‘The people are my favourite’: Irish-born content creator becomes a big fan of Saskatchewan

WATCH: Saskatchewan has gained an international fan with a young Irish-born content creator.

Saskatchewan has gained an international fan with a young Irish-born content creator who is singing the praises of the province and attracting lots of interest on social media in the process.

Jamie Harkin, 23, has been shining a spotlight on the province, a place he says he never expected to fall in love with.

“The people are my favourite. I felt so welcome,” Harkin told CTV News.

“I actually came on the Thanksgiving weekend, and a lot of things were closed. It was hard to find things that were open and just a group of strangers reached out and they were like, ‘We want to make your time here very nice.’ That is not something that you get everywhere.”

He had random strangers reach out and offer to host him for dinner and one person, who is now a friend, made him a boxed lunch to take on his travels to a farm outside of Saskatoon.

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He quickly learned that positive sentiment about Saskatchewan isn’t always the norm.

“A lot of people were like, ‘Why would you come to Saskatchewan?’ Even on the flight here, I actually met a guy who lived here, and he was like, ‘Why? Why are you coming to Saskatchewan?’ ”

Harkin moved to Canada a year ago and lives in Toronto. While he’s travelled across the country creating videos, he says Saskatchewan wasn’t originally on the itinerary until curiosity brought him to the prairies.

That happened after hearing a popular song that mentions Saskatchewan.

“I said, I’m going to try and find the beauty here, and see what it’s all about. And I came and I loved it,” he said.

One of his posts says, “This is my love letter for the kindness, for the people, for the friendships that I will carry with me. For a place I didn’t expect to change me and did.”

Those endearing posts have been seen by thousands. Harkin has said he even gets stopped on the street because followers recognize him.

His global online followers now get a taste of prairie life through his lens. His posts attract thousands of viewers, popping up often on many social media feeds.

He admits his first visit was sponsored by a travel company, so it was a work trip.

“I only did Saskatoon and Moose Jaw the last time,” he said about his first trip in the fall.

He wanted to come back to reconnect with the people and places he saw during the first visit. This time he added Regina to the list of places and met with the Saskatchewanderer.

He took in all the major sights and even tastes. He tested out Regina-style pizza and a paralyzer cocktail at Agribition.

“That was my first rodeo, so I can’t use that phrase anymore,” he joked.

A trip to Saskatchewan wouldn’t be complete without some Rider green, so Harkin got his hands on some winning Roughrider championship gear to take back with him.

He says it only gets to about -4 C in Ireland, so he’s not sure if he’ll be coming back to Saskatchewan in the dead of winter — but it sounds like the warmth he’s found from new friends might just make him brave the cold.

“Thank you, Saskatchewan. Until we meet again,” he said.

Judging from the comments on his social media, he struck a nerve with many, even those who are from Saskatchewan and appreciated seeing Harkin’s love for the province in a new light.