# Hey, all you Canucks!! Where do we fit in?



## Nonskimmer (Mar 31, 2006)

I got to thinking after seeing this line on another forum:

_*"Canadians are much more similar to Europeans than they are to Americans."*_

I said to myself: "Self, this might be kinda fun.", but then maybe it'll cause some kind of blowout, who knows?
Aaaaaahhh, what the hell, eh?! Let's go for it! 

So what do you guys think? pb, Maestro, Hussars, Hunter, sunny, KK (if you even look here), TacHel (if you ever come back), let's hear it. What the hell are we Canadians anyway? Besides absolute perfection I mean. 
I'll start us off. The answer is really simplicity itself. We're friggin' Canadians, _that's_ what we are.

All input is welcome, you certainly don't have to be Canadian to participate. Don't be shy... Tell us what ya think!


----------



## pbfoot (Mar 31, 2006)

Wow thats tough well its kind of a combo of a laid back brit with a little bit of the thrifty scots a touch of Irish for the party mixed in with some French so we can be a bit erratic or erotic whos always worried about his virginal daughter be spoiled by our next door neighbour kinda of like Dudley Doright


----------



## Hunter368 (Apr 1, 2006)

NS thats a good one, I have heard that before to. One time down in Mexico on holidays, people said to my wife and I "you are not from USA are you? You must be from Europe right?" We laughed and said no we are not from USA or Europe but from Canada. We asked why did you not think we were from USA (we showed nothing to show where we were from)? They said we were to polite to be from USA, we laughed again (no offense meant to any of our friends to the south).

What is it to be Canadian? mmmmm
-more reserved than our American friends
-love hockey
-love real beer, not watered down beer
-love fishing, quite time on a lake (god I want to go fishing just thinking about it)
-love a good cold winter night to play shinny at the out door rink with friends
-love a good hockey fight
-love Don Cherry (hockey genius)

Theres a good start NS hope you like it.


----------



## Maestro (Apr 1, 2006)

Hunter368 said:


> -love Don Cherry (hockey genius)



Uh ?

A good hockey host, may be. A hockey genius, surely not !

The lone time a hockey team president gave him the authorization to do anything he wanted with his team, it was with the Boston Bruins... He made an all English-Canadian/American hockey team (without any French-Canadians or Europeans) and his team ended at the bottom of the scorecard by winning a single game in their season and losing every others.

I heard that on TV a while back... When they made a repport about him being kicked out of CBC by the CRTC.

Anyway, back on topic.

Well, we must separate Canada in three Great Groups (GGs).

1 - French-Canadians
2 - English-Canadians (descending directly from English/Scottish/Irish colonists)
3 - English-Canadians (former American colonists)

GG-1 is the "core civilization" by which Canada is born. After three French-English wars (who concluded by the Battle on the Plaines of Abrahams), GG-2 took control over the Canadian theritorry. Well, "battle" is a big word since it lasted less than 20 minutes... GG-1 mostly descend from farmers since the ritch French colonists flew away after the defeat on the Plaines.

GG-2 is the biggest group in Canada. Most of them still believe in the good old colony. Just count the number of Union-Jacks in Ontario... You could be surprised !

GG-3 is a bunch of former American colonists who crapped in their pants during the American revolution and escaped to Canada to remain a King's minion. A couples of years later, they realized what they missed and became extremely Anti-American. They rules a great part of the English-Canadian medias.

So who are we ? A bunch of f*cked up peoples who don't know where they are going !


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 1, 2006)

Yeah, I'm with Maestro here concerning Don Cherry. The guy may be funny to listen to after a game, but he's no genius. I like listening to him rant though, it's funny as hell. 

It's true that there are still a lot of pro-Imperialists throughout English-Canada. Ontario undoubtedly contains the largest concentration of them by virtue of the relatively large population in southern Ontario, but they exist in all provinces. Believe it or not, you may actually still find a very, very, _very_ small number of them in Québec. Probably holed up in a basement somewhere in Montréal. 
I think the monarchists among us are slowly dying off though. It's more prevalent with people of my parents and grandparents generations. You know, old bastards like pb. 

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm not of the belief that we should maintain the posts of Governor General or the Lieutenant Governors on the provincial level, as they're all pretty pointless nowadays, but there's nothing wrong with keeping in touch with our strong British roots. I'm of the personal belief that English and French cultures can co-exist without the bickering if we choose. We'd all be made stronger for it, and a lot better off. Just look at the Acadian communities in the Maritimes. They live and work among us English speaking "savages" and we all get along fine. I dated an Acadian girl for a few years. Boy, she was _ssssssssmokin'!_ 
All of her sisters were too.


