I would like to hear from anyone who has been in Canada and seen the Northern lights. I have always wanted to see them.

Once I read a mystery novel by Dick Francis which was set on a train going across Canada. In the novel, the Northern lights seemed to be visible almost every night. Are they actually that predictable, or was it just good fiction?

By the way, I wrote to the Canadian Tourist Bureau (whatever its official name is) about this some time ago. All I got back was a letter that said, "If you want to visit a certain province, write to the tourist bureau in that province." Perhaps the person writing that had never heard of the Northern lights.

Anyhow, is there a good way to see them?