After having hosted two Olympic Games (the Summer version in Montreal in 1976, and the Winter Games in Calgary in 1988), Canadians had enough. They set out to make their mark on their home soil when the Winter Games came to Vancouver. They took the surprising, unprescedented, and — some thought — unnecessarily obnoxious step of starting a movement to “Own the Podium.”

There was a bit of disappointment when women’s skiing sensation Jenn Heil came away with a silver in the earliest days of the Games, but she promised Canada’s long-awaited gold medal on home soil would come.

Boy, did it ever, eh?

Alexandre Bilodeau kicked things off with a gold in the men’s moguls, and it was a full-fleged gold rush after that. Not content with just the one gold on home soil, Canada’s Olympians came through with 14 of them, setting a record for the most gold medals in any Winter Olympic Games.

It was made that much sweeter on Sunday night, when the gold medal run was capped by Canada’s victory over the United States in men’s hockey, avenging a loss earlier in the tournament with an overtime goal from Sidney Crosby. The win became the most watched television event in Canada’s history, with half of the country’s population watching the entire game, and 80 percent of the nation watching at least a part of it.

All told, Canada came in third in the overall medal count, behind the Americans and Germans. But Canada’s 14 golds topped Germany’s 10 by a wide margin, and the U.S. and Norway followed with nine each.

It only makes sense that as the Olympic flame is extinguished these historic
Winter Olympics in Vancouver should be commemorated by naming the entire Canadian Olympic contingent — specifically its gold medal winners — our Canadian of the Week.

Here’s a list of the gold-medal winners:

Alexandre Bilodeau: Freestyle Skiing, Men’s Moguls

Maelle Ricker: Ladies’ Snowboard Cross

Christine Nesbitt: Ladies’ 1000m Speed Skating

Jon Montgomery: Men’s Skeleton

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir: Ice Dancing

Ashleigh McIvor: Freestyle Skiing, Ladies’ Ski Cross

Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, Women’s Bobsled

Women’s Ice Hockey Team

Charles Hamelin: Men’s 500m Short Track Speed Skating

Men’s 5000m Short Track Speed Skating Men’s Relay — Charles Hamelin, Francois Hamelin, Olivier Jean, Francois-Louis Trembelay

Speed Skating: Men’s Team Pursuit — Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky, and Denny Morrison

Jasey Jay Anderson: Snowboard, Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom

Men’s Curling Team

Men’s Ice Hockey Team

Canadians aren’t flashy. Canadians aren’t in your face. And Canadians are also not in quite the financial crisis that the U.S. is facing.

That’s the word from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who wrote in a piece this week that claims Canada’s version of “boring” is better.

Krugman’s piece goes into some fascinating detail about The United States’ deregulation and Canada’s generally conservative approach to risk that came be assumed by banks. But it’s not for everyone, so if you’re interested, check it out here.

John Cabot, an Italian explorer whose real name was Giovanni Caboto, deserves much of the credit for finding what would later become known as the new world. Sailing across the Atlantic under the sponsorship of England’s King Henry VII, he landed upon Newfoundland in 1497.

Perhaps even more importantly, Cabot found fish — specifically cod — that would help feed the world for more than five centuries. Yes, 500 years.

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During one of Cabot’s voyages, he and his crew came upon schools of cod so thick they were said to have slowed the speed of the ship.

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This week’s Heritage Minute highlights this trip and Cabot’s recognition of the importance of his fishy discovery as he reported back to the English king. As Historica Dominica, the keeper of these Heritage Minutes, notes, “Now, over 500 years since Cabot’s first voyage, we have to recognize the sad depletion of the cod fishery that seemed, in Cabot’s time, to be infinite.”

Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that are shown in between some TV shows in Canada — and they’re amazing. We’re planning to bring you a “Heritage Minute” every Thursday on COTW.

Enjoy.

To learn more about the depletion of the North West Atlantic cod fishery, check out this Wikipedia article.

Rarely does a day pass when I don’t kick myself (metaphorically and sometimes literally) for not having indulged in some poutine during a semi-recent long weekend in Montreal. I’d read all about it and nothing sounded more glorious to me than a mound of fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.

The first place we stopped in for a quick desperation snack, about 30 miles from the city as we approached from the south, didn’t seem like the kind of place you’d want to experiment with, so I skipped the poutine there. Once we were in town, every time I saw poutine I’d just eaten. It wasn’t until we were driving back home that I realized I’d missed out on one of the more alluring delicasies I’ve heard about in a while.

So, you can imagine my frustration when I saw poutine right in the middle of iVillage’s recent Top 10 list of Canadian foods one must try.

A note of thanks to Yvonne Jones, for the tip on this list.

