unless Canadians where distinctive canadian things people will mistake them for americans because of how similar we are.
Originally posted by Videospirit
unless Canadians where distinctive canadian things people will mistake them for americans because of how similar we are.
So you are saying that if you take away all the differences between Americans and Canadians there are no differences. No shit.
Originally posted by Hades Shinigami
No, I’m telling you right now that Canadians don’t say aboot, a-boh-oot, or anything oot. I don’t know what country those people are from, but it’s not Canada. At least not anything Ontario or west of it. Maybe a few frenchies do it, but no one else does. We say “about” like everyone else.
I’m sohry, you’re roight aboot this. It’s oll a booncha lies, eh?
Xwing1056
Actually, that’s heavily reminiscent of a butchered Australian or old British accent 
Originally posted by Cless Alvein
Actually, that’s heavily reminiscent of a butchered Australian or old British accent
That’s what I say too.
Xwing1056
Originally posted by Videospirit
unless Canadians where distinctive canadian things people will mistake them for americans because of how similar we are.
I think it means to say “unless Canadians wear distinctive canadian things”. Like maple leaf patches I guess.
As said earlier, I’d say the people vary from province to province to territory to interzone, because they’re so big(the places, not the people. :P). I mean fuck, look at Europe, so many countries that could fit in the pocket of big ol scary British Columbia. The Americas (yes I’ve heard Canada refered to as the Americas, fuck what the hell are you on Hades?) seem to be taking up a lot of space, but the good thing about Canada is that it’s not all fucking bullshit cities and towns, a lot of the wildnerness and nature is still intact.
Canada and the US’ political systems are quite different, though they are much closer to each other’s than either country is to europe. If you were to devise a 2 dimensional scale of how “right” or how “left” any country’s given government is, you would find both Canada and the US significantly to the right of the European welfare states. Though Canada does have universal health care, it is still limited in scope, and while it will cover things such as stitches, broken bones, and the like, you won’t see the Canadian government stepping in to cover the cost of Cancer treatment or any sort of major surgery. Canada is also making attempts to denationalize many other parts of the Health care system, as it has become too bloated to pay far…in 10 years, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the health care system a bit closer to the US’ in about 10 to 15 years.
Canada, much like the US, has always had a pretty significant wage gap between the rich and the poor, and unlike europe throughout much of the 60s to now, the gap has been getting bigger. If you look at other things like the gap in pay between women and men, you’ll find countries like australia, france, and germany, with a very small gap, though canada is hanging around the 70 cents on the dollar mark, just as the United States is.
You must also remember that politics is not necessarily the best way to compare two countries to one another. Differences in consitution, geographical locations, size, population, and other things like these all come into play when determining the political climate of a country, and though cultural differences certainly play a part, you can not necessarily infer in reverse that political differences = culutral differences on a grand scale. Canada and the US, both being modern democracies, are also both largetypified by apathy towards government and all things related, and I’m sure both Canada and the US have voting rates below 50%. You must realize that only about 21 or 22% of the population voted for Bush, certainly not a majority, and not even a plurality. Given such conditions in mdoern governments, it becomes increasingly difficult to make value judgements about an entire nation based on the actions of a leading party that does not even represent a plurality of the population. Such is the way modern politics works.
Actually you’re totally wrong Zepplin, the Canadian healthcare system does cover cancer treatments and major surgery like hip relacements and such, its the “extra” things like dental care which aren’t covered. Its true the the government has cut healthcare funding over the years but Canadian have fought them tooth and nail over it. So I’m not sure if your prediction will pan out.
There does exist a large gap between the right and the poor, but Canada has a much more developed social security net, its not much but it beats nothing.
I don’t have the exact figures, but I don’t think that voting rates are that low, I’ve worked telephone surveys for several years and when the question came up very few people told me that they were undecided or not interested.
Hmm, so the government pays for stuff like that huh? I know that Canada sends a large number of severe patients such as cancer patients to the US for treatment…I just assumed that because of this they would have left it to the individuals to pay.
Out of curiosity, I also went and looked up some statistics on Canadian voter turnout…it is slightly over 50% (54% of the voting age population voted in 2000).
Voter turnout has also been steadily dropping for the last 80 years…it’s about 20% lower turnout than in the 1950’s.
Compared to the US, it is nearly identical. Surprisingly enough, 50% of the voting age population voted in the 2000 elections. I honestly thought it would have been lower. Not surprisingly, voter turnouts are much lower in both Canada and the US than they are in western europe. 72.3% of the vap voted in france in 1995, 70% voted in the UK in 1996, and 75.3% of the population voted in Germany in 1998. Take these statistics however you want, I won’t impose any value judgements on them for you, but I think this demonstrates that I wasn’t completely off in comparing canada more closely to the US than western europe in governmental affairs.
“Interest” in governmental affairs does not necessarily always equate to voter turnout. I’m sure you would be hard pressed to find someone who wasn’t opinionated on such topics as gay marriage, abortion, welfare, social security, etc. in the US also, but it does not mean that every person who cares about this in the US goes and vote. The opposite is often true, for people might feel opinionated on certain topics yet also feel that their vote just isn’t worth anything. I can only assume, judging by the similar voter turnouts in the US and Canada, that this must be the case there also.
Also, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by more developed social security system. I honestly don’t know the details for canada, so you could be right, but I know that the United States has one of the largest and most bloated social security programs in the world. This is not to say that the US is a welfare state…welfare and social security are completely different programs, but I do know there are few social security programs as large and comprehensive as the US. Given the sheer size of the elderly population in the United States, this shouldn’t be too surprising. Perhaps social security and welfare are more closely linked in canada? I’m not sure.
