Where the West begins

Docere · #1 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:24 PM**

Is it pretty much right at the MB/ON border? Or is there a transition zone comprised of eastern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario?

Acajack · #2 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:31 PM**

If you've ever driven across Canada it's actually pretty cool how quickly it transitions from rocky lake-strewn dense forests to prairie landscapes almost as soon as you cross from Ontario into Manitoba.

esquire · #3 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:35 PM**

I'd say it's the ON/MB border. As Acajack pointed out, you get out of the Shield and into the Great Plains pretty fast after crossing into MB. Pretty cut and dried.

An interesting contrast is the part of Manitoba closer to border between MB/SK. That's where you start getting much more conservative style AB/SK politics and yellow dog Conservative ridings at the provincial and federal levels. Even such things as cheering for the Roughriders despite living in Manitoba, although that kind of bandwagoning is dropping off a bit these days

There is definitely a "transition zone" once you get to the westernmost 75 km or so of Manitoba... VANRIDERFAN is a good example of that.

mousquet · #4 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:39 PM**

Begins anywhere democracy is.
Ends where it is not.

Japan, South Korea are the West. I don't even know whether Singapore is... Don't think so, actually.

Colombia is cooler (no more FARC out there), and it must be a heck of a great deal right now, but Venezuela is in danger, and everyone should care very much.

Franco401 · #5 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mousquet

Begins anywhere democracy is.
Ends where it is not.

Japan, South Korea are the West. I don't even know whether Singapore is... Don't think so, actually.

Colombia is cooler (no more FARC out there), and it must be a heck of a great deal right now, but Venezuela is in danger, and everyone should care very much.

We're talking about Eastern and Western Canada

Acajack · #6 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mousquet

Begins anywhere democracy is.
Ends where it is not.

Japan, South Korea are the West. I don't even know whether Singapore is... Don't think so, actually.

Colombia is cooler (no more FARC out there), and it must be a heck of a great deal right now, but Venezuela is in danger, and everyone should care very much.

Oh...

mousquet · #7 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Franco401

We're talking about Eastern and Western Canada

Lol, I know. What do you think?

240glt · #8 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:51 PM**

From this westerner's point of view, it's hard to even consider Manitoba as "west"

Really the "west" is BC, AB & Sask

matthew6 · #9 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 6:59 PM**

The Rockies....

everything in between the Rockies and Ontario is central Canada

lio45 · #10 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

If you've ever driven across Canada it's actually pretty cool how quickly it transitions from rocky lake-strewn dense forests to prairie landscapes almost as soon as you cross from Ontario into Manitoba.

FWIW, on Interstate 40 in the U.S. the exact point where you pass from the Great Plains to the Southwest is unmistakeable. I found that pretty cool as well.

(The plains transition into a landscape of mesas and cliffs.)

lio45 · #11 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt

From this westerner's point of view, it's hard to even consider Manitoba as "west"

Really the "west" is BC, AB & Sask

Really? I'm sorry but on that one I would 100% side against you and with VANRIDERFAN and his assessment that extreme southwestern Manitoba is definitely both "The Prairies" and "The West".

If you want to place a further division within Western Canada, I think the Rockies make a lot more sense than the artificial line between SK and MB.

esquire · #12 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by matthew6

The Rockies....

everything in between the Rockies and Ontario is central Canada

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt

From this westerner's point of view, it's hard to even consider Manitoba as "west"

Really the "west" is BC, AB & Sask

These are absurd takes.

Docere · #13 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:04 PM**

John Steinbeck saw Bismarck, North Dakota as the border between East and West in the US:

"Here’s the boundary between east and west. On the Bismarck side it is eastern landscape, eastern grass, with the look and smell of eastern America. Across the Missouri on the Mandan side it is pure west with brown grass and water scoring and small outcrops. The two sides of the river might well be a thousand miles apart."

240glt · #14 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

Really? I'm sorry but on that one I would 100% side against you and with VANRIDERFAN and his assessment that extreme southwestern Manitoba is definitely both "The Prairies" and "The West".

If you want to place a further division within Western Canada, I think the Rockies make a lot more sense than the artificial line between SK and MB.

I'd say that it makes more sense to consider anything west of the rockies as "west" than to consider Manitoba part of the "west"

Sask and Manitoba, and probably Alberta are more Central Canada IMO

Acajack · #15 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

FWIW, on Interstate 40 in the U.S. the exact point where you pass from the Great Plains to the Southwest is unmistakeable. I found that pretty cool as well.

(The plains transition into a landscape of mesas and cliffs.)

I've never driven that segment of I-40 but looking on Google Earth it seems like the demarcation line is around Adrian, TX, just west of Amarillo.

I have driven on I-10, and noticed a dramatic change around Ozona, TX. That's where the desert starts.

To the east of there is kind of a plains forest like you have in much of central and eastern Texas.

WhipperSnapper · #16 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:39 PM**

https://www.cfl.ca/standings/

MolsonExport · #17 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 7:41 PM**

What about at Western University?

niwell · #18 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 8:09 PM**

The abrupt landscape change is actually about 85km west of the Manitoba / Ontario border, but it is very stark. I'm going to submit that western Canada actually begins at about the junction of highways 17 and 17, just east of Kenora. The Kenora area is essentially cottage country for Winnipeg and the permanent residents often identify more with Manitoba than Ontario.

You could potentially include the Rainy River District (Fort Frances), as this area is just as isolated from the rest of Ontario, and also shares the Central Time Zone. However the ties there seem to be closer to Minnesota than western Canada.

Acajack · #19 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 8:28 PM**

I was thinking that I often find that the origin of dairy products (and to a lesser degree baked goods) on the table are often a sure-fire way of telling you what region you're in.

drew · #20 Posted **Aug 17, 2017, 9:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by niwell

The abrupt landscape change is actually about 85km west of the Manitoba / Ontario border, but it is very stark. I'm going to submit that western Canada actually begins at about the junction of highways 17 and 17, just east of Kenora. The Kenora area is essentially cottage country for Winnipeg and the permanent residents often identify more with Manitoba than Ontario.

You could potentially include the Rainy River District (Fort Frances), as this area is just as isolated from the rest of Ontario, and also shares the Central Time Zone. However the ties there seem to be closer to Minnesota than western Canada.

To the bolded - at most begrudgingly. The locals in general, don't care much for 'Tobans.

As to the topography change - it's only stark at that particular part of the province. For the vast swaths of land north of there, it's all Shield country and more or less indistinguishable on either side of the border.

I would propose a better indicator is the presence of naturally occurring White Pines. I am a tree guy, and that particular species of tree actual does noticeably stop more or less at the MB/ON border.

The east - where the white pines begin.