For any Canadian who truly values the historical fidelity and the depth of detail one can have for a setting such as the glory of our dominion, however local or grand, a tour guide's duty is to ponder one's own curiosity in a country that it values, thus germinating a seed of appreciation and going further in knowing the aspects of Canadian culture and heritage. During our trip to the Maritime provinces, at first glance, our tour guide and driver seemed competent in their respective fields, but if one were to examine their credentials, one would realise that they are rather built as a house of cards.
Our tour guide, Daphne (her English name), however amazing her polyglot skills might be, carries a deceptively creative display of a variety of apocryphal stories that seem to contradict the historical narrative of general Canadian history. There is no mention of the European wars that culminated in the bicultural identity of the nation she so confidently espouses. Now, one does not need to know every nuance of Canadian history, as long as one can express one significant event or story to truly capture the intricacies of the layered and dynamic values that spurred Canadian identity. For one, she recounts an oversimplification of the European wars that happened in the 17th and 18th centuries, the founding of Quebec and of New France, all the way to the modern setting that we currently live in. Another example of this occurred when we were travelling to Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia, though there is a disclaimer to be had, she does not offer a multitude of origin stories to let the audience take their pick on which they can hold onto. Despite all of this, she showed some general displays of entertaining us with Anne of Green Gables and the author Lucy Maud Montgomery, touching on how she made a name for herself and her life story, although in a rather fast-and-loose definition. She also has a habit of not fine-tuning her vocabulary in English, hence there are words lost in translation. For instance, when we were travelling towards the great lobster statue of Shediac, New Brunswick, she engaged in a slightly problematic depiction of how the structure has been renovated over time. Between the description of the colours she gave and how the business of trapping lobsters involves such hardship, she intentionally mixed the events, drawing attention to the distortion to make a larger point. The fact that she told us in the beginning that she has been a tour guide for 29 years rather suggests she has never moved into the position of a manager or any higher-up position in the company; it goes to show that she is inept, incapable of handling fidelity, and lacks the initiative to strive in telling fascinating or compelling stories to begin with.
Adding insult to injury, our driver Howard, or as we like to call him "Pink Slip Howard," has a familiarity in engineering a Trojan horse. Yet, when it comes to driving the coach, making turns on narrow roads plays a bigger part in the circus of tricks that he is about to reveal to his audience. Despite his driving skill, he intentionally parked in a no-parking zone. The fact of the matter is there is a sign stating that no coach or vehicle of that size can park at the entrance of the Atlantic Superstore, yet despite this warning, he proceeded to park and had the face to cry wolf when he received a pink slip. Usually, whenever we are about to be dropped off, everyone has to leave the bus, which the tour guide espouses is to log his hours during the trip. Proceeds to feign ignorance, deliberately and manipulatively engaging in a scam to garner more of a tip, despite the mandatory gratuity that we had to pay. The critical event presenting this harmless mask was the tour guide convinced everyone that his salary was in equal pairing to the ticket, saying that he had no more money to give his family. Careless as they were with their vocabulary, the crowd instinctively gave him cash because of it.
This entire 7-day trip to the Maritime provinces goes to show that the crowd paying for these cheap thrills is only treating Canadian history as a Disneyland attraction ride. With only an hour to explore most towns and cities, one could not appreciate the value and the natural landscapes that North America has to offer: take a picture of this, a picture of that, and on to the next one she goes. I would recommend to anyone to avoid this company and all of its subsequent copycats. You are not being handed the best deal of your life, no matter what your frugal pride and mentality might say. I would suggest flying, going to a local bed and breakfast, and doing one itinerary for the day. The only thing that you will miss from these tour services is the amount of washrooms you will stop by. read more