[Christien]

We got our first snow of the season over the last few days. Nothing massive or lasting, but enough to make most of us put our Porsches away for the year. That's one of the overriding things about this area of the world. Winter is brutal, and this is my least favourite time of year. I've read that Ottawa is the second-coldest capital city in the world, second only to Moscow. I define winter as salt on the road, non P-car driving time, and by that definition it lasts from sometime in November until late April. You can't count on nice weather until well into May.

Not that weather is the only plus/minus factor in this country, it's just on my mind a lot right now.

Economically, I think where we are and where we're going is a question of who you listen to and who you believe. Personally, I'm of the belief that fundamentally we're in good shape, but the constant barrage of negative media is driving consumer confidence into the ground, which is going to hurt us more than anything. While we're not taking as badly as the US, our economy is inextricably tied to theirs. Ontario has lost almost half a million jobs in the manufacturing sector in the last few years, (manufacturing, in particular auto manufacturing and its various spin-off industries, is Ontario's main economic driving force) so that's hurting. For the first time in the province's history, we're among the "have-not provinces. Canada has a province-to-province wealth distribution system whereby those provcines that turn surpluses send money to those that run deficits. For the first time ever Ontario will receive money this year.

I'm of the belief that Europe does the high taxes/payback from gov't thing better than we do. We've currently got a minority Conservative gov't in power (2nd term) though that conservatism is much more to the left than American conservatism. However, from my end taxes have not lowered (at least not in any significant way) whereas services have been cut. I personally don't feel we get a great return from gov't for the taxes we pay (ca. 60% in the highest bracket). Our health care system leaves much to be desired - wait times are a particular issue, as is overcrowding of hospitals, though the quality of care is quite high. I don't mean to turn this into a political rant, it's just my personal view - others will of course feel differently. I've always said Canada is a great place DESPITE our gov'ts, at all levels.

More along the p-car lines, we've got a draconian police gestapo that now will impound your car at the side of the road if you're caught going more than 50 km/h over the limit - no pleas, no judge, no trial, your car and license are gone for 7 days. It's a constant thorn in the side of anyone who actually cares about safety on the roads (check the rennlist Canada forum - we discuss it to death there).

However we also have one of the world's best racetracks in our backyard - Mosport is an hour outside Toronto.

So there's a scattering of info about life in Ontario. I think I may be being a bit overly negative, so keep that in mind. Hope that helps a bit!