Questions for Canadians
 

Greetings Canadians,

I am an American with a lot of questions for you. I am going to try and ask a new one each weekday and I encourage other people to pose questions as well.

Most of my questions will deal with quality of life in Canada. I am considering becoming a Canadian and hope you could help me make that decision. I am not looking for one-sided opinions so please share what you can. Thanks.

Awesome idea :)

I'm American too, moving to Canada next month.

1st Question.

What types of plans does Canada employ for retirement. In the states we have social security and 401k, which I have witnessed fail miserably. How do your systems work. WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AND FAIRNESS OF THESE POLICIES. Please share what you can on the topic.

AVERETT- Thanks,

Could you tell me where and why you are moving. Where are you moving from. I don't mean to pry, I am just looking to see different points of view.....different though processes........different ways of making this BIG decision.

We have things like Registered Retirement Savings Plans, which you contribute to off your salary. I assume you have them in the US.
Some places of employment have pension plans. I am only 26 so I don't know much about retirement, although I should...

Ha! I am 26 and feel old asking these questions.

Ask as many questions as you'd like, I don't mind at all :)

I'm moving from Albany, NY to Kitchener, Ontario. Long story short, met a guy, fell in love, moving in with him. I originally was going to move to Buffalo but he's convinced me to go all out and go right to Kitchener.

I've thought about moving to Canada in the past. But I don't know that I would have ever gone through with it.

I'm going right now for the Temporary Visitors deal. Basically Canada lets you visit for up to 6 months, then after the 6 months is up you either have to decide to stay or go. I could techinally stay on a temporary visa until the end of time, but I don't quite thing that'll work. I've been looking into the visa process for some time now, and it's very confusing and frustrating. But while I'm there I'll be looking into it more. There is a immigration office in Kitchener which I'm sure I'll be visiting quite often.

well, to start:

our registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) = your 401K. I think that the principal (no pun intended!) is the same: contribute off your salary up to a cap, and put into a bond or mutual fund or GIC, where it and it's interest is income tax protected.

Most people our age rarely get the chance to save for these as we are concerned with saving for a house. I put all of my bonus money into it ($12,000 last year) so I don't get taxed on that amount.

We get old age security at 65 i think. My mom gets about 1200 month, and she never worked in the work force. Also we all contribute off of our salaries into the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). we are supposed to get this as a pension when we are 65.

Lots of companies also have pension plans which are tax deferred too.

here is the gov't tax web site: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html

it is very useful. look at the personal tab.

I think that these plans are quite fair. What I don't like doing (because i am lazy) is managing my money. it's quite angst ridden. I dont know mutual funds, and i always worry about my choices.

oh - when you buy a house here, the mortgage interest is not tax deductable like in the US. major letdown.

Well, that's true, but you also don't pay capital gains tax on your primary residence, which means any money you make on property investments where you live contribute to your net worth, but you don't have to claim them.

But, essentially, Janey's right. The tax burden is somewhat higher in Canada until you are retired, at which time the "value added" fees for doing everything from going ot a library to using a public golf course will make you an old bitter person. I know, my Dad's there now.

But this is now a bit off topic, so I'll leave it at that.

Peace,

Pierre

Kitchener eh Averette.....I gew up there....nice 'small' city.

Depends on where you work as far as retirement stuff goes. If you belong to a union than you get better contributions and pensions, otherwise alot of it is up to you. Yeah there is the CPP (goveernement supplies pension) but it is pretty weak. Companies are starting to adapt to the 401 k over here though.

My wife and I started our RRSP's young. 100 bucks a month, nothing massive. She's a government employee so we'll get that retirement package as well, but the fact that when we buy a house, we can withdraw from our RRSP for a down payment, tax free (if its paid back in ten years) makes it a sweet deal all round.

It's funny you know, I know two couples that are yank that are currently in the process of moving to Canada as well. Any nucks out there know of a resource I can check to see if american immigration is up? Maybe its me, but it seems like half the Americans I know are on a pilgrimage north.

2nd Question.

You guys are wonderful. My next question has to do with health care. Many Americans believe that your free health care must be too good to be true. What are some of the complaints you have with the service? Is the system fair?

I don't have any complaints with it personally. Anytime my family or I have been sick, I have never had trouble getting service... This runs the gamut from tonsilitis as a kid to heart valve replacement surery from my father in law...

There are stories of some people having to wait extra ordinary amounts of time for an MRI or CT scan... This is a big issue but solvable. Conservatives like to point to this when they need an excuse to privatize the system.

The fact of the matter is that we spend less per capita on our health care than the US and have a longer life span and lower infant mortality rates.

Canadians, in general, are very proud of our health care system (in case you didn't notice)...

Ahhhh Health care.

Great Question... and you cannot possibly get the same answer from two individuals ... and here is why...

Health care is a federally funded system that is administered provincially(state by state, if you wish). So in Nova scotia they allow certain surgeries than they don't in Manitoba, for instance. In Manitoba it is quite fair to say that the health care system works well for the stuff that really counts (life threatening) although you will have to wait 9 - 10 months for less essential surgeries, like a hip replacement. My Dad waited for about 10 months for his new hip (but was able to get around on his old one).

Remember that someone might possibly chime in with an anecdotal acount of how their uncle died from heart failure in an emergency room. Statistically speaking healthcare is pretty good in Canada.

Do Not forget to ask some one about the health care system where you are moving to!

I can say for sure that Canadians in the north receive lower levels of health care than those in the south. This is due to geographical distance to the facility and cost of transportation.

If you are moving to Richmond, British Columbia people they are the longest living people in North America... They have a great Health system too!

Sooo.. where are you planning to live in the "Great White North"?

