Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Is CANADA better than the USA?

Sweden is pretty nice! Is Sweden better than the US and Canada?

Never been to Canada yet, but I'm dying to go!

Owl Lad, I went to Queen's University. I could hardly overlook Kingston - so many good memories. Besides Queen's, I spent several summers there, one in the guard at Old Fort Henry. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Queen's was my alma mater too, Con-Ed '92 and you? I worked on the Island Queen Boatlines for 4 summers.

Other things good about Canada, how can anyone forget: SHANIA TWAIN! "Up, up, up" for sure!

Owl Lad, I finished quite a bit earlier. Arts 77. What is Con-Ed? I don't think they had that when I was there.

Did you ever live in residence. I was in Gordon House.

Do they still have a big frosh week. I was on the Arts Orientation Committee one year. That was a lot of fun.

I'll leave my assessment of Canada at fewer people, universal medical care, in the very least nonenforcement of pot laws, gay marriage, and the fact that they're much less likely to invade other countries. I really don't like cold weather, but if things continue to develop the way they are, Canada is looking like a decent alternative....

I have to agree with Lash's criteria and state that marrying the man of my dreams and smoking pot during the ceremony are the *only* issues worthy of determining whether a particular country is better than another.

Semi,

Con-Ed is short for Concurrent Education, a teaching program that gives us teaching experience and education courses from year one. It's a small program (only admits 100 students each year), but easier to get into than applying after 4 years of an undergraduate degree.

I lived on West Campus at Jean Royce Hall in my first year and then hit student ghetto living for the rest of my years there.

Orientation weeks have calmed down quite a bit since your time. They haven't made headlines for quite some time.

I am curious... CANADIAN!

"Close the body mold and switch on the power! It's important that I live the next 24 hours as a Canadian!"

Just bumping this thread up to show my appreciation for Canada and for the Canadian posters on LW! I was just thinking this weekend about how nice it would be to retire to a small farm in British Columbia...

I just came back from spending a week in Toronto. Nice place! Clean. Very safe. Pretty to look at. Many things to do. Then I come home to Detroit where nine people were shot at the annual fireworks. *sigh*

Oh and hey, can any Canadians keep us updated on your big election this week? I learned a bit about it on my trip and am quite interested.

Election day is today. It's a strange one this time, very close, possibly the Governor General ("an unelected figurehead") will have to determine who forms the government. I don't think that can happen in the U.S.

The other thing commented upon this weekend is that there have been no issues in this campaign. Usually you get one or two big issues that dominate and are debated, but not this time around. Personally, I feel compelled to vote strategically - to keep one guy out rather than for somebody. Demockracy.

I'm sitting on the edge of my seat for this one. I hope Harper doesn't win.

Minority Liberal government, probably the best thing that could have happened in the current circumstances.

However, we really see the glaring need for proportional representation with these results. With p.r., the Greens would have had 12 seats (they got 0), the NDP (so-called "leftist") and the Bloc Québécois would have had an equal number of seats (versus 19 and 54 respectively ) and the Libs & Conservatives would be reduced in numbers. Just looking at the Bloc results suggests that we'll never get proportional representation - it would be too divisive for national unity, greatly reducing Quebec's clout.

Not that the power of Quebec has been a bad thing, IMO - often opposed to federal policies, Quebec has managed to put the brakes on a lot of legislation and has brought greater power to all provinces through its own efforts for sovereignty. Of course, I'm writing as one who favours scattered rather than highly centralized control.

Alas, my fellow voters in this riding returned our "Koko" candidate to Ottawa, where he can continue to exercise his legislative skills to give tours of Parliament to visiting high school students.

FC just out of interest. Are the Canadian Liberals and Conservatives roughly the same as over here in the UK? In terms of politics, economic policy etc?

I think the Conservatives would match in terms of traditionally being the big money/business guys - Bay Street, Wall Street, the City - and more establishment. Our Liberals may match your current Labour Party under Blair, since they've moved more to the right - and maybe the earlier Liberals matched the earlier Labour versions as well (more socialist, more union, etc.). The Conservatives are still called Tories, but Whigs isn't heard much for the Liberals now.

Love Canada.

been to all 10 provinces plus the Yukon territory.

Arachne: you're right. or Jay Leno was. many Americans don't know that New Mexico is a state, let alone anything about Canada.

as for more monuments:
Marconi Tower, St John's, Newfoundland
L'Anse aux Meadows (amcient Viking ruins), Newf.
Condereration Bridge, PEI/NB, probably counts
Louisbourg Fortress, NS
Halifax fort and clock tower
I think the world's longest bridge is near Woodstock, NB?
not man-made, but Perce Rock, PQ, should count
ditto Montemagny (spelling? sorry) Falls outside of Quebec City
Ile d'... memory fails. Canada's 'Ellis Island', just northeast from Quebec City

that's off the top of my head. there's plenty more.\
Owl Lad, when you say Con-Ed, we in NY area think of the urility, Consolidated Edison.

speaking of politics and TV, why did you never see Brian Mulroney and Jay Leno in the same room at the same time?

