Is B.C. the Florida of Canada? It’s a question many Canadians are asking on social media following a biting comparison from an American doctor.
It all started when Harvard University epidemiologist Dr. Eric Fiegl-Ding tweeted about Quebec’s school mask mandate compared to B.C.
“18 hours after my Quebec shaming tweet [thread]... mask mandate now imposed in all elementary schools!!!,” he wrote. “Meantime, I’m watching the Florida of Canada.... errrr British Columbia Flag of Canada #COVID19.”
While Fiegel-Ding has been criticized for stretching facts or outlandish claims on his Twitter account, the tweet still sparked a lot of debate amongst Canadians.
One does not simply call a Canadian province an American state and not expect to get some feedback. Particularly when that state is as infamous as Florida is for well, being Florida.
The Sunshine State, as it’s billed on its licence plates, is known for wacky news stories, warm weather, snowbirding elders, boat parties where Tom Brady throws a trophy across a river and, in the past year, its sky-rocketing COVID-19 rates and seeming unwillingness to do anything about that.
The comparison came as a surprise to many B.C. residents.
While some agreed with the comparison — to an extent.
I’m from Kelowna, and can confirm the merit of this comparison — a lot of sun, Florida-esque boat parties and retired folks there.
Fiegl-Ding’s tweet prompted a wave of Canadians debating which province actually is the Florida of Canada based on a variety of metrics. If we’re talking about warm weather and lots of old people, B.C. may fit the bill. But if we’re talking about the general “vibe” of the province, there are other contenders.
Some people made the case for Canada’s biggest province, on the similarities between “Florida man” and “Ontario man” stories alone.
The same argument was used for Manitoba.
And Saskatchewan.
Some made the case for Quebec as the Florida of Canada.
While others went for the low-hanging fruit and called out Alberta.
But let’s be real: we all know Alberta is actually the Texas of Canada.
And some residents of the oft-forgotten maritime provinces — aka “West Virginia by the sea” — felt left out of the discourse.
In a video shared Thursday by Stewart Reynolds — aka Brittlestar — suggested that maybe we should actually be comparing American things to Canada.
“No province or territory is the ‘Florida’ of anything,” he says.
“To clarify, California is the B.C. of America. Tennessee is the New Brunswick. Rhode Island is the P.E.I. New Jersey is the Windsor. Disney World is the Canada’s Wonderland. Target is the Zellers. Nothing in America is the Coffee Crisp and Canadian tap water is the American beer.”
And for all you saying B.C. is the Florida of Canada, I have to report that it snowed here in Vancouver today.
Seems a lot more like the Colorado of Canada if you ask me.
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