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Ndje
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Question: Why canada and canadian people are so different to US people ? Why can someone get more money in short time in the state but not in canada ? why the people in that north american's country canada are so peacefull ? where is the big difference between canada and the US ?  All these questions I have submitted to my cherfull paul beddows. 

Here is his answer (That is my latest stuff!!):

Dear Alex, 

Here's where I take a friendly dig, aimed mainly at our friends in the United States. (Although you ignorant Europeans, Australians and Asians aren't exempt either) We share the worlds longest (5000 Km / 3000 mile) undefended border with the United States and have only ever fought one war with them (which, we won by the way, although I wouldn't bet much on our chances in a re-match). We share similar Cultures, and most foreigners can't tell a Canadian from an American. Most Canadians identify closely with the United States, but on the other hand, we don't like being mistaken for Americans when travelling abroad. Canadians tend to have mixed feelings toward the United States. In many ways we feel like a mouse sleeping next to an Elephant. In some ways we envy the patriotic fervour of Americans, although we tend to make fun of it. We tend to think of ourselves as more open minded than Americans, but I'm not so sure about that. Most Americans do not understand our Quebec problem,(those who know where Quebec is) and why we tolerate it. I'm sure if Quebec had been a part of the US,they would have sent in the Marines by now, and arrested Lucien Bouchard (Quebec Premier) for treason. (Maybe not such a bad idea). 

Unfortunately, the American Public Educational System is somewhat insular, and most American's know very little about Canada. The reverse is not true, although in all fairness, the United States is a bigger player on the world stage, so we would be expected to know more about them, than the other way around. Personally, I found American History much more interesting than Canadian when I was in school, so maybe they are lucky they did not have to learn too much about us. 

A lot of Americans still picture a typical Canadian as a lumberjack type figure in a plaid shirt, sipping on Maple Syrup, living in a log cabin in the woods. In actual fact we are virtually indistinguishable from the average American. 

Sometimes, when things get a little dull around here, a television station will often send a camera crew below the border and ask Americans on the street some basic questions about Canada. The answers provide immense entertainment for us up here. The further south they go, the more amusing some of the answers tend to be. 

A recent survey commissioned by the Foreign Affairs Department showed just how little most Americans know about us. Not a single person surveyed knew who the Prime Minister of Canada was. This is a little disconcerting, since we have had the same one for about the last 10 years, so its not as if he is a newcomer. In fact even George W. Bush can't identify him. George was a recent victum of the Canadian comedy show, "This Hour has 22 minutes". A crew went down to tell him that Canada's Prime Minister,"Jean Poutine" was supporting him. George was thrilled. Unfortunately, Poutine is a disgusting French Canadian fast food. In fact a large number of those surveyed thought the Queen was in charge. Americans responding to the survey also identified Canada's 4th largset industry as Fur Trading. This is equivalent to identifing making Wagon Wheels as the 4th largest industry in the States. Most of those surveyed were not aware of the Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the US & Mexico. Most 
Americans seem to view us as beer swigging party animals (I guess they think we' re Australians). 

Well if you fit in the above Catagory, here's your chance to learn about us. Read on. 

sincerly yours 
(Paul Beddows)

1) Canada's government is based on the British Parliamentary System. The current Leader (called a Prime Minister) is Jean Chretien (pronounced Cret-yann). Canada, does not have fixed election dates as in the US. Elections are called by the Prime Minister, but must be held at least every 5 years. There are 2 houses of Parliament (like the US Congress and Senate). The elected house is called the House of Commons and the non elected house is called the Senate (equivalent to the House of Lords in England). The Senate is a largely ceremonial institution, useless in the eyes of most Canadians. Senators are appointed for life, (usually through patronage appointments) and most collect a hefty salary without even showing up. Its a big pig trough, actually (I wish knew how to become one). Members of the House of Commons are called Members of Parliament or MP's for short. The Prime Minister is like any other MP, in that he must win a seat in an election. (Represent a geographical area). The leader of the successful party in an election is automatically Prime Minister. It is possible for a party to win an election, and the Prime Minister lose. This has happened in the past. Usually a successful MP from a safe riding (geographical area) will resign and a by-election held, to give the Prime Minister a seat in Parliament. The main political parties in Canada are at present, the Liberals (the party in power, similar to the Democrats in the US), Reform (right wing party, similar to the Republicans in the US), the NDP (left wing party, similar to Labour in Britain) and the Bloc Quebecois (A party dedicated to Quebec Independence and the break-up of Canada). The Conservative Party, a big player in the past, was almost completely wiped out in the last election. The political landscape is much more diverse than in the US. Canadians do not have to pre-declare a party affiliation before they can vote, as is the case in the US. The Canadian system also make it far easier for small parties to have representation in the government. There is a table of links to the web sites of the major Canadian Political Parties at the bottom of this page. 