I recently heard that the famous Canadian apparel company, ROOTS, was actually founded by Americans.

Say it ain't so...!

It ain't so. Here's the company blurb-

Established in Toronto in 1973, ROOTS is Canada’s leading lifestyle brand, selling a wide range of clothing, leather goods and accessories for men and women of all ages.

Co-founders Michael Budman and Don Green have led the extraordinary growth of ROOTS. Inspired by their teenage summer-camp experiences in Ontario’s Algonquin Park, they created a business that celebrates the natural beauty and culture of Canada.

Starting as a single store with a single product (the ROOTS Negative Heel Shoe), ROOTS grew by establishing other signature products, including leather jackets and bags, the ROOTS awards jacket, the ROOTS Beaver Athletic sweatshirt (a cultural phenomenon in 1985), the Tuff Boot and the leather club chair.

To expand its range of offerings, the privately held company has developed relationships with more than 20 licensees, producing shoes, underwear, fashion accessories, fragrances, watches, luggage, linens, home furnishings and more.

ROOTS has created a unique Canadian caché by nurturing connections with high-profile entertainment and sports celebrities, and by customizing products for thousands of films, television shows, musical groups and sports teams.

The company has always emphasized an athletic lifestyle and a strong team spirit. This creates a natural fit with the Olympic Games – bringing together the best athletes with the best apparel brand. In 1998, ROOTS outfitted the Canadian snowboard team, gaining worldwide recognition for exceptional designs. Over subsequent summer and winter games, the company has developed relationships with additional teams. In 2004, the company dressed four countries – Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Barbados – with hopes for more in the future.

ROOTS products are available through 225 branded stores, including 140 in Canada, 5 in the United States, 12 in Taiwan and 68 in Korea. ROOTS products are also sold by independent retailers and department stores around the world.

Well, maybe I spoke too soon. It apparently is so. Although Roots was founded in Canada, it appears that the two founders were born in Detroit. I thought about editing my previous response to protect my credibility, but hell ... I was wrong!!! Here's the additional info.

Life & Times tell the extraordinary story of Michael Budman and Don Green, founders of a remarkable made-in-Canada company they called ROOTS.

Although born in Detroit, Michigan, they first met in 1963 at Camp Tamakwa in Ontario and were inspired by the rugged outdoors.  Budman was 13 and Green was 10 years old.  They became the campers who refused to go home.

Despite their American ‘roots’, Budman and Green built a company that was thoroughly Canadian, complete with a beaver logo.  They started out by opening a shoe store in Toronto that sold specially hand-made ‘earth shoes’ which had a negative heel.  This fashion fad gradually faded out in favour of the hugely popular line of ROOTS sweatshirts.

From the beautiful tranquillity of Algonquin Park, Budman and Green describe the far from tranquil 25 years they have spent building the ROOTS company and their marketing strategy - ROOTS + Celebrities = Good Business.  Old friends Dan Aykroyd and Robbie Robertson talk about their connection to the boys.  Aykroyd confesses to have been a shoe salesman in the original ROOTS store.

Despite their differing styles, Green and Budman’s long standing partnership seems as solid as the day it began.  In family scenes, viewers see that the two are living a Canadian dream.

I don't think Canada is intrinsically better or worse than anywhere else. I can tell you that Canadians can be extremely arrogant, especially when it comes to the USA and its citizens. Part of this has to do with the fact that America was founded by the winners of a war for independance, and Canada by the losers. (I, for example, am decended from a Loyalist soldier, Col. Cornelius Gee.) It's something that trickled down into our modern beliefs.

I think that Canadians have a lot of reinforced beliefs about themselves and about Americans, and I think a lot of it is bull. Many Canadians believe the bulk of Americans couldn't find Canada on a map, or that most Americans think Canadians live in igloos year round. It's meant to be comedic but it's rather smug; I've met Americans who really thought these things. Granted, America/Americans is only the second most popular topic of satire; we spend most of our time making fun of ourselves.

No one is better, just different.

Thirteen years later and the USA is now as good as Canada (at least in parts)!

Well, except for the still horribly inadequate health care system...

Never been to Canada. Might do it sometime when I have the money to travel.

One of the nicest girls in my high school class was from Canada.

LOL

Just chiming in to say that many Filipinos would love to live in the USA or in Canada permanently

From Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant!

LOL

Thanks, FC.