Part of the East Coast’s allure is its people

From its inception much of the raison d’etre of this magazine has been to define and showcase the uncommonly friendly and munificent character of Atlantic Canadians.

We experienced a stellar first-person example of it a decade or more from an English couple we befriended while on a cruise ship in Norway.

These were, by any definition, lovely people to whom life had been kind. They were very comfortably retired and then some. They inhabited a stunning home in the Cotswolds (perhaps the most desirable location in the UK—a place where everyone seems to have an impressive home, a horse and two purebred dogs, while moving around in late-model Land Rovers.) We readily confess to having been impressed; perhaps even a tad envious.

Then they came to visit us. We bit our nails.

After thoroughly exploring the region on their own they returned and announced they were seriously considering moving here. We were incredulous. Why?

“The people,” was the answer.

World travellers, they had never before experienced such natural and spontaneous friendliness and inherent decency. Even in the famously idyllic location where they made their home, the culture didn’t come close.

As it turned out, their advancing age disqualified them from immigrating, but they were deadly serious.

As we suffer through this COVID-19 nightmare we can look around and be thankful that the people we live among are, for the most part, compliant in sticking together and co-operating in mask wearing and social distancing. As a result, our infection numbers are impressively low and enviable.

We have not seen the civil disobedience and chaos that has contaminated France, Holland and other normally peace-loving societies.

We are also observing in horror and disgust the Trumpism-induced shenanigans below our southern border.

Surely we feel doubly blessed that we don’t seem to host many of the dysfunctional nutcases and wingnuts who subscribe to patently absurd conspiracy theories and who have been crawling out from under rocks all over the United States.

But why not? People are people, surely.

Answer—not really; that stuff simply wouldn’t be tolerated here. There’s simply no fit for it in our well-ordered society of fundamentally decent folks.

It is a fact that other Canadians (including ex-pats) mainly from Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, are pouring into the Atlantic provinces, mainly New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Some are also moving here from the US and the UK in particular; and not all are ex-pats. We see no specific number offered but the U-Haul company is reporting record numbers of customers heading this way while real estate brokers and agents are run off their feet and prices skyrocket as demand exceeds inventory.

For most, it seems, the way we have handled the COVID-19 crisis and our relatively low case numbers, is their motivation—but incoming new residents are also quick to point to a much less stressful lifestyle, attractive natural resources and warm, friendly folks as motivators.

We’ve been very fortunate to spend a fair bit of time in the Bahamas as our winter getaway destination of choice in recent decades. It’s only a short puddle-jumper from Florida, but oh my! The societal differences.

It’s just like rural communities here. Even teenagers automatically greet or wave to strangers as they go by. There’s no apparent ill will anywhere outside their only major city, Nassau.

So what’s the commonality that makes Bahamians a lot like us? Could it be the rural realities—small communities, low stress environments, strong, tight families?

Seems like a logical conclusion.