2) Canadian Provinces are the equivalent of US States. The Provincial leader is called a Premier(equivalent to a Governor in the US) and the same rules of government apply as at the federal level. Canadian Provinces have more control over their own affairs with respect to the Federal government,than is the case in the US. 

3) Canada uses the Metric System, Kilometres instead of Miles, Kilograms instead of Pounds, etc. Most Canadians over 25 years of age, understand the old system, and use both. Most Canadians over 65 have not yet fully embraced the Metric System. Its hard to admit that the French actually came up with a better idea than the British, but the United States, at least, is still upholding the tradition. 

4) Canadians tend use the British spelling of words, as you have probably noticed on these web pages. In other words, we spell "neighbour" instead of "neighbor", "valour" instead of "valor", etc. We also pronounce the letter "Z" as Zed, not Zee. We also tend to pronounce words properly (original English)and are less likely to truncate or slur them as most Americans do. We have, however, adopted some American expressions, such as "yeah" for "yes". Snobby, aren't we? If you think that's bad, try using English in Quebec and see what happens. 

5) If you are an American, and want to blend in with the locals, simply add "eh" at the end of most sentences. You will sound just like a Canadian, unless your from the deep South of course. 

6) Canada is divided into 10 Provinces and 3 Territories. They are from East to West - Newfoundland (pronounced Newfunland) and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec,Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan (pronouced Sas-catch-chew-on), Alberta and British Columbia. 
Newfoundland and Labrador count as one. The 3 Territories are the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavit (pronounced Noon-a-Voot). Nunavit is administered by the Inuit (Eskimos) and is actually a result of the worlds largest aboriginal land claim settlement. 
 

7) You NRA types will be disappointed to learn that the right to bear arms is not part of the Canadian 
Constitution. It is illegal to be in possession of an unlicensed firearm, and a license is not easy to 
obtain. We much prefer to knife or poison each other. If you wish to shoot someone, you have to go to a lot more effort, here in Canada. Americans have, however, successfully managed to bring their guns into Canada, undetected and sometimes quite innocently, at times. In August 1998, a room maid found a gun belonging to an American tourist under the mattress in a hotel room. This resulted in the arrest 
of the hapless visitors. It was obvious that they did not realise that they were in violation of Canadian laws and were soon released, minus their firearms of course, which were confiscated. Bummer. 

8) The capital of Canada is Ottawa, it is located in the Province of Ontario. It is on the border with Quebec. The city on the Quebec side is known as Hull. 

9) The 3 largest cities in Canada are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, in that order. They are located in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia respectively. 80% of Canadians live within 100 km of the US border. Its not that we want to get close enough to hug our American neighbours, it's just that it's warmer closer to the border. 

10) Canada has two official languages, English and French. Quebec is French Speaking, as are parts of New Brunswick and Manitoba. Most Canadians are NOT bi-lingual. Do not expect to be able to communicate in English in Quebec except in Montreal and areas close to the Ontario or US borders. People in the more rural areas do not speak English. You are, however, more likely to find a French Canadian who can speak English, rather than the other way around. People in Quebec are fiercely proud of their language. Personally I find it a lot harder to understand than English. I can't understand our own Prime Minister in either language, but he is very "poop-u-laar". Someone told me once that the French spoken in Quebec is similar to the "peasant" French, spoken in France in the 17th century. This may explain why French Canadian French is sneered at in France. 
 

11) You cannot buy beer and wine in grocery stores in Canada. You have to get them from a Government liquor store or a licensed beer and wine store. Quebec is an exception (they drink a lot more than us). 

