cakes, one of their running jokes, and adapted an episode where Sam, who is obsessed about Fat Cakes and has never had a Canadian fat cake, gets a chance to tour a plant in Canada where they make Canadian fat cakes. Fat cakes in Canada taste better because they are made with "cane fat" while American Fat Cakes are made with "corn fat."

Processed baked goods are well within the rules of what you can bring back from Canada into the United States. Trust me, I've brought back Canadian versions of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Cup Cakes. The customs officers think they're more funny than dangerous.

Since the show mentions Seattle, the inference is that the cast went to Vancouver or somewhere nearby in southwestern Britian Columbia.

Besides the actual ability to bring back processed baked goods, one other glaring misstep in the script was that Sam didn't have her passport when she tries to go back across the border to the United States. Sam would have needed a passport to get into Canada. She seems surprised about this when she gets to the border. Especially since this was a day trip, Sam would have had this issue come up earlier in the day.

For more from the food perspective, check out this edition of "Temptation of the Week" from our sister blog, BalanceofFood.com.

photo credit: iCarly

ESPN rediscovers MLB in Toronto

"You always hope to have one Blue Jays game a year."

In Chris Berman's "Ode to Codeine," he notes that you should take advantage if you draw a Blue Jays assignment. Well, ESPN rarely makes the trip up north, much less show the Toronto Blue Jays these days. Monday night proved to be an exception, and the U.S. cable sports channel's trip to Toronto had nothing to do with the Blue Jays, Toronto, or codeine.

ESPN wanted a chance to showcase long-time Japanese hurler Yu Darvish, and this was its best shot so far. While the focus and coverage was on Darvish, Canada and Toronto were not ignored.

In the graphic for the Blue Jays fielding alignment, defense was spelled with a c — defence — and play-by-play guy Sean McDonough pointed that out. McDonough, along with Aaron Boone and Rick Sutcliffe, also teased on-field reporter Tim Kurkjian for almost not getting into Canada because of an expired passport. McDonough made a joke on how U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helped Kurkjian with his passport.

Kurkjian, in his first report, said "Darvish has fit in beautifully here in the United States" though McDonough later made the distinction between the U.S. and Canada in a similar context.

The Blue Jays didn't impress in the U.S. national appearance. A rally without a hit in the second inning ended without a run. The only Toronto run came on a solo home run by Edwin Encarnacion in the fourth inning. Encarnacion is one of the few Jays sluggers hitting the ball well, hitting a home run in each of the last four games.

The game drew a relatively quiet crowd of 21,945 fans. Walkup wasn't much of a factor; while the roof was closed, the weather outside was rainy. The announcers thought there would be more fans because of Darvish. Boone pointed out the number of people of Japanese descent in Toronto, but the extra crowd for Jeremy Lin (Chinese descent, NBA) proved to be more of an impact at Air Canada Centre.

The announcers also had fun showing Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play guy Dan Shulman in the Rogers Centre crowd with his sons. Shulman is Canadian and from Toronto; you had to think he knew he might be on camera at some point. Sutcliffe mentioned that he had never met Shulman's sons before. Well, this is because ESPN rarely gets to Toronto.

Then again, ESPN ranked Toronto as the worst city for professional sports teams in North America last summer. The poll was based on fans voting online, so science certainly wasn't a factor. The playoff futility of the Blue Jays and Maple Leafs plus the overall futility of the Raptors played a lot into that take. They didn't take into account the CFL Argonauts or the score might have been lower.

McDonough referred to the long-suffering Toronto sports fans as having "not a lot to cheer about in this beautiful city." He pointed out the woes of the Blue Jays, Raptors, and Maple Leafs, and even the Argonauts though McDonough doesn't follow the CFL.

Toronto's past glory came up as well. McDonough relived his CBS-TV call of Joe Carter's World Series winning home run. They also paid tribute to the late Tom Cheek's call of Carter's home run.

Referring to 1994, Mc Donough noted that "the work stoppage that followed really killed baseball in Montreal and Toronto."

The city of Toronto was on great display in the bumpers coming out of the break. One particularly beautiful shot had the skyline of downtown Toronto lit up looking west as McDonough said, "one of the great cities in the world, Toronto, Ontario."

ESPN portrays itself as the Worldwide Leader. Canada is part of that world, especially when Toronto has teams in sports that the network cares about (MLB, NBA). Since ESPN doesn't carry hockey, the NHL gets very little coverage on the Worldwide Leader. At least ESPN made it up to Rogers Centre; Fox will show every MLB team this year except for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays get another U.S. national appearance as the matinee series conclusion airs this afternoon on the MLB Network at 12:30 pm Eastern. The U.S. cable channel will take a local feed for the coverage.

'Monsieur Lazhar,' 'Keyhole': Canadian films hitting American cities

Whetting an appetite for an Oscar-nominated foreign language film is only helpful if you get a chance to see the movie. "Monsieur Lazhar" has been making its way through the United States this month. True, the itinerary is major U.S. cities, but the fact that this tour includes quite a few American cities is a better sign that eventually you would be able to see it.

