Tiki;

Yes, the winters are similar, but if your family had escaped from, say, Alabama or North Carolina, your first winter in Canada would probably have you seriously wondering why in the world you moved so far North in the first place.

But many blacks DID remain in Canada after Emancipation, thrived, and their descendants are scattered around not only Ontario but Nova Scotia and even into Saskatchewan and Alberta (and probably other provinces as well). As I contemplate moving out of the United States myself (next year), my first thought was to move to Canada, based on what I call a "genetic memory," from all the research I've done on my black Canadian ancestors who were in Ontario way back in the 1700s, but having lived in California for 20 years, the thought of those cold-as-heck Canadian winters ... TOO darned cold for me :>).

Brrrrrr.

I'll visit Canada during the summer -- originally from Detroit, I do NOT miss the snow and the cold.

- Lisa B. Lee
Oakland, CA