Canadian food

There were articles on the upcoming winter Olympics in Vancouver in the local newspaper this week. The food section has an article on Canadian food. It was surprising in part. I expected some of it, such as the maritime provinces having lots of seafood dishes and the prairie provinces having grain dishes. But I was surprised by poutine, which was described as "a rib-sticking concoction of french fries, cheese curds and gravy that is sometimes called Canada's national dish." There was also a dessert called Nanaimo bars, which David wanted to make but sounded very fatty for me. Anyone who's Canadian, or who has eaten these foods, have any comments?