You know what, I honestly don't buy into the whole "Health care is falling apart oh no!" philosophy. At least not to the degree I'm told to. Every time I have had to use or witness our health care system at work, its been a well oiled incredible machine. From my daughters being born in BC, to my dad having a stroke and my wife a minor concussion in Yellowknife. These are perhaps two of the most opposite areas in Canada and in both places there were no problems. My dad didn't lay in a hall for hours. My wife wasn't forced out of the hospital early because of a bed shortage.

Hell, one time, my wife dropped a beer bottle on her toe, and broke it (Bwaaaahahahahahahahahahha, ahahahah, ahaha, aaaaah, thank god she doesn't read this), and the doctors in Yellowknife tried to talk her into staying the night, so they could see if it was broken or just severely bruised. They were talking x-ray and stuff. All I could think was, thats some overkill right there.

Canada's health care system is not perfect. But when you hear Canadians say "Fix the health care system", 9 out of 10 people mean, "Improve the health care system".

A little bit off topic, but a sidenote. I'm not a big union guy. I've seen unions and their members abuse their rights and priviledges many times. But holy hell, anytime the nurses round these parts say they need a raise I'll carry a banner for them. EVERY time I am in a hospital 99% of our contact is with nurses and they are the glue that holds the system together. Both of our daughters were delivered by nurses, once because the obstetrition (sp?) "Was getting ready for vacation and couldn't come in". For the crap they have to put up with, you couldn't pay me enough.

I know that this has nothing to do with health care, but the following link will take you to a very funny site which was created by an American girl trying to lay out the cultural differences between canada and the US:

http://www.icomm.ca/emily/

very humourous!

That about sums it up right there...

Wasnt our early struggle for responsible government? I mean in history we learned all about the Family Compact and le Chateau Clique.... It was our form of rebellion against the British old boys club. That action may well sum up the differences between our two countries. With the circumstances being different, the American Insurrection was triggered by irresponsible government brought to a head (taxation without representation...) Our little rebelion had a similar genesis, irresponsible government due to graft without representation. By having peace, order and good government, we are at liberty to pursue life & happiness.

So we fought for, and obtained good government, which appears to be what every nationis striving for.

Americans expect Liberty??? Canadians expect good government??? What went wrong?! :)

inhalo, I read the same anecdotes of our failing health care as everyone else and I know that there are some serious flaws with Universal Accessibility but here is just my latest experience: On Tuesday, a doctor ordered an MRI for my wife. On Wednesday, she was in the tube. You can't ask for more.

This is amazing.

I have come to believe that the many Americans who insist that the Canadian Health Care "must be to good to be true" are doing two things.

1- Being very American by NOT researching or asking
2- Assuming that the Canadian system must be worse than the American one because we PAY A LOT for ours.

Thanks again guys and gals! I love the personal insight you are delivering. I know I could go to various sites and research all of my questions......BUT THAT WOULD REMOVE THE TRUTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL that each of you give.

applause!

Oh hey, I've got a question (not to step on your thread-toes, inhalo)...

I'm moving in exactly one month (YAY!), if I should get sick or something happens, will I be able to get health care in Canada? I won't have insurance in the states anymore, and I know I'd probably have to pay some insane amount. But if I slip and fall and crack my arm, will I be able to get myself fixed in Canada?

3rd Question.

O.K. it is friday so the question will be lite today. How much American TV plagues/entertains you. I assume that you have cable and satelite TV access. Is MTV, DISCOVERY, COMEDY CENTRAL, CNN, HBO, AND SUCH EXPORTED TO YOU? Are they the same as in the states? Any similarities or differences between American and Canadian TV would be appreciated.

No worries, in fact I welcome it. Great question too. I am sure as the month draws near more questions will come. I look forward to them. :thumbsup:

And a good question you've come up with too :)

I know they have this one network called Global. That has a lot of American shows, but it's really weird. You'll see a show that's on CBS here, followed by a WB show, followed by an HBO show. Very strange.

Yes we get the same stations as you guys get. If you want you could always run a US dish up here and get them that way too..but I know I get the same shows as my buddy in AL..but I don't watch much TV so I have no idea what shows are on what stations.

Where are you thinking of going in Canada?



Averett - I am not 100% sure on it, but once u decide to stay and become a citizen u can get medicare no prob. in the mean time I am not 100% sure how it works. I don't know if you would be billed or how that works. If I were you I would look into some bluecross or something along that line. I know when I head to the states I always pick up some form of ins. just incase.

FREE TV

Like most nations around the world we get a lot of American programming on our TVs... In Toronto, for example, you can, with a TV and an antenna, receive all of the US Networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox) from the Buffalo affiliates.

On Cable TV you can recieve the same Networks, BUT, if a Canadian channel is simulcasting the same program the US feed will be pre-empted with the Canadian feed (i.e. CTV is broadcasting CSI at the same time as CBS, if you have cable you will see the CTV feed and all the CTV ads on BOTH channels). This will switch back when there is no simulcast.

Canadian Television has an obligation, as part of their license, to broadcast a certain percentage of Canadian content every year. I can go into detail in this if you want but suffice it to say that while US programming makes up a large part of our primetime schedule (it rates well and cost less than producing our own programs) the secondary and tertiary programming is largely Canadian content.

CABLE CHANNELS

We have a wide range of cable channels.

On the premium pay channel tier we have The Movie Network in the east and Movie Central in the west. These serve much the same role as your HBO and Showtime. They are pay tv movie channels that also show premium series. While they have acquired the rights to series from HBO and Showtime they have also started producing their own premium series (ReGenesis, Slings and Arrow, etc.). Both of these channels are multiplexed (i.e. they have several channels with different themes or their time shifted variants). They also have pay-per-view and VOD feeds as well.

On the basic cable tier we have a wide variety of so called specialty channels. Every thing from Much Music and YTV (youth channel) to Discovery and HGTV. What you should know is that unlike just about everywhere else in the world channels in Canada must be majority owned by a Canadian company. As a result, our Discovery, History, Food, HGTV, etc. while sharing the same names and even some of the same content are owned by Canadian companies and must have a certain percentage of Canadian Content as per their license.

