Fun:New Brunswick
.svg)
New Brunswick is one of Canada's Maritime Provinces. It is breathtakingly dull, except for the Bay of Fundy. Besides Quebec, it is the only Canadian province where a substantial proportion of the population speak French as their first language: the Acadians, who comprise about 45% of the total population. It is the only officially bilingual province, something arranged for by the late Premier Louis Robichaud, and arguably a far better course than the one the Parti Québecois would take in Quebec. However, since French speakers are a minority, on occasion controversy will flare up on whether to bother teaching the language at all.
Campobello Island[edit]
American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt owned a house on Campobello Island, which is part of New Brunswick. However, when Americans refer to FDR's Campobello retreat, they often make sure that they say it is "off the coast of Maine." This is like saying that you have a house "across the river from Detroit" when you live in Windsor, Ontario. There are two reasons for this deception:
- Campobello is closer to the coast of Maine than from the mainland of New Brunswick. It's also easier to get there from Maine.
- It would be bad press for the president to have a retreat in a foreign country. That is why You-Know-Who's rumoured million-acre spread in extradition-free Paraguay is officially just that -- a rumour.