Lies My Government Told Me When it came to advertising the Canadian West - it is doubtful whether any poor sap anywhere got sold a load of hooey on the level that the immigrants to Western Canada did. Once they got here - it was really too late to turn around and go home - nobody was going to refund their one way tickets - and class action suits were entirely unknown in that era. Of the deadly bitter winters that the immigrants faced in Canada - they had been told by the Canadian Government that: "Everywhere the appearance of snow is hailed as seasonal and beneficial Sleighing parties of pleasure are arranged for the period of the full moon and the sound of sleigh bells is a merry one."Of the harsh Western Canadian climate in general they were told: "The climate is not only invigorating to adults...but it seems to have a special influence in developing strong and healthy children. No better climate for children is to be found in America".Of farming conditions, the Saskatoon Board of Trade - in a 1908 promotion stated that: "It is not surprising that our farmers succeed so well: The crop never fails! If a farmer here suffers a crop failure - it is safe to say that the fault lies solely with himself." And the one things that nobody every mentioned one single word about - was of the hordes of carnivorous black flies and mosquitoes that blanketed the entire West - waiting for the unsuspecting homesteader to settle into the neighborhood