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The iVillage list is definitely worth checking out for photos and complete descriptions of these treats (for those unfamiliar), but what I’m looking for is some feedback from Canadians on what was left off the list (seen below), and/or recipes for how to make your favorites on this list.

In no particular order (I think), here’s their list:

Canada Day Cake: A basic sheet cake decorated like a Canadian flag to be eaten on Canada Day (July 1). Sounds simple enough.

Canadian Bacon: We already know and love Canadian bacon in the U.S., though it’s fun to know that in Canada, it’s just called bacon and our kind is the “different” one.

Tourtiere: A savory pie usually made with ground pork.

Nanaimo Bars: Non-baked, three-layer bars named after their B.C. city of origin. Base layer is usually crushed graham crackers with cocoa and coconut, middle layer is a sort of vanilla pudding, and it’s topped with a chocolate frosting. Sounds incredible.

Poutine: Alas, poutine.

Saskatoon Berries: About the size of blueberries, they grow wild in Western Canada

Spruce Beer: Sort of like Ginger Beer, but made with spruce roots and bark mixed with molasses.

Beaver Tails: Not the real animal tails. Sweet fried flatbreads that take toppings like cinnamon, and fruit compotes.

Salmon Candy: Yes, the real fish, sweetened with maple syrup, salt and smoked which sounds kinda gross, I have to say. Am I wrong?

Maple Leaf Cookies: A buttery sugar cookie made with maple syrup.

Alright, Canadians. In my quest to learn as much about the Great White North as possible, please comment below with thoughts on anything that’s missing from this list (recipes welcome!), and suggestions on how to make or obtain any of your faves.

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After a week of voting, a handful of Canada’s largest and well-known cities are in danger of not even making it on the board in a new version of Monopoly Canada.

Hasbro, the company that makes the game, has opened a public vote to decide which cities will occupy the 22 spaces on the board that were originally named for streets and areas in Atlantic City, N.J. (a la, Boardwalk, Park Place, St. Charles Place, etc.).

With 65 cities in the running for 20 of the spaces, Winnipeg and Edmonton aren’t making the cut, and Toronto is barely hanging on in 20th place.

The final two spaces — the “low-rent” spots occupied by Mediterranean and Baltic avenues in the original game — will be decided by a separate wild-card vote based on nominations of any and all cities in Canada.

People can vote for three cities each day until the vote closes on Feb. 7, 2010. The city that receives the most votes will be placed on the highest rent property traditionally held by Boardwalk.

The wild card vote for the two low-rent spaces will take place from February 8, 2010 until February 21, 2010.

Canadian of the Week thinks that in addition to the great cities that will occupy the spaces on the board, some uniquely named bergs might qualify as game pieces to go along with what’s sure to include a hockey player, a maple leaf and a totem pole:

Medicine Hat
Red Deer
Wood Buffalo
Whitehorse
Yellowknife
Moose Jaw
White Rock

Here’s a look at the current leading cities and their percentages of the vote, as of midnight Wednesday:

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. 5.4

Calgary 4.7

Chatham-Kent, Ont. 3.7

Quebec City 3.4

Trois-Rivieres, Que. 2.9

St. John’s, N.L. 2,8

Kawartha Lakes, Ont. 2.7

Medicine Hat, Alta. 2.7

Montreal 2.6

Victoria 2.5

Windsor, Ont. 2.4

Shawinigan, Que. 2.3

Kelowna, B.C. 2.3

Sarnia, Ont. 2.3

North Bay, Ont. 2.1

Vancouver 2.1

Ottawa 2.1

Gastineau 2.0

London, Ont. 2.0

Toronto 2.0

Dear, sweet Canada.

Everything was going along just fine for “The Beaver” (hehe… he said “Beaver”) the nation’s second oldest magazine, until a bunch of folks with dirty minds came along.

The venerable magazine — the official publication of Canada’s National History Society, which has published for 90 years — is changing its name, and it’s partly due to the sexual innuendo in the current name.

“Because of the sexual connotations that this next generation of Canadians have adopted for the name, ‘The Beaver,’ there were some very practical challenges,” Deborah Morrison, president and CEO of the Society, told The Canadian Press. “Every once in awhile we would have readers call and say: ‘You know, you’ve got to do something about the name.”‘

There was some legitimate technological confusion, with spam filters sometimes raising red flags on e-mails from the magazine’s Web site, taking it for spam.

But Morrison also realized that some folks looking for a whole different kind of beaver when they came to the magazine’s site.

“We noticed monitoring our web traffic that the average visitor time to our website was eight seconds,” Morrison said. “And I have a feeling that might be because a lot of people going to the site weren’t exactly looking for Canadian history content.”

The History Society announced that the new name of the magazine will be Canada’s History. That’s sure to drive fewer folks to the Web site.

In other news: CanadianoftheWeek.com will henceforth be known as BeaveroftheWeek.com.