Same channel different flavour.


There are a few channels that come over directly from the US without being filtered by a Canadian owner: Spike, TBS, A&E are a couple of these... some of their ads are prempted by the cable company but for the most part they are untampered.

DIGITAL SPECIALTY
There are two sorts of digital specialty channels and to receive any of them you must have either satellite or digital cable. Tier One channels must be carried by all the cable prviders and Tier Two must convince the cable provider to carry them.

It is at this level that we have some 100 extra channels, most of which are local but some, like MTV Canada and MTV2 are organized like the basic cable US channels above (Canadian owned but carrying some US shows).


In the end we are subject to a lot of US programming... Canadian netoworks like CTV and Global make a lot of money broadcasting US programs. There is a lot more to this but... it would take me for ever to type...

ask more specific questions and I can answer them (by the way... I work in film and television in Canada)

Wow ya know, I have this script I've been working on. We should get together, I bet we can get Mercer and....

I Keed

But awesome post Charlatan. Summed everything up very nicely

Wow.

Thanks for the detailed details. At this point I am trying not to be too specific with my questions. I want a broad range of answers so being too specific can be counter productive. Thanks though, I am sure to come up with specific questions after I take in the wealth of general discussion. I really appreciate the willingness and cooperation of everyone. Honestly I did not expect to get such thoughtful and sincere responses.

Keep it up! This is bound to be an extreemly helpful and informative board for people in my situation!

Canada has the Canada Pension Plan and Registered Retirement Savings Plans. They are roughly analagous to the american SS and 401k.

RRSP room is 18% of your salary per year. It carries over from year to year. Pension plans can shrink your RRSP room.

It is if you extend your morgage for the purpose of investing.

I am too young and healthy to be an expert.

Most of my medical care is delt with by showing my health card (eye infection, broken limbs, etc). My employer reemburses for eye glasses and dental care etc.

If you get digital cable/satalite, you can get most of the above.

On non-digital non-basic (50$-odd/month), you'll get a Discovery.ca, the Comedy Network, Teletoon, CNN, MuchMusic, etc. There is also a movie network. You won't get HBO. Some of them are analogies (except MuchMusic still plays videos)

You will also get some stations from south of the border on cable.

More people have cable here than down south -- basic cable is 20-odd CN$/month, and has 27 channels. What channels are on basic cable varies by area.

Charlatan, what titling software do you use? =)

Immigration says:
which doesn't sound good

Out of curiosity, have you looked into the newgroup misc.immigration.canada?

Titling?.......................

Hmm. Character Generator? Possibly you personally don't use them. =)

Ahhh that's what I thought you ment but wanted to be sure... I am in distribution rather than broadcast or production... I trade in intellectual property rather than making it or broadcasting it...

Again, to illustrate by example, I have two TVs in the house (actually 4, but two are older, and are dedicated to PS2 and super nintendo respectively!!) one is hooked up to my Basic Plus cable service, the other upstairs in my bedroom has rabbit ears, plus VHS & DVD. the non cable one picks up the following stations usually quite well:

CBC - toronto
CTV - toronto
Global - toronto
CHCH - hamilton
CKVR - barrie
Omni - toronto
City - toronto
tv-Ontario - toronto

WGR - buffalo
wben - buffalo
pbs - buffalo
fox (49) buffalo
wkbw - buffalo

that's a lot of free tv. sometimes the reception is a bit fuzzy, but not bad for an old tv with no cable. all the american and canadian networks are represented.

On my basic plus cable ($40 & tax /month) i get all the stations up to MuchMoreMusic ( the canadian VH1 version) plus some french/aboriginal and pbs ones farther up the dial.

By the way, from what I've heard from my american friends, they much prefer the Much Music station here in toronto, to their MTV, as itplays a wider variety of and especially still includes music....

4th Question.

The title of the Canada thread says "the land of weed and eh". I am from Wisconsin so I understand the eh part. But, what is the deal with your country and weed?

Possession of small amounts of weed with intent to consume was changed from a crime to a misdomener recently. Basically, you pay your fine and/or hand over the weed.

B.C. has a quite ... robust ... weed culture, from what I've heard.

Canada is less fanatical about the war on drugs than the US is. Many of us consider it to be a silly thing to have a war on a concept.

Up here we are less fanatical about things like that. If you look at the science behind that its much better for you than booze, your much less likely to be violent or act out on it, its not nearly as addictive as people say it is and no more so than booze. We realize its really not something to "war" over.

I also agree with Yakk's statement about waging war on a concept. Don't get me wrong, we don't encourage drug use. We just think weed is too minor of a thing to worry about.

It's true. On the other hand in my opinion, there is way too much effort/time and focus spent on the pot issue.

even our gov't debates it FFS. as if important issues didn't exist. I enjoy the partaking of it but for an activity that may happen once in a year or two, if at all, it's just not a priority.

reducing tax burden. affordable housing, homelessness. all the motherhood issues. Now that's what gov't should be dealing with.

We just have our priorities straight is all... ;)

It isn't like we are all smoking weed up here... we just don't think you need to go to jail for it...

Canadians tend to be a more tolerant towards possession of minor amounts of marijuana. We don't feel, for the most part, that possessing a few grams of pot is worthy of a criminal record. The governing party has introduced legislation that would allow possession of up to 15 grams with a fine similar to a traffic fine if caught.
The vid is bit old, but still relevant. http://ms.radio-canada.ca/archives/2...0020904et1.wmv

We also accept the concept of medicinal marijuana.
http://ms.radio-canada.ca/archives/2...0010730et1.wmv

British Columbia produces some of the more sought after weed out there and it's considered a billion dollar industry.
http://www.hackcanada.com/canadian/freedom/bc-bud.html

5th Question.

