Toronto Star

Consider the case of Canada, a country still struggling to grasp what it is, let alone its role in the world. "We're still very caught up with this colonial stuff," observes respected Toronto architect John van Nostrand, who recently won this year's $15,000 Jane Jacobs Prize, which honours urban thinkers in Toronto. "I come from a family of surveyors. Surveyors in British colonies were hugely valuable. British surveying patterns, whether consciously or not, tried to neutralize the landscape. They didn't want people to grow too attached to the land because if you did you'd be prepared to fight for it, which I think is what happened in the States. "(John Graves) Simcoe was terrified of losing control of the land. He decided that Great Britain lost the 13 colonies because it lost control of the land. His proposals were an attempt to keep control of the land."