There’s a great contest currently running over at Reader’s Digest, which is searching for Canada’s "Most Interesting Towns." Contestants are given a maximum of 250 words to describe in English or French why their town is the best tourist destination, the greenest, the healthiest, the most artistic, the most entrepreneurial, has the best cuisine or the most community spirit. The winning story gets a cash prize for the writer and for their town.

Some of the entries are pretty predictable: Montréal has the best cuisine? Entirely possible. Ottawa is a great destination?  The tourism industry would agree. But there are surprises (and not just because not all participants seem to agree on the definition of "greenest"). I certainly didn’t realize that Toronto had so many resources and events for its Deaf and Deaf/Blind population.  

Small towns are well represented, from Hixon, BC to Eganville, ON, and on to tiny Pomeroy Ridge, NB, which has only 35 households. Clearwater, MB, population 50, shows a commitment to entrepreneurship that should be a lesson all of Canada’s struggling small communities. Just make sure you’re wearing waterproof mascara when you read the story from Cranberry Portage.