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Gibsons is a coastal community of about 5000 in southwestern British Columbia, Canada on the Sunshine Coast, where the southwest bank of Howe Sound meets the Strait of Georgia.
In October 2009, the town was declared the "Most Liveable Community in the World" (under 20,000 population) at the international Livcom Awards. Endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme, the LivCom competition focuses on best practices for local environmental management.
The land currently known as Gibsons is part of the traditional and ancestral lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, which also includes parts of Greater Vancouver and the Squamish River watershed. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh oral history tells that the region around Gibsons was the birthplace of the Squamish people after what is called The Great Flood.
The first European to settle in Skwxwú7mesh territory near Ch’ḵw’elhp was George Gibson, an ex-British naval officer. George and his sons built the Swamp Angel and sailed to Átl’ka7tsem Howe Sound where they pre-empted (claimed) District Lot 686 in 1886. Within two years, Gibson had built a two-storey house, planted 100 fruit trees and cultivated four acres of land, enough to ship his produce to Vancouver to sell, and enticed other early pre-emptors including the Soames, Winegarden and Glassford families. From 1886 to 1910, much of the area was pre-empted by settlers as the population grew. Like much of British Columbia, the land was settled without treaties being signed with the host First Nations, which is why the term unceded territory is commonly used.
The settlement was incorporated in 1929 as Gibson’s Landing, and in 1947 was renamed Gibsons at the residents' request.
F. C. Grantham, a Vancouver businessman, built a summer cabin on an 800-foot stretch of waterfront in 1909. He added roads, a water system, a floating wharf, plank sidewalks and 25 cabins on the beach, attracting boat loads of summer vacationers. He called his resort Howe Sound Beach, but after a government wharf was built there, it came to be known as Grantham’s Landing. The locals sold much of their farm and dairy produce to the resort.
Grantham’s Landing is now part of the town of Gibsons.
The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the province of Ontario. There are offically ten provinces and three territories in Canada, which is the second largest country in the world in terms of land area.While politically and legally an independant nation, the titular head of state for Canada is still Queen Elizabeth.On the east end of Canada, you have Montreal as the bastion of activity. Montreal is famous for two things, VICE magazine and the Montreal Jazz Festival. One is the bible of hipster life (disposable, of course) and the other is a world-famous event that draws more than two million people every summer. Quebec is a French speaking province that has almost seceded from Canada on several occasions, by the way..When you think of Canada, you think of . . . snow, right?But not on the West Coast. In Vancouver, it rains. And you'll find more of the population speaking Mandarin than French (but also Punjabi, Tagalog, Korean, Farsi, German, and much more).Like the other big cities in Canada, Vancouver is vividly multicultural and Vancouverites are very, very serious about their coffee.Your standard Vancouverite can be found attired head-to-toe in Lululemon gear, mainlining Cafe Artigiano Americanos (spot the irony for ten points).But here's a Vancouver secret only the coolest kids know: the best sandwiches in the city aren't found downtown. Actually, they're hidden in Edgemont Village at the foot of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore."It's actually worth coming to Canada for these sandwiches alone." -- Michelle Superle, VancouverText by Steve Smith.