----------



## Hunter368 (Apr 1, 2006)

Don Cherry:

While he would never be compared to Scotty Bowman as a coach. He was a very good coach still. Here is what he has done:

-15 years in AHL as a player which is greater than any of us have ever done.
-Then he coached the Boston Bruins to three division titles in a row.
-He took the Bruins to the Finals twice (lost both times to perhaps the best team ever in history Montreal Canadians which is nothing to hang your head about).
-Has forgotten more about the in and outs of hockey behind the scenes then most us ever knew or will ever know.

But his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness which would stop him from ever being a "great" coach and which has lead him to being a "great" hockey commentator and one of the funnest guys I ever seen. That is his personality. He is very much part of Canadian lore.

This is just my opinion of course.


----------



## FLYBOYJ (Apr 1, 2006)

As a Yank who lived in Canada for 5 years...

"Canadians are much more similar to Europeans than they are to Americans."

No - I think Canadians are unique as they are "Canadians." You all have you're own Identity, you don't need to be compared to Europeans or Americans...

Besides, Don Cherry would freak if he ever heard that! You ever hear what he says about Swedish players?? He says they play like they're from a Socialist country - they only play hard once every 3 games!!!


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 1, 2006)

FLYBOYJ said:


> I think Canadians are unique as they are "Canadians." You all have you're own Identity, you don't need to be compared to Europeans or Americans...


Bingo!!! Damn straight, brother!

In fact, I prefer to compare them to us, not the other way 'round. 8)


----------



## Bustedwing (Apr 1, 2006)




----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 1, 2006)

I'll assume that's meant as a joke. If so, it's kinda funny. 

This thread is meant to be fun and perhaps a little educational boys, so let's not start the America bashing to make ourselves feel better, 'k? 
You know how it goes. We bash them, they bash back, and it just becomes a bar room brawl. Messy. Friendly digs here and there are fine, but let's not hit too far below the belt here.


----------



## Maestro (Apr 1, 2006)

@ Bustedwing : "Canada, America done right." WTF ?

We have a lot of things to learn from the Americans. Here are a few examples...

In the US, when the President makes his taxes repport, he makes a copy for the newspapers. That way, he is constantly "under investigation" by the public. We don't have that here... I always wondered how a Prime Minister could become millionaire with a $150,000 a year salary.

In the US, when someone is found guilty of rape or murder, he goes in jail for a LONG while. Here, they get community work or several years of jail.

In the US, Correctionnal Officers are armed. In Canada, they're not.

US Army is the best equipped army of the world. Canada's army is the weakest of the G-8.

Do you want me to continue ?


----------



## Bustedwing (Apr 1, 2006)

That wasn't meant to start a flame war or anything. I just thought it was funny! 
Americans and Canadians are the same, just different !


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 1, 2006)

We do share many common traits with our brothers down south. 

Say, aside from FBJ we've yet to hear from any non-Canuckians. C'maaawwwn people, you must have _some_ impression of us. 
Here's the perfect opportunity to stick it to us!


----------



## pbfoot (Apr 1, 2006)

Wow
Maestro you gotta read some history on the UEL or better yet on Canada ref the guys that shit their pants during American Revolution here is one example
http://iaw.on.ca/~awoolley/brang/brhist.html
Don Cherry has large ones and is one of the few people that says it like most feel
Flyboy is bang on we are unique ( I've been told by many i am unique)
and if you think we're monarchists (i could care less about Royalty) but we gotta respect the guys that did it for King And Country realizing of course we fought under the Red Ensign 
and somebuddy said Southern ontario was Royalist has not been here in a while because once again I'm unique because here I am a visible minority as a White Anglo saxon male Protestant smoker that is not disabled


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 1, 2006)

Well for one thing, I didn't realize that being a monarchist was necessarily considered a bad thing. It's just how some people think. They continue to feel loyalty to the queen, that's all. Nothing wrong with that, if that's how you feel. I for one don't especially feel that way, but there are those that do. Big deal. If you think I was singling out southern Ontario as being royalist then reread the post. I was doing nothing of the sort.

I also happen to like Don Cherry. I think he's awesome people, I just wouldn't call the man a genius that's all.


----------



## 102first_hussars (Apr 2, 2006)

Nonskimmer said:


> I got to thinking after seeing this line on another forum:
> 
> _*"Canadians are much more similar to Europeans than they are to Americans."*_
> 
> ...



