Silly Little Country

Canada and the 49th Parallel

The CBC has chosen a somewhat unfortunate name for its campaign.

Five days of public online voting will determine the final tally of "49 songs from north of the 49th parallel" for Obama — to be revealed on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.

Almost all of the population of Canada from Ontario east lives south of the 49th parallel, as pointed out in a folk music mailing list I follow that is currently discussing this contest. Taken literally that would mean that, effectively, only Western Canadian songwriters are eligible for this contest.
Something not as well recognized as it should be is that Toronto, located south of the 44th parallel, is closer in latitude to Rome (between the 41st and 42nd) than to the 49th parallel.
Paris is nestled right up against the 49th parallel and all of the United Kingdom is north of it.
So perhaps I live in what might be called the Great White South, at least relative to some spots.

In the end, I have to be fair to the CBC - this 49th parallel meme is pretty hard to shake - but really, it is pretty misleading.

Labels: 49th parallel, CBC

posted by Alan Adamson @ 8:05 AM