(Just kidding! That’s a joke. It’s probably already taken, and I assume no responsibility for what you might find there.)

It was a hell of a run, Beaver.

As you might expect, many Canadians are just fine with the notion that their nation’s jets aren’t the loudest or the fastest. But there’s nonetheless an outpouring of support to get the team some new wings — and quickly, as well as a group of folks who think the old planes are a flat-out embarrassment.

Here’s a sampling of some of the comments from a story posted about the new Snowbirds’ season at CBC.ca:

* Absolutely LOVE the snowbirds. They rank as a national icon along with Team Canada. Now (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper……..get them new jets. Not used…..brand spanking NEW!

* I’ve been to the Abbotsford airshow 20+ times and the ‘Birds are the best at what they do.Not the fastest or loudest–just the best.Keep up the good work guys…

* Time for the Snowbirds to get new aircraft. To be still flying those old relics is not only embarrassing for Canada, but downright dangerous the unfortunate pilots.

* What a joke. These good men are flying planes that are basically scrap. When other nations flying teams give a show, they fly the latest jets that they have in their Air Forces. It’s no wonder few people in the world take this country seriously when they see how we present ourselves.

It is freakin’ cold in Canada.

“Edmonton International Airport was the coldest place in Canada,” Peter Spyker, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, told the CBC on Sunday. “It was -46.1 [Celsius] without the wind chill. I believe at one point it got to -58 with the wind chill.”

Our handy Celsius-to-Fahrenheit conversion tells us that was 51-below-zero without the wind chill, and 72.4-below-zero with the wind chill.

Nonetheless, the Canadian spirit isn’t broken. Here’s a passage from the CBC report, which can be seen in its entirety here:

On Saturday, Calgary police duty Insp. Rob Williams was travelling on the northbound Macleod Trail near the 22X overpass when he spotted what appeared to be a large, multi-vehicle collision.

In fact, several cars had screeched to a halt when a tiny kitten, searching for a place to get out of the cold, had wandered onto the busy road, which has a 80 km/h speed limit.

The scared kitten climbed up into the engine compartment of one of the stopped cars, Williams said in a news release, and several drivers tried to retrieve the kitten with no luck.

Working together after nearly 30 minutes in 25 C conditions, one man jacked up the front of the small car while another crawled underneath.

Williams pushed the kitten down through a tiny opening to the undercarriage where it was safely retrieved.

Photo credit:

A nationwide faceoff is going on across Canada after a neurosurgeon said at a seminar over the weekend that TV hockey analyst Don Cherry is partially to blame for the serious injuries and concussions sustained by hockey players.

For those unfamiliar, Don Cherry is a divisive, controversial and beloved coach-turned-commentator who is a weekly highlight of the CBC’s “Hockey Night in Canada.” He dresses like Liberace, but maintains his tough-guy image, and Dr. Charles Tator says that tough-guy persona is part of the problem. Tator referred to Cherry’s approach as “an aggressive, lack-of-respect hockey,” according to a CBC report.

“If he took a strong stand against no hits to the head, it would help,” Tator said at the conference, even praising Cherry’s previous work in the 1990s when he promoted “STOP,” an effort to prevent hitting other players on the ice from behind.

The story has had Cherry’s supporters and detractors lighting up message boards in support or to jump on the effort against him.

Cherry’s boss at “Hockey Night in Canada” was one of those quick to jump to his defense.

“Everything from championing on-ice rules and equipment changes to leading the STOP sign campaign, he has been the leader in teaching tough, smart hockey and promotes respect amongst players at every level,” executive producer Sherali Najak said Sunday in a release.

“Everyone who has watched Don over the years knows this, and any indication otherwise is misguided and a short-sighted misrepresentation of the facts.”

Photo credits:

Michael Jackson was kind of a big deal in 2009. There was also something about that “Twilight” movie, which was filmed in Canada.

But Canadians proved what’s really important to them by making the National Hockey League the most-searched term on Yahoo! Canada this year, according to a report from the Canadian Press.

Michael Jackson topped Yahoo’s searches in the United States, but he only reached fifth place in Canada. Ahead of the King of Pop was “RuneScape,” a free, multi-player, role-playing game that was the most searched last year and came in second this year. “RuneScape” was followed by UFC and WWE.

The Top 10 was rounded out by Megan Fox, “American Idol,” NASCAR, the NBA and the British phenomenon, Susan Boyle.

“Twilight” didn’t crack the Top 10 in Canada (it was No. 2 in the States), but it was the most search movie title. “American Idol” was the top TV show searched in Canada, which ought to please the folks over at “Canadian Idol.”

Michael Jackson was the top searched celebrity, swine flu was the top news story and Sidney Crosby was the most searched athlete.