Today I ask you to name as many American companies that are in Canada as you can. Those of you in Toronto probably have an un-characteristic amount compared to the rest of Canada. Please try and list only those that are likeley to be found throughout Canada.

After that, perhaps you could offer your opinions about those companies being in Canada.

best fuckin' pot in the world eh.......

BCers have dialed in good clean affordable pot.......


......not that i would know or anything.
:D

great links splck.........thanks man.

This would be a long and tedious list. There are *way* too many to list, believe me. Most of them are multinational corporations that have a home office in the US and many more are just US companies with branch offices here.

I don't have an issue with this as such. There are many Canadian companies as well.

What does bother me is the trend that sees a successful Canadian company either move their interests to the States or get bought out by US controlling interests. Examples of this would be Lions Gate Films (started as a Canadian company, moved into the lucrative US market, and is now selling off or closing down much of the Canadian arm) and Delrina, the makers of WinFax (bought by Symantec).

It isn't that they are no longer in Canada (although some jobs have been lost to the US) it's that they are no longer managed from Canada.

I find the first part of that question not all that interesting. I'll give you classes: most of your fast food joints, branch offices of most of your larger corperations (P&G etc), most snack-food companies, your larger addiction corperations (cigs and beer), and a smattering of chain retailers.

My attitude is: if foriengers want to do work for me, I'm ok with that. Mmm, economic slavery! /whip /whip

6th Question.

The questioning of today deals with concepts like unemployment compensation and welfare programs. What do Canadians do when they lose their jobs? What types of programs are out there to help the economically challeged? With the winters up there it must suck to be homeless.

I think anywhere would suck to be homeless, but anyway...

We do have welfare programs that are administered through the provincial governments, but be warned, they are for the basics. I think (?) in my province a young single white guy is screwed. ~ 500$ per month, rent in?

Looking at the disclamers, yes you get more depending on what box you fit in. Single mom? More.
More kids? More.
Disabled? More.
Aboriginal? More.

And so therefore it is kind of a sliding scale. It is a tough life, and no-one where I live thinks "man, those welfare people sure do have it easy..." except for the ignorant and bitter assholes who love Darwin and hate charities.

As for Unemployment Insurance (UI) ... sorry, EI now:

So many weeks of work entitles you for a certain percentage of your average wage over a certain time... long and simple formula. Administered by the Feds, EI premiums come off your cheque like taxes, and everyone pays for them. Big stink lately in the fact that the EI coffers are overflowing, and the gov't will not give the money back in terms of fiddling with the fomula or taking less money off the paycheque.

Don't worry about it. All you have to do is ask someone who has done it before and they will walk you through the steps. I think that the EI forms are on-line now, so you don't even have to mail in cards anymore.

BTW, people here cal it "Pogey" pronounced po-gi . You'll sound very cool when you ask someone about it.

I'm on EI currently. *sigh*. Is anyone hiring a competent IT professional in Ontario? I'm willing to move anywhere. At any rate, I've been on it since September. It really sucks getting laid off near the holiday season. Everyone was away and no companies were hiring.

You get 60% of your paycheque at the company you were previously at. You can only be on it for one year at a time. You can (and should) apply for EI as soon as you get your Record of Employment. You must also have all your banking and social insurance information handy at the time of application, as this will speed up the 6-8 week wait before EI starts kicking in. It is just like a regular paycheque and you get a T4 from the government for you to declare at income tax time.

Most importantly, EI in Ontario is accounted for from the time of application for a period of 365 days, from the time you receive your first cheque (which gets direct-deposited into your bank account as per your application).

Once you start receiving EI you will be mailed all your information including an all-important access code for your reports.

Every two weeks you must fill out a report on-line (or via telephone) with your PIN access code. It can range from the simple:

"Yes, I'm available for work but haven't found any in the last two weeks" to
"Yes I'm available, but I'm doing part-time training for [x] amount of hours a week or I've received a small paycheque for some on-the-side work"

I would encourage you not to lie on your reports as the hassle with insurance agents can get you in very hot water - think of losing your benefits altogether or even getting charged with fraud!

There should be an employment centre setup by the government near your place of residence. They can help you with resume writing, cover letter writing, interview skills and even funding for training or courses you can take (while you still get EI benefits). I'm training right now, and you cannot be training for more than 10 hours a week or you will be deemed "not searching for work", which in effect, cuts you off EI.

Again I ask, is there anyone hiring? I hope you don't mind me asking here... I'd like to explore all my options. :)

Originally Posted by tecoyah
reality is for people....who can't handle drugs-...some stoned guy


that quote is Tom Waits as far as I can recall. he also said: "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy"

:D

Heck Trache I feel your pain. I'm still looking for work and it looks like I'm going to have to leave my family and go back up to Yellowknife to work. It sucks. Been working since I was 13, and the only times I'm ever stuck on EI is when I come back to this hole in the ground.

I spent 4 months looking for work here now. Nothing. Looking from Kelowna to Oliver. Its a good thing my wife makes a bundle, but looks like we'll be spending time together on MSN soon because I can't take much more sitting at home.

On the bright side, I'm learning how to cook,

And especially Tim Hortons. Since they were bought by Wendy's (i think) their product has been severely corporatized. (think smaller)

it sucks to be homeless anywhere, but you have to think that chicago, New York, Buffalo, Seattle, Philadelphia, Boston all have the same issue withthe weather.

7th Question.

Well it seems that you open-minded Canadians have your priorities straight. Still in such a atmosphere there will still be prejudice and taboos. Are there issues the common man deals with (not govt.) in Canada that push people apart?

Where are the equality gaps? Gender is an example. America likes to toot its horn about equality, but we have a long way to go. My girlfriend just got a job cutting stone in a shop with all men. Now granted 50 years ago she could not even get the job, but the employees in this man dominated shop have know idea how to interact with her comfortably in this modern age. There is voids in communication, so on and so forth......what are some of the vices that still hold Canada back?