Tough question, were a bit of both and a bit of our own, our political stances and issues are more in tune with european countries ,in my opinion,

but hell we speak like americans (Excluding quebecers and newfy's) watch american tv, eat american food, drink coke and pepsi, and wear american clothing and drive alot Chev's and Fords, (european vehichles too) our army is supplied with mainly american equiptment (some european too) and were alowed to join the U.S marines (British Marines too). 

hockey,beer,back bacon, separating and 2 month sunlight is our individuality right now which needs some work, were kinda suffering an identity crisis right now.


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 2, 2006)

If you ask me, we've always had something of an identity crisis. It goes back to what I've said before. We place too much emphasis on this idea of the "cultural mosaic", where any and all cultural values are encouraged. The obvious problem with that is, it leaves no room for a real Canadian culture per se. I mean, what really _is_ a Canadian these days? 

For a hundred years (give or take, starting with the birth of Confederation in 1867) we were a loyal follower of the British Crown, still without a truly independent face. You know, it was like: "That's right, we're Canadian! Oh yeah, and by the way, we're a dominion of Great Britain.". We hadn't really come into our own. Not _really_. Mind you, again with the exception of Québec, no one exactly minded in those days. Pro-Imperialism and loyalty to the monarch were still very strong in Canada throughout those years. My grandmother still closely follows the lives of the Royal Family. She still sings God Save The Queen along with O Canada, the way it had been done for many years. It was still done that way in the schools when my parents were growing up in the 1950's.

It wasn't really until the 1960's that a strong desire to forge a truly unique Canadian identity began to emerge. We adopted the maple leaf flag as the official flag of Canada. O Canada gained more and more prominance at official functions, all but replacing The Maple Leaf Forever (a very popular pro-Empire tune). The military finally developed it's own system of awards and decorations to replace the British ones that had been used up 'till then (although the Victoria Cross is still a part of it). At the Centenial celebrations in '67, everything looked rosey. People couldn't wait for the great things yet to come.

Unfortunately, the 1960's also saw the rise of the seperatist movement in Québec. "Trudeau Mania" saw a bright, up and coming staunch nationalist from Québec become prime minister, and while it was he who kept the seperatists in check for many years and nipped the FLQ in the bud, it was also Mr.Trudeau who encouraged the idea of this cultural mosaic crap throughout Canada. It soon became the order of the day, and we've followed it faithfully ever since. 

Yes fellas, we've gone straight from mother Britain's tit to...Well, that's the problem now isn't it? We still don't really know _what_ the hell we are.


----------



## Maestro (Apr 3, 2006)

pbfoot said:


> Wow
> Maestro you gotta read some history on the UEL or better yet on Canada ref the guys that shit their pants during American Revolution here is one example
> http://iaw.on.ca/~awoolley/brang/brhist.html



So what ?

1 - He did move to canada to remain a King's minion.
2 - He even fought against his former country.

So he's not only a guy who crapped in his pants when he saw the opportunity to fight for the US and become free. He also fought *against* his former country, what makes him a coward !

The lone difference between your Butler's Rangers and the Mexican's San Patricio Regiment is that Canada was *not* invaded by the US.


----------



## loomaluftwaffe (Apr 3, 2006)

I havent been to Canada
but many of my friends have been to the US and taken the opportunity to go to Canada... generally speaking they say Canada is nice, and so are the Canadians

I sk them why, some say that because the ones at the South were kinda rude to them (no offense). or they say that they are generally friendly people,but say they arent really that different from people in the US... because most Filipinos these days travel to the US/Canada and somewhere in south east asia...

I have yet to go to the US or Canada, i will be going there this summer though so i wont be online 4 a few weeks


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 3, 2006)

Of course everybody knows that the friendliest Canadians come from the east. 
Newfies, Nova Scotians, and New Brunswickers.  
Oh, and PE Islanders too I suppose.


----------



## plan_D (Apr 3, 2006)

British Marines? You mean *Royal* Marines. 

And Canadians are just that, Canadians. Influenced mostly by the U.S these days, but you can still see the European leaning inside them. The reserved nature for one ... completely opposite of the open and loud American nature.


----------



## Hunter368 (Apr 3, 2006)

plan_D said:


> British Marines? You mean *Royal* Marines.
> 
> And Canadians are just that, Canadians. Influenced mostly by the U.S these days, but you can still see the European leaning inside them. The reserved nature for one ... completely opposite of the open and loud American nature.




I agree. We are different then Americans in small ways but also very similar to them in some ways.


----------



## R988 (Apr 3, 2006)

Bit like frozen Australians then, but with added French


----------



## pbfoot (Apr 3, 2006)

Maestro said:


> The lone difference between your Butler's Rangers and the Mexican's San Patricio Regiment is that Canada was *not* invaded by the US.


