Chinese Lantern Festival--in Chinatown! Toronto!
4:45 p.m. Sept 26---
People in Toronto live together like grooves in a record.
There are more than 240 ethnic origins in the city. As promised in my Sept. 28 Sun-Times Travel column, here are most of them (courtesy of Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population). Its fascinating just to type this out.
It also explains why I found so many great independent record stores in Toronto, especially in the Queen West district: the new Rotate This, 801 Queen West (www.rotate.com) where I bought Cuban and calypso vinyl and Soundscapes, 572 College St. (416) 537-1620 which has tons of alt rock and vintage Canadian pop. I forked over $20 for a Poppy Family compilation. (Which way you going Billy?) I also stumbled into Cloud 9, 372 A Queen Street W. which is kind of a head shop and kind of a music store where I scored a 1975 Bob Dylan at Maple Leaf Garden CD.
So, get your pencils and scorecards ready:
American (38,915) Canadian (651,635) Cornish (275) English (804,100) Irish (531,865) Manx (720) Scottish (561,050) Welsh (53,245) British Isles (73,430) Acadian (3,425) French (241,395)
Aboriginal origins--Inuit (790) Metis (9,605) North American Indian (47,710) Newfoundlander (2,715) Nova Scotian (445) Quebecois (835)
Caribbean origins --Antiguan (2,130) Bahamian (600) Carib (1,355) Cuban (5,415) Dominican (3,805) Guyanese (44,720) Haitian (2,150) Jamaican (160,210) Kittitan/Nevisian (1,525) Puerto Rican (375) Trinidadian/Tobagonian (34,890)
West Indian (38,030)
Let's take a break shall we?
My great grandmother Annie Ward was born in Guelph, Canada not far from Toronto. She met my great grandfather who had come Guelph from Oxford, England. Maybe that's another reason I felt so comfortable in Canada on two separate visits this summer.
Argentinian (5,845) Bolivian (1,005) Brazilian (6,605) Chilean (9,640) Colombian (13,055) Costa Rican (1,025) Ecuadorian 12,970) Guatemalan (4,430) Honduran (865) Mexican (10,495) Nicargaguan (3,500) Panamanian (1,480) Salvadorean (13,770) Uruguayan (2,625) Venezuelan (3,060)
European origins: Austrian (28,130) Belgian (8,550) Dutch (95,560) German (259,020) Swiss (12,765) Finnish (16,000) Danish (15,185) Icelandic (3,240--how many Icelandic are in Chicago?) Norwegian (14,700) Swedish (17,960) Estonian (8,695) Latvian (8,540) Lithuanian (14,440) Czech (16,285) Slovak (11,775) Hungarian/Magyar (53,215) Polish (207,495) Romanian (39,715) Russian (102,815) Ukranian (122,510)
Southern Europe origins: Albanian (11,385) Bosnian (4,975) Bulgarian (9,445) Croatian (33,190) Greek (90,585) Italian (466,155) Macedonian (25,880) Maltese (18,680) Portuguese (188,110) Servian (25,160) Spanish (97,255) Yugoslav (12,685), Gypsy (Roma; 505) Jewish (141,685)
African origins: Ashanti (1,270) Black (24,180) Cameroonian (690) Congolese (Zairian 1,185) Dinka (20) East African (1,290) Ethiopian (10,635) Ghanaian (14,720) Ibo (390) Kenyan (1,755) Nigerian (10,430) Sengealese (80) Sierra Leonean (545)
Somali (18,445) South African (8,025) Sudanese (3,030) Tanzanian (1,140) Ugandan (1,210) Yoruba (1,945) Zimbabwean (1,180) Zulu (135).
I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS.
But I continue typing:
Arab origins: Egyptian (20,105) Iraqi (11,930) Jordanian (2,790) Lebanese (19,845) Algerian (675) Moroccan (4,350) Tunisian (700) Palestinian (8,150) Saudi Arabian (720) Syrian (6,005) Arab (20,650 not included elsewhere)
West Asian origins: Afghan (23,230) Armenian (16,310) Iranian (56,930) Israeli (5,400) Kurd (2,345) Turk (14,970)
South Asian origins: Bangladeshi (13,025) East Indian (484,655) Kashmiri (985) Nepali (1,520) Pakistani (76,110) Punjabi (22,615) Sri Lankan (80,615) Tamil (29,245).
All this documentation makes me want to go dig out my ratty tee shirt I picked up years ago at a Fela concert: "Music is the weapon of the future."
I continue......
East and Southeast Asian origins: Burmese (1,520) Cambodian (4,085) Chinese (537,060) Filipino (181,330) Hmong (40) Indonesian (3,705) Japanese (23,305) Korean (57,235) Laotian (3,630) Malaysian (4,165) Mongolian (855) Taiwanese (4,065) Thai (2,135) Tibetan (3,475)
Oceania origins: Australian (4,870) New Zealander (1,340)
Pacific Islands origins: Fijan (875) Hawaiian (120) Polynesian (75) Samoan (55).
With more than 38 million people, all of Canada is growing at a rapid rate. An increasing number of people across the world are learning how the country is accepting of political refugees, the poor and the downtrodden. For the past eight years American policy has been building barriers across the world. Canada is busy breaking them down.
Dave Hoekstra has been a 
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