I would say that, in general, the kinds of intolerance and prejudice you experience in the US, you will experience in Canada as well.

Like the US, it depends were you are.

That said, we do not have the same Black/White issues that you find in the US. The issues are there BUT the political flavour of them is different.

(FPTP = first past the post
PR = proportional rep
RR = regional rep)

Canada:
21.1% women in Parliament
37.1% women in the Senate

The Canadian Senate is pseudo-RR appointed, Parliament is PRFPTP elected.

The Senate in Canada has effectively little power. It's job is editing and polishing: in theory, the only thing it could do to a bill is delay it for a known period of time.

USA:
15.0% women in Congress
14.0% women in the Senate

The US Congress is PRFPTP elected, Senate is RRFPTP elected

This seemed to be a simple, objective measure of gender equality, at least to some degree.

Canada has a larger aboriginal population, in proportion to it's population, than the USA. This is especially true out west. The reservation system caused and causes some social problems, which we are actively trying to repair.

8th Question.

Laid back friday question. Please indulge me with your slang. Give me as much as you can.....prejudice terms, sports terms, drug terms, terms for "cool"..........whatever slang you think is different up there!

In Wisconsin we call drinking fountains -bubblers and we do not call soda -pop.

Chocolate Bar: apparently American's call them candy bars

Homo milk: whole or homogonized milk... (Hey 2%! (when person turns around) Not you homo.)

Loonie and Toonie: our one dollar and two dollar coins respectively

Two Four: a 24 case of beer

Tims or Timmy's: pet names for Tim Horton's, a famous and ubiquitous Doughnut shop chain

Pogey: Unemployment insurance. When I told my father I wanted to be an artist he said, "Why? So you can draw a pogey."

Newfie: Somone from the province of Newfoundland

The Big Smoke, Hogtown, T.O., t-Dot: Toronto
Cowtown: Calgary
Winterpeg, The 'Peg: Winnipeg
The Rock: Newfoundland
The Soo: Sault Saint Marie (pronounced Sue Saint Marie)
Chesterfield: couch or a sofa
Touque: a hat to keep your noggin' warm in the winter
Serviette: a napkin
Crappy Tire: another name for the chain of stores called Canadian Tire
hydro: electriciy... i.e. The hydro bill came in.
May Two Four: The Victoria Day long weekend (May 24th)



We say Zed not Zee
Lieutenant (pronounced lef-tenant - the proper way)
Vase ("voz", not "vayse")
Cheque (not check)
Grey (not gray)
Doughnut (not donut)

- Except that Tim Hortons spells it donuts, while Krispy kreme utilizes doughnut.... go figure.

- apparantly Zee is unique. Only Americans pronounce it that way. The rest of the world (English, French, German etc) use Zed.

- what is with Tdot for Trawna? I Have never heard that used before...

- as for toonies, I thought it was twonies, but i hate the term. I use the term: '2 dollar coin', while my hubby annoys me with 'bear-assed Queen' because of the polar bear on the backside of the coin.



I heard that Double - Double (for 2 cream 2 sugar in coffee) is uniquely canadian.
- I always use serviette, as napkin is something that is used for feminine hygiene...not that I use serviettes instead of napkins! Ok , in cases of extreme emergency...

Not sure where T-dot started but likely T.O. (T dot O dot). I seem to recall some rapper started it all...

Zee makes the alphabet rhyme when sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...

Toonie or Twonie... I've only ever seen it written Toonie as in Loonie with a "T"...

It's a dubloon silly!

i like that. or dubloonie

I remember that being one of the names that got tossed around when they first came out... I always thought toonie was a bit cheap sounding ...

Doubloon is *way* better... makes me feel like a pirate.

save that for the annual speak Like a Pirate Day.

Iremember and April fools joke that CFRB played one year, that I totally fell for:

They announced that the $5 bill was going to be replaced by a coin, which will have 5 geese flying in V formation, with the V representing the roman numeral 5, and the geese were Canada Goose geese.

the flip side was going to have Timothy Eaton on it. that's when i clued in.

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate - Arrogant Worms

Oh, I used to be a farmer and I made a living fine,
I had a little stretch of land along the CP line
But time are hard and though I tried, the money wasn't there
And bankers came and took my land and told me fair is fair
I looked for every kind of job, the answer always "no"
Hire you now, they'd always laugh, we just let twenty go!
The government, they promised me a measly little sum
But I've got too much pride to end up just another bum.
And so I thought who gives a damn if all the jobs are gone
I'm gonna be a PIRATE! on the River Saskatchewan!
(ar.. ar.. ar.. etc...!)

Chorus:
Cause it's a heave-ho! hi-ho!
Coming down the plains
Stealing wheat and barley and all the other grains
And it's a ho-hey! hi-hey!
Farmers bar your doors when you see the Jolly Roger on Regina'smighty shores.
Arr!

Well you think the locals farmers would know that I'm at large
But, just the other day I saw an unsuspecting barge
I snuck up right behind them and they were none the wiser,
I rammed their ship, and sank it, and I stole their fertilizer!
A bridge outside of Moose Jaw spans a mighty river
The farmers pass in so much fear, their stomachs are a-quiver
Because the know that TRACTOR JACK! is hiding in the bay,
I'll jump the bridge and knock them cold and sail off with theirhay!

Chorus

Well Mountie Bob he chased me, he was always at my throat
He'd follow on the shoreline but he didn't own a boat
But cutbacks were a-coming and the Mountie lost his job
Now he's sailing with me and we call him Salty Bob.
A swingin' sword, and skull n' bones, and pleasant company
I never pay my income tax and screw the GST- SCREW IT!
Prince Albert down to Saskatoon, I'm the terror of the sea
If ya wanna reach the Co-op, boy, you gotta get by me!

Chorus

Arrr ya salty dog.. arrr ya salty gopher.. arrr ya salty bale ofhay!