For those who may not recall the film, the story is of a man of Algerian descent who comes into a Quebec classroom after the previous teacher has committed suicide.

Previous:

'Monsieur Lazhar' makes up for Oscar loss with 6 Genies

'Monsieur Lazhar' and Christopher Plummer get Oscar nominations

This fall's Canadian film crop: will they come to the United States?

A more obscure film that I spotlighted last fall was the latest from Guy Madden entitled "Keyhole." The film is coming to Chicago next week, but I'm not sure of where else the film might play.

If you've never seen a Guy Madden film, the experience isn't easy to follow. But you will be entertained.

Finally, an even more unusual film came through a couple of weeks back as part of a festival devoted to music in films. "Roller Town" is set in the late 1970s and follows the cliche pattern of trying to save a roller disco from the forces that hate things that young people like. The plot sounds slightly better than "Xanadu" from that same era, but the people who created this throw in some pretty funny jokes. Hokey, true, but if you are going to see a film of this genre, this is the film to see.

If nothing else, you get to see cool shots of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Want to help make poutine Canada's national dish?

Okay, so this is more about Wendy's trying to get publicity for putting poutine on its menu, but the idea of signing a petition to make poutine Canada's national dish was too good to pass up.

McDonald's has served poutine in its locations in Quebec for some time. I've seen it in a Burger King, but I haven't ordered it in either well-known fast food chain. If Wendy's uses its skin-on fries, this might be the one fast food poutine I would try.

Chances are that if you are in Canada, you might be more willing to try a local poutine place than a national place. But if you're traveling, and a Wendy's is at the roadside, you might see if the fuss is worthwhile.

The "Poutition" is designed to be presented to Parliament on July 1 (Canada Day). Canadians will be able to see and hear ads for this cause.

I have hosted a talk on Canadian food, and while poutine came up in conversation, Canadian food is way more than just poutine. Still, Canada doesn't really have a national dish, and outside Quebec, poutine is more novel than anything else. If nothing else, poutine is becoming more popular in the United States.

Then again, what is the United States' national dish. Mac & cheese? Hot dogs?

What do you think about poutine as Canada's national dish? Is there a better option? Let us know in the comments section below or clue us in on the Canadian Crossing Twitter feed.

photo credit: Wendy's

'Colbert Report' riffs on Canadian currency

Iceland isn't going to switch to the Canadian loonie as its currency, but that didn't stop Stephen Colbert from going off on the idea on the "Colbert Report."

This time, Canadians are "poutine-sucking, health care addicted, nemesis to the North." Colbert notes that Canada is just jealous as they need their own version of Canadian bacon, Canadian beer, and Canadian baseball (hockey; go figure).

Colbert also talked about the new Canadian quarter with a dinosaur skeleton that glows in the dark. The creature is based on the first dinosaur fossil found in the Peace Country in northwestern Alberta.

He imagines himself as a child hoping to get his friends, Chip and Scott, and get their moms to drive them to Ontario this summer to get the quarters.

Colbert worries about losing the youth of the United States to the "scourge of Canadian politeness and fiscal sanity." Not too bad stereotypes, if you have to have stereotypes.

Colbert ties the dinosaur theme, noting that Canadians should keep their dinosaurs "liquified in your tar sands and pumped directly into our gas tanks."

The "Colbert Report" airs Monday-Thursday on the Comedy Channel and CTV in Canada and Comedy Central in the United States.

2012 Stanley Cup notebook: NBC announcers miss joy of being in Ottawa

Never thought I would say it, but I miss the bad ol' days of Versus. I miss the days when they would be afraid to come onto Canadian soil, especially in a city that wasn't one of the big 3 (Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver).

The Scotiabank Place crowd was excited and energetic, but the NBC Sports Network (on CNBC) went out of its way to show off as little colo(u)r and magic of the capital city along the Rideau Canal.

I teased on Twitter that CNBC might be afraid to air O Canada in English and French. For whatever reason, the anthems were blown off. What happened to covering the rich pageantry of the hockey experience?

At one point, John Forslund referred to an "electric atmosphere," but that was about it. The chants, the excitement of having a home playoff game for the first time in two years. Everyone could sense that except for Forslund and Brian Hayward.

Early in the game, Hayward was actually whining that the refs were calling a close game; this was code for the Rangers getting a penalty. The refs ignored so many infractions against the Rangers that I almost lost my voice screaming at the TV set. Hayward never adjusted his "calling it close" theory.

The announcers were also more concerned about New York's loss of Carl Hagelin. They barely mentioned Daniel Alfredsson's absence from the ice, the reason why Hagelin was serving the first game of a 3-game suspension.

In the third period, the video feed became psychedelic with strange colors, so CNBC had to switch to a CBC video feed. Sadly, the voices of the CNBC announcers kept going. In that brief peek, the camera work from CBC was better than what U.S. viewers had for the rest of the game. Once the video came back, then the U.S. audio cut out. All you could hear was the crowd, the skates and sticks, and the ref's whistles. This was the best Forslund and Hayward sounded all night.

