A still from my favourite Canadian Christmas film, Treevenge.

The Canadian holidays are a lot like the American holidays, but with a higher chance of snowfall. Plus, Santa’s workshop is totally in the Canadian north, right? I say we call dibs on the guy in red – back off, Coca Cola.

My favourite thing to do around Christmastime is to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watch Too Many Things. Too Many Things could be that DVD box set that you got from a loved one, or the goodies waiting in your instant qeue on Netflix. Whatever it is, you’ve got to watch it. This holiday season, my must-watch movie spree includes some classic Canadiana. While Home Alone and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation may be on TV repeat, hunting down the following movies and TV specials will make your holiday season merry, bright, and especially Canadian.

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Pine coffins supplied to Snow & Co., Undertakers, second building from right, for victims of the Halifax Explosion. (photo: Nova Scotia Archives)

Nova Scotia is the perfect setting for scary stories. It’s somewhat remote, is foggy more days than not, and its residents love to tell a good tale. Its sea-faring culture has bred oral traditions that have cast the sea as a mighty provider and destroyer that gives and takes away. Unsurprisingly, the sea is at the center of many of Nova Scotia’s best ghost stories.

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Recovered bodies from the RMS Titanic arriving at the Mayflower Curling Club, Agricola Street which was set up as a temporary morgue, 1912. Image: Nova Scotia Archives.

Halifax’s role in the aftermath of the Titanic’s sinking has often been described as the great ship’s undertaker. St. John’s, Newfoundland, was closer to the wreck site, but Halifax was the closest port with railway and steamship connections to the United States.

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Body of RMS Titanic victim aboard rescue vessel CS Minia being made ready for make-shift coffin. Image: Nova Scotia Archives

For the 328 people whose bodies were recovered at the site of the Titanic disaster, unique fatality reports  were created. They speak volumes about those whose bodies were retrieved. From third-class passengers to millionaires, these reports document their lives through what they had on their person that fateful night.

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Winter wind storm (photo: Thomas Kitchin)

The Canadian north has captivated storytellers for hundreds of years with its mystery and beauty. Man was first evident in the Yukon over 15,000 years ago when migration began over the Beringia land-bridge after the last ice age. Over thousands of years, the First Nations people settled in the Yukon and developed their own unique languages and cultures.

How Fox Point Got Its Name

The North’s oral storytelling tradition has passed on amazing and spooky legends. The Fox Point tale tells of a group of people moving from place to place to find food. The group was low on supplies and decided to go back to the Nisutlin Bay to find salmon. An old woman among them dreamt that something awful would happen if they returned to that spot. No one listened to her, and they continued on their journey. She warned them: “There will be signs, the first will be a lynx, the second a wolverine and then finally a fox. When we have seen all three signs, we will perish.”
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