Community & Current Events

East Coast vs. West Coast: Which Canadian coast is the best?

East Coast vs. West Coast: Which Canadian coast is the best?

Photo courtesy of Clare Wheeler Image by: Photo courtesy of Clare Wheeler Author: Canadian Living

Community & Current Events

East Coast vs. West Coast: Which Canadian coast is the best?

Why the West is best
By Toby Hargrave, named Funniest Comedian in Vancouver at the 2013 
Vancouver Comedy Fest

As I sit and ponder why the West is best, it's a beautiful, sunny spring day here in Vancouver. Again. It's about 14°C, the cherry blossoms are coming in and I'm watching a kite surfer catch some ocean waves. It's a blessed relief from the brutal month of winter we got. (Almost hit 0°C a few times.) Not that we don't get as much snow as the East. We just use it differently. We bury ski slopes with it; they bury houses.

I'm a bit groggy right now after my big lunch of pasture-raised Alberta beef and locally grown produce. (Our nine-month growing season is the best!) Perhaps my fair-trade, organic, wind-power-roasted artisanal coffee—which I can get everywhere (it's kind of like what Easterners get at Tim Hortons)—will wake me up.

The West is home to some of Canada's most iconic names in entertainment, dating back to classics like The Beachcombers, Danger Bay and, more recently, Brent Butt's Hiccups. Tonight, I'm off to a comedy show. Louis C.K. is in town. Again. (Comedy is kind of like Codco... Kind of.)

Why the East is best
By Shaun Majumder, comedian, star of Majumder Manor and host of 
The Gathering in Burlington, NL

If you haven't seen the commercials, Newfoundland and Labrador—and my hometown of Burlington on the north-central coast, specifically—are the places to be this decade. It's calling your name. Can you hear it? "Bernice! Andrew! Come!" I mean, you've seen it: whales jumping out of the ocean and sliding down an iceberg onto your front porch. It's all true! Not many whale sightings in Red Deer last year, were there?

Why go west when you can come to the Rock and experience Newfoundland's incredibly rich culture, starting with foods like fisherman's brewis, toutons and 
Jiggs dinner? And with town names like Dildo, Paradise and Nicky's Nose Cove, you're guaranteed to leave having had a few laughs.

Speaking of laughter, Newfoundlanders' reputations as the funniest people in Canada holds up—just try chatting with a local! Sure dat's reason enuff fer a visit roight der me ol' cock! Everyone in Newfoundland is funny. See you in Burlington this summer!

Enjoy the best of both worlds and try out our East-West Barbeque Sauce this summer.
                                               
This story was originally titled "The Clash Of The Coasts" in the July 2014 issue.
           
Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

Comments

Share X
Community & Current Events

East Coast vs. West Coast: Which Canadian coast is the best?

Login