Once again i suggest that you read your history Canada was invaded 3 times by the US during the American Revolution the war of 1812 and in 1866/67 the first combat ever fought by the US Army was fought 3 miles away from my house the second was 100 meters away >you live fairly close to where Benedict Arnold attempted to take Quebec City and sucessfully captured Montreal


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 3, 2006)

R988 said:


> Bit like frozen Australians then, but with added French


Hmmm, never thought of it that way. You'd have to replace the roos, poisonous spiders and snakes, and crocs with industrious beavers, friendly moose (otherwise known as the Cape Breton speedbump), and oh-so-cuddly polar bears. 



Plus our beer's better.


----------



## R988 (Apr 3, 2006)

Never tried Canadian beer so I'll reserve comment.

Both are former British colonies and part of the Commonwealth, but more aligned with the US these days.
Both run similar sized and armed forces, both have large amounts of unpopulated terrain. Both suffer from a slight lack of identity on the world stage.
Both are regarded as probably two of the best countries in the world to live in and citizens of each are well regarded by most on the world stage.
I could probably find a lot more if I looked


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 3, 2006)

R988 said:


> Never tried Canadian beer so I'll reserve comment.


Try the good stuff. Anything made by the John Allen Brewing Company. 
Avoid anything made by Labatt or Molson.


----------



## Maestro (Apr 3, 2006)

pbfoot said:


> Once again i suggest that you read your history Canada was invaded 3 times by the US during the American Revolution the war of 1812 and in 1866/67 the first combat ever fought by the US Army was fought 3 miles away from my house the second was 100 meters away >you live fairly close to where Benedict Arnold attempted to take Quebec City and sucessfully captured Montreal



Stop taking me for a jerk...

First off, they *tried* to invade Canada. They did *not succeed*. While they succeeded in taking Mexico City in the US-Mexican war. So my point stands.

Second, I don't know where you think I live, but you're wrong. I'm not living somewhere between Québec and Montréal. I'm living 30 miles north of Québec City, near the Sainte-Anne Cathedrale.


----------



## Clave (Apr 3, 2006)

Well, I _have_ been to Canada, and have to say that in many ways it's awesome 8) 

For:

Language - very easy on the ear, and mostly understandable...
Very friendly people
Gob-smackingly good scenery
Modern stuff - game designers, internet, houses etc. (except TV, but that will change soon)
Good roads
Clean - pretty much everywhere
You only need one meal a day (huge servings of *everything*)
Nice climate (on the west coast anyway)
Good service everywhere

Against:

Fat people - too much following the American Dream, slow down there!
Climate in the north - there's no _way_ I could live with -27C...

As for identity, I didn't notice - everyone seemed to be Canadian and happy with that..

Did I mention the scenery?

Just go there - Vancouver Island and Grouse Mountain are just a couple of places I saw - I really want to see the Rockies if I get a chance to go back...

In all seriousness - to any other Brits here: Take take a couple of weeks off in Canada, it is damn good!


----------



## Hunter368 (Apr 3, 2006)

Clave said:


> Well, I _have_ been to Canada, and have to say that in many ways it's awesome 8)
> 
> For:
> 
> ...



Thanks Clave thats pretty funny I like it.


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 3, 2006)

Yes, I'm quite happy being Canadian. 
And as an added bonus, I'm Nova Scotian. 



Clave said:


> Modern stuff ...(except TV, but that will change soon)


Where did you stay, in an igloo? 
We do have modern television y'know. 




Clave said:


> Against:
> 
> Fat people


I am *not* fat!


----------



## pbfoot (Apr 3, 2006)

well maestro you certainly got me beat in mexican history but......


----------



## Maestro (Apr 3, 2006)

... But I'm right.

Americans tried three times to invade us but failed. A failed invasion isn't an invasion... it's a f*cking failure !

So technically, they never invaded Canada... They tried but were pushed back.

While they did invade Mexico since they succeeded.


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 3, 2006)

As you can see everyone, the relationship between Upper and Lower Canada is still going strong. 


I'm kidding guys, for Christ's sake.


----------



## Maestro (Apr 4, 2006)

It's alright, NS. 

Ontarians never saw Canada the same way as Québekers... Even Federalist Québekers.


----------



## plan_D (Apr 4, 2006)

Don't forget to mention the British in beating back the U.S from Canada there, Maestro ... we saved you lot from becoming fat, hairy, big hat wearing, nacho chomping, loud mouthed dumbasses ... Just think you'd all be speaking Americanese if it wasn't for us . Remember, honour is spelt with a U ! 

