Chestnuts and pears: I read the same in Wikipedia, but nevertheless I agree with Barbeau that that line strongly points to France. There is a tradition in (northern) French rhetorics to list items in pairs, representing typical attributes of northern and southern France and thus suggesting an equal share of both parts in the nation's identity - Monique can tell us more.

Our songwriter is not interested in national symbolism of Canada (probably on the contrary). I guess snippets from a French poem have been inserted without taking a closer look.