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A British Columbia Primer
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NANAIMO BARS
A scholarly controversy rages as to whether the recipe for these delectable 3-layer chocolate squares really originated in Nanaimo, but there is no disagreement about how wonderful they are.
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ARBUTUS
The red cedar may be BC's official tree but the arbutus is the emblem of the south coast. Found nowhere else in Canada but on the moss-covered rocks of the Pacific coast, its gnarled trunk glows a fiery orange-red in the sun.
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BC FERRIES
Our very own provincial navy. Forget the fast ferry fiasco for a moment. Think instead of the dramatic beauty of the Inside Passage, the hyperactivity of Active Pass, the Sunshine Breakfast. (Well, maybe not the Sunshine Breakfast.) A trip on a BC ferry is truly the quintessential West Coast experience.
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ADBUSTERS
First published in Vancouver in 1989, it was Canada's magazine of the year a decade later. Uses the tools of marketing to subvert the market. The Adbusters Media Foundation also promotes Buy Nothing Day, an international festival of anti-consumerism.
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BUTCHART GARDENS
Vancouver Island's favourite tourist attraction since Jennie and Robert Butchart began developing an old limestone quarry into a sunken garden back before World War I. Now draws a million visitors a year.
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THE TOE OF LUI PASSAGLIA
The Lions' veteran is a genuine homegrown sports hero. After 25 years in the CFL, he retired in 2000 after having scored more points than any other football player on the globe.
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CHINOOK JARGON
BC is the only province other than Quebec to have its very own language. A jumble of French, English and aboriginal words, Chinook Jargon was the lingua franca of the fur trade era on the Pacific Slope. Today, a few people still know it.
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THREE-DAY NOVEL-WRITING CONTEST
Conceived over one too many beers at a Vancouver pub in 1978, this Labour Day Weekend institution has been called the only literary genre to originate in Canada.
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HELI-SKIING
As close to heaven as you can get in BC and still be breathing. Pioneered by Hans Gmoser and Mike Wiegele, this high-end sport featuring chest-deep powder snow and spectacular mountain scenery put BC on the world ski map long before Whistler.
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WILLIAMS LAKE STAMPEDE
One of BC's most popular rodeos since the 1920s, it's a great way to spend the Canada Day long weekend. Rain is a bit of a tradition, but so is the famous Cariboo hospitality.
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