Mr. Nuttall Goes to Ottawa: Kitchener Edition

[Editor's note: Along their eastward route to Ottawa, The Tyee's new national reporter Jeremy Nuttall and his partner Mao Yanhong are chatting with ordinary Canadians to find out what they think should be covered in the capital. They're also filing dispatches from the road. Wondering who Jeremy is and how this journey came to be? Check out our introduction here.]

After being threatened with a speeding ticket at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, it was extra nice getting back into Canada. 

"Hurry on," said the officer. "Well, don't hurry, but get out of here." 

Fine then. 

The Ambassador Bridge is an brief but interesting look into the difference between the U.S. and Canada. 

On one side of the river there's a city grappling with crime and a depressed economy, and across the bridge is a typical small Canadian city in Windsor. 

That doesn't mean Canada doesn't have its own problems. 

In Kitchener, our stop for the night, Katie Chapman helps locals beautify themselves working at the Shopper's Drug Mart cosmetics counter. 

Chapman said she had no advice for being in Ottawa particularly, but her biggest concern in Canada is healthcare.

"I won't wait on healthcare," she said, pointing out she prefers to go to the U.S. when she needs something done. "It's free, but it still takes too long and that's not good enough." 

Chapman said she's had knee problems for years and the constant wait to have work done began to frazzle her. Now, she said, the system needs to pick up the pace. 

Healthcare access has long been a concern in Canada, with many people sharing the same complaints as Chapman. 

The Tyee will be picking up the pace itself and landing in Ottawa this week to begin poking into such questions. 

But first, Toronto perhaps...