According to the most recent 2016 Census, around 4.8 million Canadians have reported to be of Scottish origin, and around 113,430 of them live in Nova Scotia.
“As a 25-year resident of Canada, I am keenly aware of the intimate connections between Scotland and Canada and have long sought ways to bring Scotland and its Canadian diaspora together,” said Harry McGrath, chair and head of engagement and global outreach at dotScot Registry.
To do that, McGrath said in the internet age “the .scot domain has the power to overcome distance.”
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The .scot domain is Scotland’s internet identity and the community domain for ‘the worldwide family of Scots’, according to McGrath who is a Scots-Canadian himself. The domain was acquired five years ago.
“The Scots immigrated from all over the world, really, and have always been out there.”
“In pre-technology days, there wasn’t really a way of people grouping together or identifying as a diaspora group. But now that we have the kind of technology that we have that’s much, much easier to do.”
McGrath said it’s very easy to set up an e-mail or website with the .scot domain. Anyone can apply for it with a few simple steps on their website.
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“The idea of that domain would be for anyone, anywhere that has any kind of a Scottish connection, so even an affinity with Scotland,” he said. “We wanted to keep it wide open.”
Currently, the Scottish government, parliament, health service users and the film industry in Scotland all use the .scot domain.
The domain has a presence in 44 countries around the world, but Canada has long been the country of choice for emigrant Scots, said McGrath.
The name Nova Scotia is Latin for ‘New Scotland,’ and was first given to this part of North America in 1621, according to the N.S. government. Although there were occasional Scots among the early settlers, they did not come in large numbers or establish permanent communities until 1773, when emigrants from the north-western coast of Scotland arrived in Pictou, N.S.
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McGrath said the domain isn’t just for individuals, but for cultural organisations as well.
“Canada is rich in Scottish cultural organisations that we would love to see using .scot including St. Andrews and Caledonian Societies, Burns clubs and organisations set up to promote and practice Highland games, piping, Highland dancing, Scottish country dance and so on.”
Before moving to Scotland, McGrath worked with the Pier 21 museum in Halifax, then later with the Centre for Scottish Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
In 2009, he was involved with a project called This is Who We Are in Halifax.
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“The idea was that we would go to towns in Scotland, and towns in Canada that had the same name, so we went to places like Inverness in New Glasgow and we got a lot of kids, some schools, but adults too, to tell the story of their towns using digital cameras.”
McGrath said the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 helped him and his team make contacts as they traveled across Canada, visiting different towns.
“At the end of it, we did a big reception at the Scottish Parliament using a lot of the material that we had picked up.”
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McGrath then left to work at the Centre for Scottish Studies in Vancouver.
There, he said, he worked primarily with Scots both in the community and in the university, and that made him feel at home.
“I didn’t feel at home just because I was Scottish, but because I thought being Scottish was kind of part of the Canadian cultural mosaic that I loved so much, and Scotland was one part of it.”
“It’s such a relief, almost a joy, to see a place that celebrates immigration,” McGrath added.