12) The Island off the coast of BC is called Vancouver Island, not Victoria Island. A lot of Americans make this mistake. Victoria is the largest city on Vancouver Island and is the capital of British Columbia. Contrary to a common local myth, you could not fit all the British Isles within VancouverIsland. You could fit about 2/3 of England itself. 

13) Canada has a mutual defence agreement with the United States, known as NORAD. The original idea was that, we would shoot down incoming ICBM's from the Soviet Union over Canada. That way they would fall on Canadian Cities instead of American ones. The Americans thought this was a great idea, and gave us lot of swell radar and missile silos to install on our territory. The organisation is a little redundant with the break-up of the Soviet Union, and a lot of the American Installations have been disassembled and they have left us some great toxic waste to clean up, but what are friends for, eh. Mind you Canada is well known for polluting third world countries with toxic mine tailings and things like Asbestos, so we can't be too smug. We've actually done some quite disgusting things along those lines. 

We are also in a free trade agreement with the United States, Mexico & Chile. This is not as strong a union, as is the case with the European Community. Canada and the US are each others strongest trade partners, however, and are more dependent on one another than most people think. 
 

14) Canada has 3 national TV networks. The government network is the CBC. Most programming is American. Canadian television is best known for its high quality documentaries and news programming,which tends to be far less biased than that produced in the US. Canadian newscasters are in big demand in the US and many of their best known News anchors are actually Canadian (such as Peter Jennings and 
Morley Safer). On the same subject, many American Comedians are also actually Canadian (Jim Carey,Dan Akroyd, Michael J Fox, John Candy, Leslie Neilson to name a few) 

15) Ottawa, along with Moscow is the coldest capital in the world. At least we can afford to heat it. 

16) Canada is still the second largest country in the world, even after the break-up of the Soviet Union,but not by much. 

18) Basketball, Baseball & Hockey were invented in Canada, so was the telephone. Contrary to most American beliefs, Alexander Graham Bell was a Canadian. Michael Jordan (basketball star), however, is American. Some other notable Canadian inventions are Newsprint, the anti-G suit (worn by jet fighterpilots), the Combine Harvester, the Jolly Jumper, the plastic green garbage bag, the rollerskate, Cable TV, AM Radio, the walkie talkie, Smarties, automobile air conditioning, (no, we just didn't leave the window open in winter) snowmobiles, the streetcar, electric cooking range, the paint roller, the washing machine, the zipper, kerosene, insulin, the electron microscope, the oil well, the wonderbra, the flight simulator, Trivial Pursuit, and believe it or not - Superman. Canada also produced the worlds first jet airliner, but it never went into production. The worlds first commerical movie was also produced in Canada. 

19) The official National Sport of Canada is Lacrosse, an Indian game, but hardly anybody knows how to play it. The most popular Sports are Ice Hockey and Curling. 

20) The slang term for a Canadian is "Canuck". South of the border in Northern Washington State, we are known as Cheeseheads. This is because cheese is considerably cheaper in Washington State than in BC and Canadians would buy big blocks of it to take home. With the dollar decline this practice has subsided somewhat. In fact many businesses below the border are going bankrupt. 

21) If you are an American, do not brag about American air power to a Canadian. Most Canadians still blame the US Government for pressuring the Canadian Government to cancel the Avro Arrow (the most advanced military Aircraft of the day) in 1958. (It was probably more likely due to political reasons here at home, but the conspiracy theory is very popular) If you've never heard of it, and are interested, check out the web page of this high school student: The Avro Arrow Shrine. Showing a knowledge of the Avro Arrow to a Canadian, will definitely gain you some respect. There is also a 4 hour "made for TV" movie starring Dan Aykroyd available on this subject. 
 

22) One of the biggest differences between Canadians and Americans involve French Fries or Chips. Ask for chips in the United States, and you will likely get potato chips (potato crisps). In Canada you will get the deep fried strips of potatoes, known as French Fries in the US. We tend to use the term "Chips" and "Fries" interchangeably. If you are an American, trying to disguise yourself as Canadian, a good trick is to ask for vinegar with your chips (French fries). The usual wording is "Have any vinegar, eh?" This request will usually elicit a look of disgust in the United States, but the practice is quite common in Canada. Another peculiar Canadian invention is Poutine. This disgusting concoction originated in Quebec where massive amounts of the stuff are consumed, daily. It consists of chips (or French Fries if you prefer) covered with a mixture of melted cheese and gravy. You can plug your arteries up with cholesterol, by just looking at it. Burger King now offers it, if you want to try it. At least we don't eat that disgusting Vegamite stuff that the Australians are so fond of. 
 

