What The New York Times Found In Saint John
Saint John – America’s newspaper of record has explored the history of Canada’s oldest city.
In a feature piece published on Thursday by the New York Times, called “In Saint John in Canada, Exploring the Legacy of the Loyalists,” writer Richard Ruban dives into Saint John’s loyalist past.
Like most pieces about New Brunswick written by people from away, Ruban had to include this typical trope about the province in the beginning.
Ruban writes:
“Saint John — indeed, all of New Brunswick — is, let us say, low profile, even by Canadian standards. A native once told me of a rather unflattering nickname that the rest of the country has bestowed upon the province; many people have confirmed the story since then. Most recently it was a very chipper woman at the tourism bureau in downtown Saint John, in the back of Barbour’s General Store, a 19th-century edifice towed there by barge from a small town up north a half-century ago.
‘It is, indeed, the ‘drive-through province,’’ she told me readily and with a big smile. ‘Most of the people who come in here are on their way to Nova Scotia or P.E.I. [Prince Edward Island] from Ontario or the States, and they stop here to spend the night.” No one seems to mind, though; they’re Canadian. Just about everything is fine with them.'”
How original. But it does get better, we swear.
Though the whole “drive-through” province thing gives us an instant eye-roll, you can quickly forgive Ruban for the rest of the story. He immediately goes on to describe Saint John fairly and accurately. He dives into the city’s rich history as a place founded by American refugees who wished to remain British subjects during the American Revolution. The way Ruben writes is like you’re taking a really engaging history class with a quirky teacher. He even closes the story with a list of places to stay, eat and visit in the city.
We highly recommend the read. Even if you’re a Saint Johner, you might learn a thing or two.