What's wrong with Canada?

Doug Nelson · #1 04-29-2002, 04:50 PM

Canada sounds too good to be true. It always seemed to me kind of like a cardigan-wearing, bookish neighbor. The only jokes I ever hear at Canada's expense are about how nice the people are, how cold it gets, or how they pronounce "about the house", all of which are pretty lame joke subjects.

If Canada were so great, wouldn't everybody be moving there? Come to think of it, on '60 minutes' they mentioned the Canadian per-capita immigration rate was double that of US, so maybe everyone is moving there.

So, come on you Canucks, give us the skootleboot, don't leave us writhing in envy: what's wrong with Canada?

Ed_L · #2 04-29-2002, 05:52 PM

As if they're gonna tell!

Ed

OhThatGirl2001 · #3 04-29-2002, 06:01 PM

Since I really am a true Canuck - living in Beautiful British Columbia... I thought I would respond to your question.

The answer quite simply is NOTHING!

Canada - is a wonderful place to raise children. I have the benefit of the ocean - fishing, boating and island hoping. At the same time, we have the moutains (Whistler)! Now what can I say.

We do have RAIN - almost as much as Oregon. That being said, you kind of get used to it.

I wake up in the morning and look out my window. To right of me, I can see Mnt Baker - Washington and the mouth of the Fraser River. To the left, I see Golden Ears Park with it's vast moutain range.

May 1st - Spring salmon fishing begins!!!! Yippeee

OK Doug... That's what you get for asking what's wrong with Canada

On the negative side....

Our politics suck, our dollar value sucks more....
That's my 2cents.

Lisa

Mig · #4 04-29-2002, 06:21 PM

I'm Canadian.
Canada is a great country.
The United States is a great country.
What Americans don't seem to understand though, is that outside of these borders the U.S. is not popular. It's something the U.S. struggles with.
A famous Canadian writer - so famous I can't recall his name right now - once put it well by saying, "Canadians love Americans, but loathe the U.S."
Don't take it personal, there's a lot of love going both ways and we're lucky to have one another.
If you ever want to reduce your blood pressure, take a trip up to anywhere in Canada. It's beautiful and the people are all nice; I know this is fact cuz I know each and every one of them, including the Canadian guy you met once named Ed.

Mig

Doug Nelson · #5 04-29-2002, 06:39 PM

Heck, I won't take it personally. I loathe America. At times, anyway. Sometimes America can be very cool.

I loathe how we've built an economy around exploiting human failings. I loathe the "not in my back yard" epidemic. I loathe the complacency and provincialism that are championed here as virtues.

But I love how we can come together in a crunch, when it really matters. I love the non-stop ingenuity that breaks every limit declared unbreakable. And I love how we can turn on a dime, change everything, and amaze the world.

So...it rains a lot there?

d_kendal · #6 04-29-2002, 07:20 PM

so what's wrong with Canada? not much , in my opinion,
except the politicians, (not much different than anywhere else), and the dollar, like Lisa said. I'm really unimpressed with our education system. Our dollar is in horrible shape: $1 canadian = about 62 cents American! makes travelling to the US or buying anything from there pretty impractical.
on the bright side, in Edmonton we have one of the biggest river valleys around, which is beautiful and kept in very good shape, people here are very friendly, there's a great arts community, cost of living here isn't bad at all, theres all kinds of other great thingsI love about Canada, but I'm too lazy too write them all right now

The only problem is that since it's so nice here, the vacancy rate is very low (here in Edmonton it's under 1%)

Quote:

So...it rains a lot there?

in British Columbia it does, but here in Alberta it mostly snows, sometimes fairly late into the year (this year it went into late April!) so the snow can be another downside if you're a driver, but it looks really nice anyway!

- David

Doug Nelson · #7 04-29-2002, 07:22 PM

I suspect I'm a Canadian stuck in an American body.

And dollar values only matter to those who have dollars

winwintoo · #8 04-29-2002, 07:49 PM

We Canadians spend a lot of time whining about how low our dollar is compared to the US dollar, but when I went shopping in the Wal-Mart in Riverside California, the sticker price on a barbecue was the same as it was in the Wal-Mart right here in Regina, Saskatchewan.

What that means is that I can buy a barbecue here at Wal-Mart for $199 CDN, but the very same barbecue in California is $199 Us which translates into nearly $300 Canadian - you're paying more for the same thing.

I can only think of good things to say about Canada: butter tarts, saskatoon pie, Roger's corn syrup, Hawkins Cheezies, hockey, to name just a few.

In Saskatchewan we have cradle to grave free medical care. We have very little crime, it doesn't take us hours to get to work, we have as much sky as Montana, if you're claustrophobic you won't feel closed in by mountains or tall buildings.

What's wrong with Canada - all you nice people don't live here. Come on over, we'll set another place at the table and throw another potato in the pot.

Margaret

airubin · #9 04-29-2002, 07:59 PM

All to often the people of a country have a government that they do not deserve. It is odd that the people of Iran and Iraq are pro-American while their governments are anti- American. The reverse is true for many of the other Middle Eastern countries. Enough said about that.

I think that Canada and its people are great. We’ve limited our travels to the eastern part, but it has all been just wonderful. Some of the highlights were Montreal, Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Gaspe’ Peninsular, and areas in between.

We enjoyed all our trips even though the dollar was almost at parity and the best that we got was a 15% advantage. It is really time to go back.

Alan

d_kendal · #10 04-29-2002, 08:02 PM

oh yes how could I forget? our sports here are great! long live canadian hockey and free medical care!!!
I find it quite funny how oblivious lots of Americans are about Canada. when my friends go to visit people in the US, they always tell stories about living in Igloos, spear hunting seals, etc. etc. and they believe every word of it!