Forslund repeated the common phrase "Canada's capital" invoked frequently by U.S. announcers that have little experience with Ottawa. Visually, I saw one overhead shot of the Parliament building along the Rideau Canal and nearby Quebec. If you didn't know Ottawa, you had no idea what you were looking at on the screen.

With all sincerity, I would have rather watched RDS, the French outlet for the Senators, than watched Forslund and Hayward. And my French isn't good enough to follow the action too well.

We don't expect better things for Game 4, especially with the same crew. The only hope is that the series will go long (not likely after seeing Game 3) and better announcers will come along.

St. Louis-San Jose and Chicago-Phoenix are getting a lot of Comcast sim subs in the first round because the NBC Sports Group can't field 8 crews and to save money. We are offering the NBC people a way to save even more money and not send Forslund and Hayward to cover any more Ottawa games.

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Tonight offers a Canadian hockey fan's dream: back-to-back games featuring Canadian teams. In Canada, both the Ottawa and Vancouver games air on CBC, so even if the Ottawa game ends close to on time, the Canucks game will have a slight delay. If Senators-Rangers goes to OT, CBC's likely contingency plan has CHEX/Peterborough and CBUT/Vancouver covering the Canucks game from the tipoff, while CBC makes sure both audiences know what is going on in Ottawa and Los Angeles. Conflicts happen, but until now, they haven't directly affected two Canadian teams' games.

In a curiosity, American viewers could have it easier to catch both Canadian games, IF Pittsburgh/Philadelphia ends around the normal time. Both early starts are 7:30 pm EDT, so the idea of the Canucks-Kings going anytime around 10 pm EDT is laughable. Think back to the Friday night scenario, where Vancouver's Game 2 started about 10:20 pm.

Ottawa's game airs on CNBC while Vancouver will be on NBCSN. American audiences theoretically could get the start of the Canucks game on the NHL Network or CNBC (if Ottawa is done and the Pennsylvania battle goes into OT).

The other oddity: fans in Los Angeles won't have a local feed. So if you don't have a ticket for the Staples Center, you will have to watch the game on NBCSN with the CBC feed.

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You could point out that 3 of the previous 6 Presidents Trophy winners lost their first-round playoff series. But no Presidents Trophy winners (going back to the start of the trophy in the mid-1980s) have ever been swept. And despite the news of Daniel Sedin being in Los Angeles, Henrik Sedin didn't look nearly as good after the Dustin Brown hit in Game 3. Even if the Sedin twins are on the ice together, they have to play like the Sedins of old to have a chance.

The last goal by a Canadian-based team was Chris Neil's Game 2 overtime winner Saturday night. If that streak lasts much longer, the Senators are in deep trouble and the Canucks are making golf reservations … in April.

Travelers to Canada could experience longer customs waits thanks to Harper budget cuts

Americans might wonder how the Harper government budget cuts will affect them personally. Well, one area travelers will notice is having fewer customs officials. While that might sound awesome, the move will likely lead to longer lines and more waiting to get cleared.

The Customs and Immigration Union, whose workers man the customs booths, have a different approach, worrying about guns and child pornography flowing across the border.

Not to rain on their concerns, but nobody thinks diligence will be sacrificed. The plan isn't to ease the minds of travelers into Canada by promising them quick service. The same diligence will be practiced … by fewer people.

Still, the fact that the intelligence unit will be cut in half is a legitimate concern to Canadians.

Canada has been under tremendous pressure from the United States to have stronger border protection. We don't know if Obama and Harper discussed this topic at the recent Organization of American States conference. But you have to imagine that Harper won't set a lower standard than the United States wants.

With dwindling numbers, customs officials may be under more pressure, so being nicer to them might help things go smoother for all parties.

Like most changes in the federal budget, the differences won't be instantaneous, but in a couple of months, travelers could see significant differences. The differences will depend on whether you cross at a busy or not-so-busy crossing.

James Cameron admits he's Canadian on 'Colbert Report'

Stephen Colbert occasionally interviews Canadians for his show "Colbert Report." And usually, the guests don't admit their Canadian stature.

Colbert brought it up when former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm was on his show, but not when David Frum was on the next night.

Colbert triggered Cameron's admittance, but didn't realize Cameron was Canadian.

Cameron shared his journey to going to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. He referred to the depths as being 7 miles, "36,000 feet or 11,000 meters."

Colbert pleads with Cameron to not go metric, "Please, no meters. We don't broadcast in Europe."

Cameron explained to Colbert that he's Canadian. "You're Canadian."

"I'm Canadian, m-----f-----."

"That might be the least polite thing I've ever heard a Canadian say."

Point of reference: Stephen used that same 12-letter expletive on Cameron earlier. Colbert enjoyed being the recipient of the return verbal volley.

"Colbert Report" doesn't go to Europe, but Canadians can watch the show on the Comedy Channel and CTV.