I'm just kiddin' Yanks , seriously out of Canada, America and Britain ... I probably hate the British most !


----------



## Hunter368 (Apr 4, 2006)

lol


----------



## loomaluftwaffe (Apr 4, 2006)

lol, thats how my relatives in the US describe them, no offense and all


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 4, 2006)

Ah, Brits are no better or worse than anyone over here. I have a few British friends. I even know a couple of fellas who crossed over from the RN to serve in the "colonial" navy (Christ only knows why. ). They're good enough guys. I've met my share of British assholes, along with a few American ones, but hey...I know a lot more arse wipes from right around these parts. Nah, there's nothing particularly wrong with the Brits as far as I'm concerned.


----------



## Clave (Apr 5, 2006)

People are people, you get good and bad in every single country...


----------



## loomaluftwaffe (Apr 5, 2006)

true, true


----------



## lesofprimus (Apr 6, 2006)

false, false...


----------



## 102first_hussars (Apr 7, 2006)

Nonskimmer said:


> As you can see everyone, the relationship between Upper and Lower Canada is still going strong.
> 
> 
> I'm kidding guys, for Christ's sake.



If you wanna mix it up even more lets just add me to this eh?


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 7, 2006)

I'm not even sure what you mean exactly. Are you talking about yourself or Alberta?


----------



## cls12vg30 (Apr 7, 2006)

As a through-and-through American who spent his formative years in close proximity to Canada, I feel qualified to comment.

I always felt that the differences between the two sides of the border were pretty cosmetic. At least as far as everyday life was concerned. Little details like currency, the metric system, accents and all that were fun and novel, but the overall culture was pretty similar, at least between Southern Ontario and the Northeastern US (aside from NYC, that's a unique place all its own.).

The politics of course are pretty different, I disagree pretty strongly with the direction of the Canadian government's domestic policies, but then it's really none of my business, except when my own representatives look north for an example. 

As for whether Canadians were more like Americans or Europeans, I always had the impression that they were more like Americans, but always strived to be more like Europeans, and thought of themselves that way. Then I once saw on a British TV show, where an English couple had relatives visit from Canada, and the Canadians were portrayed as boorish, obnoxious, overweight....exactly how I would expect them to portray Americans! After that I suspected that, while Canadians were trying to be as European as they could, actual Europeans would always view them in the same vein as Americans. Hence the Canadian identity crisis that you guys have talked about. So I guess Canada is just Canada, perched in a unique cultural position somewhere between America and Great Britain. Not a bad position to be in overall.

I always thought that the US and Canada sharing the longest undefended border in the world was something to be really proud of. Also, I highly recommend the Friendship Festival held every summer on both sides of the Niagara River, celebrating the long-standing friendship between the US and Canada.

I guess if we were talking about a family, with the US and Canada as brothers, and England as the mother, then Canada would be the well-behaved "favorite" brother, and the US would be the brother who gets bad grades and is always in trouble. Of course the "bad" brother always gets the chicks.


----------



## Clave (Apr 7, 2006)

Like Bart?


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 7, 2006)

*sigh* How many times must I say it? Americans are a lot like _us_, not the other way around. Geeeez! 



But really now...Striving to be more like Europeans?! Ha! Buddy, the only thing I strive for is to be the best damn *Canadian* I can be!
What does that mean? Got no idea, but I'm headin' there full tilt! 


By the way, does anyone else think Stephen Harper looks like a game show host?


----------



## Erich (Apr 7, 2006)

he actually looks like a good ol Joe, where's the grocery store elevator music please ........... ?


----------



## 102first_hussars (Apr 7, 2006)

I will say one thing about Canada, we hold the highest population of French people who didnt surrender to the Germans


----------



## 102first_hussars (Apr 7, 2006)

Nonskimmer said:


> I'm not even sure what you mean exactly. Are you talking about yourself or Alberta?



I am Alberta


----------



## Nonskimmer (Apr 7, 2006)

102first_hussars said:


> I will say one thing about Canada, we hold the highest population of French people who didnt surrender to the Germans


Damn right about that. 



102first_hussars said:


> I am Alberta


Awww, really? My, what a pretty name. Cool. 
But no, I was referring to the province you live in. 




(AAAHHH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! God, I'm too funny!  )


----------



## Maestro (Apr 7, 2006)

102first_hussars said:


> I am Alberta



Ugh... You sound like Louis XIV.

_"Je suis la France !"_


----------



## 102first_hussars (Apr 8, 2006)

Oh man if you knew my family then you would find that my brother wouldbe Louis XIV and I would be 'The Man In The Iron Mask'. (I know its a fictional story)


----------