23) Everybody in Canada seems to hate Toronto, except people who live in Toronto of course. In fact,hating Toronto is a Canadian pastime. The slang term for Toronto (which Torontonians hate) is Hogtown. I'm fuzzy on the origin of this, maybe some Torontonian could enlighten me. .I don't really know why Canadians outside of Toronto have this view of the city. It is the largest city in the country, but people there seem to think that if it doesn't happen in Toronto, its not worth talking about. Rightly or wrongly, this is the perception of those in the rest of the country, but everyone percieves their own city as more important, and Toronto by its shear size bears more influence. Personally, I think Toronto is great city and well worth a visit. My ex grew up there, I spent some time living there myself when I was a child in the 50's, and I've been back many times since. For more info on Toronto try my friends at toronto2

24) Still on the subject of Toronto, the worlds tallest free standing structure is located there, the CN Tower at about 550 meters or 1850 ft. It was built primarily to house TV and FM Radio transmitters. It has a revolving restaurant near the top. 

25) Montreal is the 2nd largest French Speaking city in the World. 

26) Laws in Quebec are based on the Napoleonic Code rather than British Common Law as in the rest of Canada and the United States. (I have been told that this is also the case in Louisiania, which was originally settled by the French, as well. Actually they got the ones we threw back). Technically speaking, this means you can be guilty until proven innocent, although in practise the reverse is true, as in the rest of country. Quebec has some laws that would be unconstitutional in the rest of Canada. For example, a store merchant in Quebec can theoretically go to jail for displaying his sign in English,rather than French. Quebec has never signed the Canadian Constitution, however, so theoretically is not bound by its articles. 
 

27) Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain is the official Canadian head of State, despite the fact Canada is an independent country. This is a traditional thing and the Queen would actually never exercise authority over Canadian affairs. (thanks to Greg Frey for this titbit). 

28) One of the greatest Canadian inventions, is the Robertson screwdriver. This is generally unheard of in the United States, although someone has told me, they have been making an appearance below the border.. Robertson screws have a square shaped insert in the head, meaning no slippage or stripping of the screw head. Knowing what a Robertson screw is, immediately identifies you as a native Canadian. They come in 4 different sizes. The largest is identified by a black handled Screwdriver, the middle size is the most common and identified by a red handled Screwdriver, the next size down is identified by a green handled Screwdriver, and the smallest a yellow handled Screwdriver. I have had American friends that have been so impressed, they have taken a lifetime supply back across the border with them. I suspect the greatest Canadian Invention may turn out to be the Ballard Fuel Cell. This hydrogen fuel cell, developed in Vancouver will likely revolutionize the automobile industry early in the next century. Already Ford and Mercedes are planning production of cars using it, and it is being used in some city buses in Vancouver and Chicago. The only exhaust is water vapour. If you are planning to run out and 
buy stock, it has already gone from a penny stock to over $100 a share. 
 

29) Canada has a population of about 30 million. It is a G7 country. This supposedly means it is one of the 7 strongest economies in the world. 

30) Unlike the United States, Canada is not hypocritical when it comes to trading with totalitarian regimes. The United States ostracises Cuba while trading with China, for example, how hypocritical can you get. We on the other hand will deal with any country, no matter how distasteful their politics. We have even given asylum to ex-dictators and despots. If they have money, we love them. 

31) The brother of Canadian Comedian, Leslie Neilson, was a member of the Canadian Parliament for many years. He looks just like his brother, but being a politician, does not have the same sense of humour. This is not as odd as it may seem. Anyone who has seen the Canadian Parliament in action will know that they all act like fools anyway. 

32) Contrary to popular belief, Canada has a large high tech industry. It is especially advanced in telecommunications and is the home of Nortel, one of the worlds main suppliers of telephone switching equipment. 

33) The United Nations has voted Canada as the best country in the world in which to live for the last 5 years in a row. Click Best Overall Quality of Life to see Chart.