Canada Letter: Hairy Mountain Beasts and Franglais Humor

The Times’s recent Canada-related coverage with back stories and analysis from our reporters along with opinions from our readers. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Saturday, August 18, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Canada »]( [Hairy Mountain Beasts and Franglais Humor]( By IAN AUSTEN Forest fires continued to rage in western Canada this week, forcing British Columbia to declare a state of emergency. In Victoria, the debate over how to commemorate Sir John A. Macdonald doesn’t appear completely resolved, echoing a similar discussion in Kingston, Ontario that [I wrote about]( almost a year ago. [Todd Standing in camouflage while sasquatch tracking.] Todd Standing in camouflage while sasquatch tracking. Todd Standing But there was another story this week in British Columbia that didn’t get a lot of attention. The province’s Supreme Court found itself considering something out of the ordinary: Does the sasquatch exist? Or at minimum, is there enough doubt about the answer to that question to justify a lawsuit against the province? Todd Standing, a lumber mill worker and self-described sasquatch tracker from Golden, British Columbia, asked the court not to dismiss his lawsuit against the provincial government. Mr. Standing claims to possess, as he repeatedly told me, “irrefutable evidence that they are real.” Mr. Standing is not after money. Rather, he wants the province to formally declare that the hairy giant — giganto horridus hominoid, or gigantopithecus, as he also calls it in his court filing — does indeed lurk in the forests and mountains of British Columbia. He is also seeking an order requiring that the province’s fish and wildlife service give the sasquatch the protections it has offered to other creatures. The province’s view can best be summed up in its request to quash the case. It says that Mr. Standing’s lawsuit lacks “an air of reality” and that it is “groundless, fanciful, trifles with the court.” [A sasquatch is depicted on a Canadian collectors’ coin issued in 2011.] A sasquatch is depicted on a Canadian collectors’ coin issued in 2011. Royal Canadian Mint Skepticism about his sasquatch claims are nothing new for Mr. Standing, who is originally from Alberta. He said that he first began looking for the beast about 12 years ago, aiming to disprove the legend. He wound up a believer, and his life since then has been a quest to persuade the rest of the world. “I deal with the ridicule, I deal with the people who mock me,” Mr. Standing said. “I only put up with it because I’m so passionate. People mocked Einstein, but Einstein was vindicated.” There have been suggestions that Mr. Standing’s lawsuit is a way to drum up business for his sasquatch-tracking trips. About a dozen people will pay up to 4,800 Canadian dollars to join him in the woods for a week this summer. But Mr. Standing said that those fees simply cover the costs of his sasquatch research. A documentary he released last year, “[Discovering Bigfoot]( was also part of his fund-raising efforts, but proved unsuccessful. “My documentary, financially, has been a total flop,” Mr. Standing said. “The sales were dismal.” It’s unclear when the court will announce its decision in the sasquatch case. “If it goes to trial, I’ll win, I’ll smoke them,” Mr. Standing predicted. “This is the discovery of the millennium.” [A sasquatch statue greets visitors to Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia.] A sasquatch statue greets visitors to Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. Tourism Harrison The sasquatch is probably the best known of the various beasts, creatures and monsters said to inhabit Canada, though most people regard them as mythical. They appear widely in Indigenous mythologies, including those of [the Inuit](. Others are local tourism gimmicks. The town of Cobden, Ontario, not far from where I live in Ottawa, [keeps up the legend]( of a local sea monster known as Mussie, a tale dating back to at least the 19th century. Is there a legendary creature where you live, or is there such a beast anywhere in Canada that you’re fond of, or frightened by? Please send me an email about the legend and, if there’s some kind of statue or depiction of the beast, a photo. Emails can be sent to nytcanada@nytimes.com. Of course, if you’ve managed to take your own picture of the creature, all the better. I’ll include the most interesting submissions in next week’s Canada Letter. Provocateur [Samir Khullar, better known as Sugar Sammy, on stage at the Olympia theater in Montreal.] Samir Khullar, better known as Sugar Sammy, on stage at the Olympia theater in Montreal. Renaud Philippe for The New York Times Be sure to set aside time for Dan Bilefsky’s engaging and funny profile of Sugar Sammy, the comedian from Montreal. [Read: [A Quebec Comedian Is Happy to Offend in Any Language]( [Lire en français: [Un humoriste québécois se fait un plaisir de choquer… dans la langue de son choix]( Sammy is the son of immigrants from Northern India and an outspoken