Well, pirate life's appealing, but you don't just find it here
I've heard that in Alberta, there's a band of bucaneers
They roam the Athabasca, from Smith to Fort McKay
And you're gonna lose your Stetson if you have to pass theirway
Well winter is a-coming and a chill is in the breeze
Our pirate days are over once the river starts to freeze
I'll be back in springtime, but now I 've to go,
I hear there's lots of plundering down in New Mexico!

Chorus
Repeat Chorus
Repeat last line of chorus

I know the arrogonat worms... They did a song about toronto too. It was hilarious. do you have the words?

I found this one tho:

Arrogant Worms


Forgive Us We're Canadian

by Unknown
We always say we're sorry
We like to stand in line
When you ask us how we're doing
We always say "Just fine!"

Forgive us, we're Canadian,
We try hard to be nice,
You too can be Canadian
If you follow this advice.

We disagree on everything
But we try to be polite
We don't believe in violence
Except on hockey nights!
We've adopted European ways
Replacing yards with meters
But we still must ask the question,
"How many miles in a litre?"

Forgive us, we're Canadian,
We try hard to be nice,
You too can be Canadian
If you follow this advice.

We can talk for hours of end
About the constitution
Which is dry as toast but sure as heck
Beats war or revolution.
We don't much like to wave the flag
We find patriotism shocking
So we celebrate on Canada Day
By going cross-border shopping!

Forgive us, we're Canadian,
We try hard to be nice,
You too can be Canadian
If you follow this advice.

We know how to dress for winter
We're not afraid of snow!
And we love our country quietly
And hope Quebec won't go!

Forgive us, we're Canadian
And that some might think us bland
But there's nowhere that we'd rather live
Than this vast and frozen land!

Over here in Saskatchewan, there is a lot of racism against natives... It's a real shame, because the ones I know are great people.

There is also a certain degree of homophobia, but no more than in the states (which is Canadian slang for the United States, by the way...)

Actually, I thought it was uniquely Tim Hortons.
Not that any other chain really matters, but if you go into a second cup, Dunkin Donuts, Coffee Time and ask for a Double Double do they know what you are talking about?

Here is a good question:
- If you order a Medium Double Double. It has a certain amount of cream and sugar in it. What happens if you order a Large Double Double? Does it have the same amount of cream and sugar as in a medium or does it have the same proportion of cream and sugar to coffee as in the Medium?

This has been bothering me for a while.

Not the arrogant worms, but:

(Radio Free Vestibule)

Text From:
http://ars.userfriendly.org/users/re...5856&tid=26941

MP3 link (apparently with permission):
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/70...To_Toronto.mp3
from http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/7026/sounds.html

(note: those websites are bandwitdth-capped, so will go out regularly.
mirror for the MP3: http://theorem.ca/~afn/temp/Radio_Fr...To_Toronto.mp3
)

Very interesting point. hmmm. I've noticed that the training at Tim Horton's has started to slide a bit. (must be the whole Wendy's thing). their staff don't seem to be able to handle the sliding size scale wrt adjusting for volume.

On the other hand, Coffee Time does understand double double, and they seem to be able to compensate....

MacDonald's on the other hand will just give you 4 creamers for their newly upsized medium coffee. Honestly, they just about doubled the size of their coffees in the last week. :thumbsup:

WOW, that is the understatement of the year so far...

In Saskatchewan, the racism put toward aboriginals is VERY BAD. The intolerance level here is staggering. Yes, I know natives that are great people, but in my own experiences, it has been a 2-way street. Natives hate "whitey" with vigour and passion. It is something that we are not proud of, and we don't like to talk about it. Hey, how about those Riders?

DO NOT MOVE TO SASKATCHEWAN IF YOU ARE ABORIGINAL. There are better places without the hassle. Seriously.

YES, there is a machine that keeps the proportions straight on the cream and sugar dispensers... If you order an XL double double, rest assured it will taste the same as a regular double double.
the machines have little buttons on them corresponding to the cup size. It makes it a little harder for the gnome inside the machine, but they seem to handle the stress.

9th Question.

Hello ladies and gents, I want to throw a 'Thank You' up to you all. My computer is fried at home so I only get to interact with you while I am working. This has not left me much time to do more than write the question of the day and read your responses. Rest assured once my work flow dies down a little I will dig deeper into this forum. Blah Blah Blah right?

So today I thought I would ask you for some reasons why someone would NOT want to move to Canada. Can this even be? Come on guys give me the dirt......surely there is something wrong with you..........anything.........something small maybe?

Nice to hear BigBen931, I can now sleep at night again. I just hope those gnomes don't go on strike.

How about
- The cold
- Taxes
- No U.S. Superbowl commercials due to Canadian channels taking over the broadcast. Unless you have U.S. satellite

The snow and cold... but you can get that in the northern US as well...

Other than that I can't think of anything else that sucks.

Whenever I travel, even to 1st world countries like Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, I thank my luck stars that I live in Canada. This is not an exageration. But to tell you the truth, i feel more estranged from here, when I have to spend prolonged periods of time in the States. I worked for a month straight in columbia SC, and it was just similar enough that I was constantly reminded of home.

Even when working in Fort Lee NJ or Pittsburgh, i would look out the window of the airplane on approach to Toronto, and feel the need to be back in my town. The times that i have spent in Europe and Asia did not affect me in such a way because they are sufficently different countries that I wasn't affected by the verisimilitude.

Canada has its problems, but they are our own. and we deal with them. Americans may think that our taxes are high, but really, I don't think that they are totally out of line. I dont like paying 8% sales tax and 7 % gst, nor do i like to pay income tax, but like they say, you gotta be making in to be paying it. If i can manage to save, buy a house, and live a comfortable lifestyle, then I think that is pretty decent. We don't have to dodge land mines to get to work. That's a big problem in a lot of the world!

