A Few Acres of Snow

"A few acres of snow" (in the original French, "quelques arpents de neige" with "vers le Canada") is one of several quotations from Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, which are representative of his sneering evaluation of Canada, and by extension New France, as lacking economic value and strategic importance to 18th-century France. The exact phrase first appears in 1758 in chapter 23 of Voltaire's book Candide, although the phrase "a few acres of ice" appeared in a letter he wrote in 1757. Voltaire wrote similar sarcastic remarks in other works.