voice for Canadian federalism in Quebec. He’s known for switching between French, English and sometimes other languages during his performances. The approach has made him a well-known figure in the province, and a millionaire. But, Dan wrote, “This being Quebec, he was also pilloried by some French-speaking Quebec nationalists for bastardizing the language of Molière by speaking Franglais. Anglophones who didn’t speak French were annoyed at feeling left out.” [Sugar Sammy at his Montreal home.] Sugar Sammy at his Montreal home. Renaud Philippe for The New York Times To see Sugar Sammy [in performance]( check out this CBC Television comedy program he hosted. (Unlike most videos of Sammy on stage, this one doesn’t require a “contains strong language” warning.) More Events and Another Giveaway A reminder that our first subscribers event in Ottawa is fast approaching. Three members of The Times’s Washington bureau will be at the National Gallery of Canada on Sept. 5 to discuss the [2018 midterm elections]( and their potential consequences for Canada and the rest of the world in the age of President Trump. I’m moderating. Everything you need to know about the event, including how to buy tickets, [can be found here.]( The previous evening, Sept. 4, we’re holding another screening of selections from our Opinion section’s [Op-Docs video series]( at the[Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema]( in Toronto. I hosted an earlier session and was amazed at how the videos were transformed when projected onto a full-sized theater screen. The video screening will be hosted by Lindsay Crouse, coordinating producer for Op-Docs, and most of the six videos are about Canada or produced by Canadians. After the screening, Ms. Crouse will have a discussion with Charlie Tyrell from Toronto (director of the moving “[My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes”]( and the director Matthieu Rytz of Montreal (“[Sinking Islands, Floating Nation]( a video about an ambitious plan to deal with rising sea levels in the nation of Kiribati). [An image from the short documentary, “My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes.”] An image from the short documentary, “My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes.” Charlie Tyrell So here’s the giveaway. The first 50 Canada Letter readers who go to the [ticket and information page]( for the Op-Docs night and enter the code NYTOPDOCSCOMP won’t pay a cent to attend. Yes, that’s right: Free tickets. There’s also a consolation prize. The code NYTOPDOCSDISC will get you tickets at the discounted price of 8 Canadian dollars rather than the full freight of 11.50 Canadian. Op-Docs is now its fifth season. The videos that will be shown at the Toronto screening and dozens of other Op-Docs can [always be found here]( for the small-screen viewing experience. Trans Canada [What Corona Owner’s $4 Billion Bet on a Marijuana Firm Says About Pot’s Future]( The American company that owns Corona beer, Robert Mondavi wine, and a whole keg of other alcohol brands spent about $4 billion to increase its stake in Canopy Growth, one of the largest marijuana companies in Canada. Michael J. de la Merced looked into what the deal means for beer makers at a time when their sales are going flat [Taking Back My Eyebrows]( In Styles, Christine Estima, a novelist and spoken-word artist from Toronto, recounted the changes in her relationship with one of her most prominent facial features. Around The Times [Banks and Retailers Are Tracking How You Type, Swipe and Tap]( Even the name seems creepy. “Behavioral biometrics” involves creating distinct profiles of people based on how they hold their phones, click on their mouse, tap on their devices — pretty much everything about their physical interactions with the digital world. Banks and other companies hope those profiles will prevent fraud. Privacy experts, however, have concerns. [Fierce and Unpredictable: How Wildfires Became Infernos]( “Firenados” are one of the many difficult-to-predict outcomes of large forest fires. Scientists are creating wildfires in a lab to develop a computer model that could bring some predictability. [Elon Musk Details ‘Excruciating’ Personal Toll of Tesla Turmoil]( Elon Musk, the Tesla founder and onetime resident of Canada, struggled to keep his composure and generally unloaded when he sat down for an interview with The Times. Among other things, he seemed to acknowledge that his proposed share price to buy up the electric car company’s stock was partly a marijuana joke. HOW ARE WE DOING? A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has family ties throughout Western Canada. He has reported about Canada for The New York Times for over 15 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten. We’re eager to have your thoughts about this newsletter and events in Canada in general. Please send them to [nytcanada@nytimes.com](mailto:nytcanada@nytimes.com? subject=Canada%20Letter%20Newsletter%20Feedback). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. 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