CANADIAN FORCES WILL ENJOY LATVIA’S FAVE FARE

Canada, you might have heard, is sending a battle group to Latvia to deter Russian aggression against our NATO ally. The force eventually will include up to 1,000 troops and six CF-18 fighter jets. That’s about the same size as the Canadian brigade previously deployed in Afghanistan.

Latvia is nearer, and our NATO ally, but hardly more familiar to Canadians. Here are 17 things you might not know about this small, Eastern European country. 1. Latvia is about one-10th the size of Saskatchewan, with two million people. One-quarter of the population is ethnic Russian. Ethnic Latvians tend to blame ethnic Russians for everything that’s wrong in the country. 2. The Latvian language was actively suppressed during decades of Soviet oppression. Still, Latvian remains the dominant language and culture. The language is said to be difficult for English speakers to learn, but easier than Lithuanian. 3. Latvia has been independent since 1991. Citizenship, however, was conferred only to those who were Latvian citizens in 1940, when the Soviets moved in, and their descendants. Nearly onethird of the population, mostly ethnic Russians, were thus disenfranchised. About half this number has since completed requisite citizenship courses leaving about 14 per cent as non-citizens. 4. The Latvian climate is temperate and humid along the Baltic coastline, becoming more extreme farther east. The capital city of Riga has snow cover for most of the winter. 5. Founded in the second century AD, Riga now is a modern city and among the busiest of Baltic ports, with a population approaching 700,000. Mikhail Baryshnikov was born in Riga, but he is an ethnic Russian, so you won’t find in the city a statue of him or a bridge named after him. 6. Latvia has been menaced or occupied by Russia for most of its history, with a brief and frightful interval of Nazi occupation. Perilously positioned between Germany and Russia, Latvia was devastated by both the First and Second World Wars. 7. Latvia’s cost of living is low by European standards. A good hotel room in downtown Riga can be had for $130 a night. Along with Latvia’s celebrated scenery and old world ambience, reasonable prices are attracting growing numbers of tourists from Europe and North America. Tourism was up 11 per cent last year. 8. Walking in the forest for Latvians is almost an official national pastime. Huge tracts of land cleared under Soviet rule for collective farming have since been reforested. Land remaining under cultivation produces mostly forage crops for thriving beef and dairy industries. Under Russian rule, Latvians were reduced to mass protests over meat shortages. 9. Among the leading Latvian imports into Canada is Stolichnaya potato vodka. Created under Stalin as a state-owned enterprise, the Stolichnaya brand has been in dispute since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Vodka under a nearly identical Stolichnaya label is also made in Moscow by another company. Both claim to be the authentic and superior product. 10. Latvians are reputed to be a serious and reserved, even dour, people. They don’t smile at passersby. 11. Canada has a so-called youth mobility agreement with Latvia allowing citizens between the ages of 18 and 34 to qualify for work and residency permits for up to a year of travel or employment. 12. An expatriate Latvian, Jacob Davis, in 1871 in Nevada came up with the idea of reinforcing jeans with copper rivets. He sold his invention to Levi Strauss. 13. At least in one respect, Canadian troops will feel right at home in Latvia. Hockey is that country’s most popular sport. At least 30 Latvians have played in the NHL. In the 2014 Winter Olympics, Latvia gave Canada all it could handle before succumbing 2-1 in the quarter-final. 14. Latvian cuisine also should appeal to Canadian visitors. Among the most popular of the country’s traditional dishes is pork and beans. 15. Latvia’s president, Raimonds Vējonis, 40, is a member of that country’s Green party. A biologist and former environment minister, his interest in environmental issues was inspired by the blinding of his grandfather with chemicals used on a Soviet collective farm. Vējonis is the first and only Green party leader in the European Union. He speaks fluent English and Russian. 16. Latvia has the highest rate of traffic fatalities in Europe. Police corruption reportedly is widespread and drivers caught speeding can get off with a bribe. 17. Among the extraordinary characters of recent Latvian history is Janis Pinups, who hid in the forest from Soviet authorities for more than 50 years. Conscripted into the Red Army and sent to the front as a teenager in 1944, Pinups soon thereafter was left on the battlefield concussed and unconscious. When he came to and found his unit had moved on, he deserted and made his way home on foot. He thereafter remained in hiding, fearing he would be shot as a deserter. Pinups only emerged in 1995 after the last Russian troops were withdrawn from Latvia.