Calgary is a very cosmopolitan city with people from many countries. It is very fast growing with a current population of over 800,000. It started to grow after the building of the Canadian Pacific railway across Canada. The city began (1875) as the second post of the Northwest Mounted Police and expanded with the arrival (1883) of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1890 there were 3,800 residents. Calgary's early economic growth was based on the burgeoning open-range cattle industry and, with the arrival of the homesteaders, the opening of Southern Alberta to cash-crop farming. The discovery (1914) of oil at Turner Valley just south of the city began an expansion that has made Calgary one of Canada's fastest-growing cities. All Canadian oil companies have their headquarters in Calgary and not Toronto. With a fast vanishing provincial debt (there is some good in high oil prices although 68 cents per litre for gas (petrol) (about 27 pence) probably seems very attractive) no sales tax (we do have a 7% GST like VAT) and talk of eliminating provincial income tax (the federal government will still take theirs!) a lot of Canadians are moving to Alberta.

The legacy of the cattle industry comes every year with the Calgary Stampede and Exhibition. It runs for ten days at the beginning of July. Billed as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" it brings many tourists to the city and transforms the city into a ten day celebration for all. Suits and ties are definitely out and out come the jeans, cowboy hats and boots for the guys and assorted western wear for the ladies. Most mornings start with a free Stampede breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon and assorted beverages (leaded or un-leaded!). The afternoons can be spent at the Rodeo with bronk busting, calf roping, cattle wrestling, barrel racing, wild cow milking and the premier event, the bull riding. There are the agricultural events like the livestock competitions and also the midway with ever more stomach wrenching rides each year! A giant human catapult does nothing for me! The evening grandstand show is preceded with nine chuck wagon races. It is hard to describe four wagons with four thoroughbred race horses pulling each wagon going flat out round an oval track. Each wagon is assisted at the start by four outriders who also have to jump on their horses and finish close to their wagon not to lose precious seconds for their team. Thoroughly exciting! The grandstand show brings in entertainers from Las Vegas as well as a large group of local young talent. Each evening climaxes with a firework display.

There are many cultural activities with our own Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet company and several theatres. We also have the Calgary Flames Ice Hockey team ( a great passion for a lot of Calgarians) and the Calgary Stampeders football team ( that is football and not soccer!). You do need to be a fan to watch one hour of actual play that takes three hours when the temperature is around -15C to -20C! The players have space heaters around the edge of the pitch to warm their hands between plays.

Our summer is short with frosts up to the end of May and beginning again in September. The winter weather can be very cold with -30C temperatures and below not uncommon. Add to that the wind chill and you are looking at -50C at times. We don't get too much snow though in the city. Typically not much more that 6 to 9 inches in one go. Occasionally there is a much larger fall but not often. We are about 60 miles from the Rockies so there are a number of Ski hills including the 1988 winter Olympic venue. Cross country skiing is what we like to do as a family as there are many provincial parks that have ski trails and you don't have to line up for the ski lift each time. It is a lot cheaper too which is an added benefit. With warm moist air coming from the Pacific ocean it can rain very heavily on the coast of British Columbia and then snow heavily in the mountains. The warm now dry air will blow through Calgary in the winter. Temperatures can rise as much as 20C in a fairly short time. The winds are called Chinooks, which in Indian language means "Snow Melter". This literally happens with the change in temperature. Two or three days of Chinook winds is a welcome break during a cold winter.

In the summer people like to go camping although camping here does not mean taking a tent. With motor homes in some cases costing more than a house with everything from a large TV, stereo system, microwave, stove, fridge, freezer, bathroom, and king-size bed. Some of the older folks disappear for the winter to Arizona where it is a little warmer. The nearest to a tent is a tent trailer which folds out into a cut down version of the larger trailers (caravans) with many of the same conveniences.

There is no private health care for Canadians in Canada. It is all provincially funded although we do have to pay a standard fee each month (this is normally paid by the employer). Americans can come here and pay for treatment though. The Federal government vigorously defends this position. Like the UK, health care costs have risen steeply over the last few years and so we are seeing some longer queues for treatment although not as bad as in England. With private health care in the US, from time to time we lose a lot of experienced doctors and nurses across the border after recruiting campaigns since pay is much higher and the US dollar is much stronger than the Canadian one.

One thing that most people don't realise about Canada until you are here is the fact that we do have two official languages, English and French. Everything we buy is labelled in both languages. There is an on-going battle between the French speaking province of Quebec and the rest of Canada, particularly the west, who feel they get short changed by the government as there is a net inflow of finance from the Federal government to Quebec. The Quebec provincial government has to prop up the French language by having laws like you cannot have an English sign on the front of a store (shop!) that is bigger than a French one. Also children cannot go to English schools. Every few years there is a swell of support for separation even though they would be much worse off. It is surprising what a wave of emotion can do. Another major issue that is not really visible outside of the country are the native Indians. They mostly still live on reserves. There are always land claim issues going on as they still argue that their land was taken from them by the Europeans that came to Canada. The Indians lived a nomadic life following the vast herds of Buffalo for food and did not have a concept of land ownership. The Europeans came along and carved up the land for themselves and just about wiped out the buffalo. Negotiations between the natives and the new fledgling governments gave rise to the reserves. Money is still paid from the government to the Indians on a per capita basis. Some of the reserves are very rich if they have oil reserves or like some in eastern Canada build casinos for mainly the American tourists. The reserves by Calgary are talking of building casinos which is not very popular with most Calgarians. Also they do not pay any taxes. The downside for the Indians is that there is very high unemployment and a lot turn to alcohol for solace. The bands are run by councils which often are corrupt and cream off a lot of money for themselves which adds to the poverty of the rest of the band. Members are discouraged from moving away from the reserves to work. The impasse is that it is not possible for them to return to the old days. There was never the fighting depicted in the old movies as the Mounties managed to negotiate with the Indians.

I often think of what it must have been like for the first Europeans that came here. The homesteaders lived in the middle of the prairies in houses built of turf! They must have been hardy folks those that were able to stay. Very dependant on their neighbours in times of trouble. Calgary is a very friendly city and perhaps this is the reason why!

Keith Payne

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