Originally posted by Xwing1056
[b]That’s what I say too.Xwing1056 [/b]
No it isn’t. Don’t contradict yourself right after your last post, foolio.
Canada sent cancer patients to the US because there’s a shortage of doctors and the waiting lists in some parts of the country are too long it sometimes becomes a hazzard to the patient’s health, but they still picked up the tab for it.
Originally posted by Dark Sand
its the “extra” things like dental care which aren’t covered.
Hmm? Those things are covered in Nova Scotia…dental care is always especially included…but I suppose it depends on the job. But dental care is definately covered in various occupations.
Occupations have their own health care. In Ontario at least, OHIP only covers very basic things; dental isn’t included.
As for the Canadian accent: There ARE people who talk like that. Most definitely. But the vast majority of Canadian’s don’t. A huge amount of Canadians actually aren’t Canadian by birth, anyway. That’s another thing we both have in common - we’re the two most multicultural countries in the world, I believe.
Originally posted by Hades Shinigami
No it isn’t. Don’t contradict yourself right after your last post, foolio.
<s>“that’s heavily reminiscent of a butchered Australian or old British accent” - Sure, I say that to my Canadian friends.</s>
Oh roight - they’re lies woon and oll.
Xwing1056
I live in Buffalo, right by the border. My take is this: Canada might as well be the 51st state. Going to Canada is no different than going to PA, except they ask a few questions before you go in. I head up to Canada a few times a year.
I watch hockey on Canadian television sometimes. It’s funny, Canadian news seems to cover more US topics than their own. Radio - Canadian stations play the same music as US.
The US protects Canada, and Canada knows this - hence their relatively small military. If anyone ever invaded Canada, we’d be right there. Essentially we’re defending our own borders by defending Canada.
If the US declared Canada a state, there’s not much they could do about it. Except die.
Would I move to Canada? Probably not. The currency is weaker, the taxes are probably about the same. There’s bigger business in the US to find jobs, and the further North you go, the colder it gets. (Not that Buffalo is an ideal place to live…) I guess if I was offered a job with a substantial pay increase (US Currency) in Toronto, I might go - depending on cost of living, etc. And if I did, day to day life would probably be pretty much the same.
Canadians cross the border every day and work in the same department as I do. Nobody knows the difference, until you see the Ontario license plate.
There’s always a few people on both sides of the fence who dislike the others. But, those people just hate for the sake of hating, and aren’t really worth acknowledging.
Politically - the unsecure border says it all. To me, and just about everyone else I know, the difference is transparent. We’re fine with the Canucks, and they’re fine with us. Neighbors, friends.
It’s good to hear from a fellow Buffalonian! It seems we have the same taste in movies and games Locke! My family has a summer home in Sherkston and they go to the casino all the time. All we have to do is say “casino” and they let us through very easily. Hell, it’s harder to come back into the U.S. than it is to get into Canada.
Originally posted by LockeJV
I watch hockey on Canadian television sometimes. It’s funny, Canadian news seems to cover more US topics than their own. Radio - Canadian stations play the same music as US.
So just because we play the same music we are culturally similar? Unh uh. No. Canadian radios are not totally influenced by “American” music, or the same music the US listens to. That’s a horrible generalized statement, an irrelavent one yes, but there are many many radio stations that are not dominated by “the same music”. I used to listen to the radio everyday, and half of it was probably the same music that Americans would hear on a radio. The other half was local, and relatively unheard of, music. Variety is the spice of life, yes.
The US protects Canada, and Canada knows this - hence their relatively small military. If anyone ever invaded Canada, we’d be right there. Essentially we’re defending our own borders by defending Canada.
I don’t really believe that the US would be instantly there ready to “defend” us.
If the US declared Canada a state, there’s not much they could do about it. Except die.
That’s silly. We are talking about two different countries. Sure US and Canada have their smiliarities, but we are very different. Canada, on a whole, isn’t it much more enviromentally stable than the US is? What is that thing, where, every year, they pick a country that is the most sensible and comfortable to live in? Well Canada used to win it a few times in a row (until I believe Switzerland took over) and the US was a few notches down the list. I don’t think mixing two nations like that would really click.
And the whole political differences have just been stated. Canada is in no form to be a state, nor would we be if the US just “Declared” it. That’s ignorant and highly untrue. Canadians arent dogs, as you imply us to be, whether you were joking or not. What a moronic thing to say.
Would I move to Canada? Probably not. The currency is weaker, the taxes are probably about the same. There’s bigger business in the US to find jobs, and the further North you go, the colder it gets.
Isn’t the unemployment rate higher there? I was always lead to believe that…but meh don’t quote me on it. I think you forget that Canada is horribly outnumbered by Americans so to compare business potential between the two countries is silly. And if you’re so worried about going North, then just…live in the south. Honestly, there have been aboriginals testing the cold for thousands of years and they’re jes great. Did I mention that Canada is a mixing pot of races and cultures as well?
(Not that Buffalo is an ideal place to live…) I guess if I was offered a job with a substantial pay increase (US Currency) in Toronto, I might go - depending on cost of living, etc. And if I did, day to day life would probably be pretty much the same.
Toronto is what, the largest city in Canada? Most “tame” places outside of the Great Lakes region and away from the capital cities are not as expensive to live in, so, living in Buffalo must be hella costly as you put it.
Originally posted by LockeJV
If the US declared Canada a state, there’s not much they could do about it. Except die.
Huh? What are you talking about? You were doing pretty well up until this point.
Thankupo Evangelion
“Blame Canada!” I hate your frickin cold fronts, keep them to yourselves please. I would move to a more southner(?spelling) place if i could ;p