- David

Ed_L · #11 04-29-2002, 09:06 PM

David,

You mean you really don't do that?

Ed

OhThatGirl2001 · #12 04-29-2002, 09:19 PM

No Ed,

We don't all speak french either

Lisa

Lampy · #13 05-03-2002, 01:55 PM

Hi All:

Just saw this thread and had to say something.

I was born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. A great place to be a kid.

Now I'm here in Denver, Colorado. Also a beautiful place but different. There are so many things I miss about home but they are all little things. I miss the variation in stores, the bakeries and unique foods. Butter Tarts, potato cakes, malt bread, Naniamo bars, certain chocolate bars (Mr. Big, Aero, Coffee Crisp to name a few), restaurants like Swiss Chalet, Harvey's, New York Fries, and Liks.

I certainly think Canadian's are a bit more conservative, respectful and polite as a population. There are many American's that are all those things as well just they can be harder to find.

There is certainly a difference is certain pronuciations. oot, aboot, hoose and saying eh? I have the so called accent (although personally I think that is the correct pronuciation it's not spelled abowt you know!) but I was lucky that I never really said eh!

I am not used to the whole health care thing here. I watched a friend get picked up by an ambulance after hurting an ankle playing softball. Before they did a thing he had to show a medical card and tell them which hospital he wanted to go to. What's up with that? If I'm hurt I want to go to the nearest hospital not fill out paper work and show cards.

Canadian health care may have some downfalls, slower service for non-emergencies and so on but you will be taken care of no matter how much money you have, and if your child is sick you don't have to worry that you will go bankrupt trying to give him/her the care they deserve.

I have to say being the result of Canadian public school system and having a step son in the Colorado school system they aren't that much different. Both have severe problems. Our view of the school system is to keep a close eye on your kids no matter where they are and make sure they are learning what they need to know. We sit down with him while he does his homework every night and quiz him on things he should know and sit with him while he reads to us 20-30 minutes each evening and he is becoming a great student! They say learning begins at home!

Ok well I could go on and on but I need to get going. I highly recommend any American reading this to take a visit, many visits to Canada. It is a wonderful place, not all that different from the US in people and architecture (man made things) but amazing for it's natural beauty!!!!!

I love going home!

Cheers!

P.S. I'm not french either, although my husband told his mom that I was! Because all Canadian's are you know!

--Heather
www.tudhope.net

DJ Dubovsky · #14 05-03-2002, 02:49 PM

What do you mean? We have free medical care here in the US and as long as you're an illegal immegrant.

I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and have inheirited the Canadian accent common in that region so I agree with you Heather "about" is not spelled abowt so it shouldn't be pronounced that way.

Can't tell you how many times I get teased about that here in South Florida.
Canada wasn't so much another country to me growing up more like a day trip over the bridge. I loved it there. I would love to see more of it someday.
DJ

fugitive · #15 05-17-2002, 02:51 AM

I'll tell'ya what's wrong with Canada, it's too crowded.

CJ Swartz · #16 05-17-2002, 07:58 PM

Heather, David, Mig, Margaret -- I hope to visit Canada someday, and have always had an interest in the beauty of your country although it's a cooler climate than I would be comfortable staying in for long (being an Arizona "desert rat" ). My first recollections of anything Canadian was Sgt. Preston of the Canadian Mounties (and his dog King, of course) -- I've always loved those Mounties!

Then I saw photos of Vancouver, and Lake Louise, Atlantic puffins, etc. etc. -- your country is a treasure trove of beauty.

Your health-care system is one that the U.S. has looked at over the years, and one that I still think could help us fix our current nightmare of a system.

According to the census, Canada's population increased by only 4.0%, and the population density is 1/10th of the U.S. But you're safe from invasion by this Arizonan -- brrrr!!

Sam · #17 05-18-2002, 02:55 AM

Will all the stuff going on here in Zim, we've been looking at the possibility of emigrating somewhere else. But Canada never came to mind, until now! What put me off was that shortly after my parents married, they lived in Quebec for four years and some of my father's 8mm cine films show snow halfway up buildings!! They used to go tobogganing from a first floor window!

OhThatGirl2001 · #18 05-18-2002, 09:47 AM

Well Sam, it's true... we have snow. For us however, it stays on the mountains most of the time. We have 2-3 snowfalls a year that actually amount to something. I think Canada is a wonderful place to raise children.

Lisa

OhThatGirl2001 · #19 05-18-2002, 09:50 AM

Here is a shot I took of our local mountains yesterday afternoon. Does this look cold to you?

Lisa

Mig · #20 05-23-2002, 07:36 PM

"They used to go tobogganing from a first floor window!"

As a child I'd do this, and, we'd also jump off the roof of our house and then make angels in the snow. One time I came back to my house from a ski trip and we'd had a monster storm and in order to get to my front door from the street I had to surf on my skis. The snow was about 8 feet high. When I got to the front door my parents had to shovel the snow into the house in order to open the front door wide enough to let me in.

And CJ, you think Canada is cold? Try visiting S.F. in the middle of July. I was standing at a light last summer here in SF and a crazy street person said to no one, "The coldest winter I ever had was the summer I spent in San Francisco." In a queer sort of way it made sense.
In the summer months in the eastern part of Canada the temperatures are routinely in the 80's & 90's.
It does get cold in the winter though. Farley Mowat, the great Canadian author, once wrote, "It's so cold your spit freezes before it hits the ground."
The best time to visit is in August.

Mig