Plus, I love the winter, so that helps. Our street in the beaches has had an impromptu igloo/qwinzy/snow house building contest, with each ront yard sporting a large construct of some sort, and scotch/wine drinking neighbours out socializing while the kids do the building. It's great!

I think you'd be a fool not to answer question #9 with the answer: "the cold"

Seriously when it first hits, usually in November, I look forward to winter and not sweating all the time. By about the 5th month of it (i.e. NOW) I'm pretty tired of it and being cold all the time. The slush, the black snow on the side of the road, our car-centric society manifesting itself in sidewalks that are rarely shovelled or plowed... the list goes on and on. The cause?



The Cold!!!

I can think of many reasons why someone would not want to move to Canada.

1> Their relatives/family aren't here, and they like their relatives.
2> They have a love of their current country, and don't want to leave it.
3> They dislike the weather in Canada.
4> Their values don't line up with Canadian values (for example, Canada makes genocidal speech a crime -- some people put the bar of free speech higher or lower)
5> They like lower/higher marginal tax rates and the government services levels thus provided
6> They can't get in
7> They enjoy hearing about their nation engage in military conquest, or are more pacifistic than the Canadian government
8> They are working in a niche field where employment isn't availiable in Canada, gets paid more elsewhere, or is otherwise superior
9> They are in a close relationship with someone with one of the above reasons to not want to come here
10> Inertia

How much cold are we really talking about here? I can not imagine your winters being that much worse than those in Wisconsin. Winter rolls up its sleeves and clenches its fists in November and pounds through to about now. Granted winters here are very unpredictable. Yesterday it was HOT 50°F....... today it is 20°F and snowing. I would say that about half the winter is below zero with the wind chill. It is never really above freezing for very long if ever.

Sorry bout the °F

What are the usual summer temps (°C is fine)

This is something I have never heard of.......Do you have any more examples of similar "crimes"?

Well, here in Toronto, summer can get to about 30 - 35 celsius for usually a week or two at a time. I'd say the peak months of summer average out at about 25 - 30 Celsius.

Winter in Toronto isn't as bad as Quebec or the Prairies (which can get to -30 or even lower than -40). Toronto usually bottoms out at about -20 to -25 Celsius. Winter is pretty much alway below freezing. This winter has been pretty wimpy, though (everything thaws, then new snowfall, then it freezes for about 2 days, then we're above 0C again).

Not that I know of.

Basically, endorsing genocide in Canada is a criminal act. We consider it yelling fire in a crowded theatre: it does get people killed.

Here is the law:
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-46/41491.html
There is also Public incitement of hatred, Wilful promotion of hatred

The entire law isn't included here. Follow the link if you want to get the procedural nitty-gritty and some term definitions.

That's a good list Yakk...

yesterday in Toronto it was 5 degrees C. or 41F. All the snow was melting. Overnight it dropped to 5F or -9 F with the windchill. the sidwalks are like skaitng rinks now, and the wind is biting. typical winter temperature swing for Toronto.

In the summer, a pleasant 25 to 30 C (77F - 86F) is quite common, with humidex reading pusing the temp up to 40 or higher (104F or higher ) for several days in a row.

10th Question.

C*NS%RSHIP! I am sure you are all well aware of the controversy over Janet Jackson's star studded nipple. The states have a really hard time dealing with nudity in the public. What are the Canadian views on the human body? What are the limits of decency? Is sex worse than violence? It is here!

on canadian tv, the word mother-fucker is censored so that it comes out as ***-*** before 9 pm and ***-fucker after 9 pm. :lol: it's true, I've seen it.

There seems to be proper nudity on basic (non pay) cable in the evenings after prime time usually in sex shows. No hardcore. The nipple thing was so humourous from our perpsective. Fashion-Television (usually broadcast in early evening) showed that kind of stuff regularly all throught the '80's & '90's. I personally couldn't get over how much reaction Janet got down there. I thought the entire dance routine was more lewd than the final rip.

Our media is much more liberal than what you would find in the US.

For example, The Sopranos is broadcast on CTV (the equivalent of NBC or CBS) in prime time, uncensored. You can regulary here words like Shit and Fuck on the air and on the cable channels, nudity is not uncommon.

The main reason for this, as far as I can see, is that we do not have the puritanical history that the US has. We don't have the same numbers of fundamentalists in our societal make up. They are there but the numbers are much smaller. We are fundamentally a secular society. Politcians who talk about God the way that George Bush does, do not get elected or re-elected.

Quite frankly, most of us were scratching our heads over the whole wardrobe malfunction. It was just a nipple...

Well, several years ago it became legal for women in Ontario to go topless in public as men do.

Otherwise I don't notice too much more liberalism on the subject. I don't think there would have been quite as much public outcry if Janet revealed herself here, and I don't notice our T.V. having that much more nudity. I'm gonna have to say sex and violence are treated about equally over here, with a slight lean towards being like you, our Southern neighbours.

We just don't get as upset about stuff, eh?

:icare: I think I am in love!

In regards to censorship, all the above being said, while I do think we're definitely a more relaxed nation when it comes to saying fuck on television and showing titties, the question I ask is, how does that make us a more advanced country? Are we more evolved because we don't care what kind of crap our children are exposed to on television. Should we be recognized because we 'embrace our sexuality' in a European kind of way and shamelessly showcase it on CTV?

I really don't think we're polar opposites to the US when it comes to censorship. I think we could stand to benefit from some of their restrictions and guidelines.

Now, I'm a fiercely patriotic Canadian, one who'd fight tooth and nail to forever be independent of increased U.S. influence, but I'm also quite weary of where unchecked liberalism in the media can lead us.

Hey, You guys forgot the most important point!
 

Our strippers go down to the bare skin.

I went to the peelers in the US, and these girls were dancing around in g-strings. Okay I thought, the g-string goes on the 3rd dance of the set. No big deal.

Only, they didn't ever take tham off. I said, "I am going back to Canada, where the weather is cold, the beer is cold, and the strippers are hot."

How's that for censorship?

Of course we all know that children should be in bed by 9 pm. As responsible citizens of Canada, there is widespread understanding that minors (i.e. everybody who is too young to participate in this forum) require their 10 hrs of sleep at night in order to be good, effective students at school.

That being said, parents who renege on said responsibility put their children at risk of dirty words and exposed titties, if they also allow these children to watch television outside of prime time. But I'm sure that doesn't happen, as any children who are not in bed at after 9 pm are studiously completing their homework.

:thumbsup:

Daoust... have you watched TV lately? Before every show start and after every commecial break the broadcasters have warnings that come up: This program contains nudity and foul language. Viewer discretion is advised.

As Janey points out, it isn't like these shows are on at 4:30 in the afternoon and marketed to children. They are generally on after 9 pm and aimed at mature audiences. If you don't like the show. Don't watch it. If your kids are up at 9 pm and watching these shows without your knowledge... that is a whole other issue.

Our media is not "unchecked" it is quite responisble. They do, however, assume that viewers, and more importantly parents, will share in that responsibility.

Hahahaha...my dad used to watch that show when I was a kid to look at the boobies.

Growing up near the border I watched a lot of Canadian and American TV. I can say Canadian TV is a lot less violent than American TV, not as censored, and definitely allows more sexuality to come through. I'd much rather my children watch people love each other than kill each other.

I distinctly recall being about 12 and staying up to watch some show about doctors in a Toronto clinic because it had sex scenes. Naughty, I know, but we definitely didn't have that on American TV at the time. NYPD Blue changed that a bit.

I'd also like to thank all of you fabulous Canadians for taking the time to answer all of these questions. It's been quite an education.

11th Question.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The question of the day today is about guns. The states are flooded with weapons and not just rifles for hunters. Given the wilderness in Canada, guns must be somewhat common. What types of regulations control the guns. The states have a 5 day waiting period to allow for background checks and so that angry people can't just pick one up on a whim and start spraying bullets. The Bush administartion also lifted the ban on assault weapons recently. Have there been any High School shooting like Columbine up there?

BIG Issue of the day is the Federal Gun Registry programme. While it was an initiative born out of tragedy (the multiple shooting of women in a university in Montreal) it has typically spiralled out of control. A simple registry programme which will track ownership of firearms is costing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, and seems to be ineffective (recent news about the shooting of 4 RCMP members in Alberta points the finger at this registry and why it didn't help to identify the problem before it could happen) and doesn't get at the root of the problem: the criminal element who will not register their weapons anyways.

Yes this is a big issue. You will get a lot of discussion on it. I personally think that there is an Urban/Rural dichotomy here. As a city girl, I have no problem with registering such lethal tools. After all I do the same withmy vehicle. Yes, it costs money, but so what? There is nothing fundamentally wrong, no loss of freedom involved. If i got a gun I would gladly register it. Especially since it would help to track it if it got stolen.

Rural Canada has s different view. I'm not sure that I can comment on it, but my understanding is that why should law abiding citizens have to be penalized for owning firearms and have to pay out just because they have them. They are a requirement for rural life, whether they are used for hunting or maintaining a farm, or large property. Actually, I still don't understand the resistance, as it seems to be only $$$ that are the problem. maybe somebody could state the opinion from that side.

To summarize:

- Gun registry good because it tracks the ownership of these weapons
- Gun registry bad because it is over-priced (close to a billion $)
- Gun Registrybad because criminal element will by pass it anyways.

I fit into the law abiding citizenry who enjoy hunting for sport (dodges tomatoes from tree huggers) and think that the government is just picking on us. My family has been hunting for generations. The laws and restrictions placed on firearms and game hunting are so ridiculous, and expensive, it has all but ruined the sport. I have taken all the courses, and paid out all the ridiculous monies required so I can hunt. I know how to operate a firearm. I don't plan on using it to kill innocent people. But because of the idiocy of a few inbred idiots I have to suffer.
The gun registry is one of the biggest wastes of taxpayers money in recent decades. How the government has been able to sweep that whole fiasco under the rug is beyond me. And it hasn't even been effective, in my mind. All it has done is ruined years of family tradition by making it too expensive to hunt.

This is a big issue that is roiling beneath the surface a present and occasional on the surface. Janey paints a pretty accurate picture of urban vs. rural.

My brother in law is a Toronto cop and works one of the more dangerous areas of the city (the Malvern area in the North East) and there are a lot of guns on the streets. Most of which are coming in from the US illegally.

That said, Canada just doesn't have the gun culture that the US has... I've only known one person who collected guns and had pistol. It was a P38 pistol from his time in the military. I know a few hunters that have rifles.

The average person just doesn't carry. There is not a general feeling that I need to get a gun to protect myself (and the stats bear this out - the number of murders by handguns are much lower per capita than what you have in the US).

post deleted


replaced with happy thoughts. :icare: to everybody in TFP....

Can you give me the costs of registering one gun? I cant find it anywhere. that would certainly help to illustrate the problem. Also, if youcould compare it to the costs/obligations of pre-registry gun ownership costs, it would helpful.

I haven't actually done alot of this stuff in a long time, but I'm sure I took a hunters safety course for close to $100, did a written and performance test that I'm sure cost more money, got a hunters game card for something like $10 plus $10-50 every season for bird/game stamps.
That's all the before hand stuff.
To be a lawful gun owner I had to take ANOTHER course so I could get my Firearms Acquisition and Possession Certificate, and this course would have cost something close to $100 and then to register my firearms cost another amount that I am actually unsure of, but I know there's a cost for each firearm. I know that was the piece of info you were looking for and I gave you a bunch of other crap info, but I hope it lends some insight into how costly it is to hunt/own a firearm these days.