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What do Americans honestly think of Canadians and Canada.

N

Noahkrz

macrumors newbie
May 16, 2013
1
0
cosmokanga2 said:
I have to agree with you. Where I work I meet lots of people from all over the world and they all see the Canadians and Americans as very different. Most say that the Canadians are in general politer, kinder, cleaner and much better dressed and presentable. They see us of a cross between the europeans and americans. I have never traveled the the States so I can't really comment however I do believe we are slightly different, but every country is.

I do have to say though, I have met and heard stories of some pretty stupid americans before. In Banff for example by dad guided canoes and a common question was where the animals were kept at night and when did Folding Mountain fold up. My favorite though was a comment I got when I went bicycling across canada from a lady in California asking what type of snow plow we use on our bikes. Yes she was serious.
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It's funny you say that. Being from California, I can say we do have some weirdos. But also
living in the foothills of the Sierra mountains, I know that mountains aren't fake. For the most part I like Canadians. I just don't like the ones who say Americans are stupid or not classy. The stories you here about are of course going to be the stereotypical and funny ones. Since most Canadians live in the south, they are even closer to America. They share a lot of characteristics with the people in the northern US. And finally if that lady is that stupid and from California, she's probably never seen snow. But I like Canadians.
 
P

pdjudd

macrumors 601
Jun 19, 2007
4,037
65
Plymouth, MN
In general I have no ill will against Canada or Canadians (some of them are my co-workers since we have an office in (I think) Quebec or Montreal). Like any country there are some aspects of culture that I don't understand and like any country you there are things that I won't agree with but that is life. In general I think Canada is like a relative from another family that shares some things that is very nice in some and not so good in others.

I do think some of your beer is rather nice (Of the kind that I have had)
 
Zombie Acorn

Zombie Acorn

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2009
1,307
9,132
Toronto, Ontario
People are about as friendly as I was used to in a small town in the states. If someone drops something there's usually someone picking it up and handing it back, people ask for directions without being afraid of being ignored.

Politically its not as much nonsense and more substance, unfortunately, it makes for boring news.
 
V

/V\acpower

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2007
628
498
snberk103 said:
Nah.... it's just good business. My feeling is that a lot of Quebecois scared themselves when they almost did vote for succession. Most thought, imho, that the vote was not going to be close, so it was safe to vote Oui to scare the ROC. oops, eh?.
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Well, it's good that you mention this is a feeling, because really I don't see how you could be farther from the truth.
 
V

/V\acpower

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2007
628
498
It's not a simple feeling.

I don't know anyone separatist who ever expressed this kind of sentiment toward independence and the 1995 referendum.

Actually, polls in the days leading to the referendum were clearly saying that a "Oui" victory was a very possible outcome from this. It was clear for everyone before the vote that it was close to 50/50.

It's absurd to state that somehow, even knowing that, peoples voted yes while meaning no. In fact, it is absurd and really insulting.

In fact the biggest "enemy" the separatist option faces these day is the exact opposite. Even if the polls vary between 35-40% most of the times (and they were around 40% when the last referendum campaing started in 1995), they are having a hard time mobilizing peoples because lots of them are afraid to do another one without winning it.

Please, don't tell us you know how we feel about that when clearly you don't have any idea.
 
kazmac

kazmac

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2010
10,086
8,627
Any place but here or there....
dejo said:
I like Robin Williams' take, who said on Leno that: "Canada is like a nice family living above a biker bar."
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LOLOLOL...

I like Canada. Toronto was very nice - the people and the city. When I went the group of folks* I visited with talked like Bob and Doug McKenzie which made the trip even more fun.

*Granted this group was a thrash metal band in the late 80s....
 
C

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,436
18
/V\acpower said:
It's not a simple feeling.

I don't know anyone separatist who ever expressed this kind of sentiment toward independence and the 1995 referendum.

Actually, polls in the days leading to the referendum were clearly saying that a "Oui" victory was a very possible outcome from this. It was clear for everyone before the vote that it was close to 50/50.

It's absurd to state that somehow, even knowing that, peoples voted yes while meaning no. In fact, it is absurd and really insulting.

In fact the biggest "enemy" the separatist option faces these day is the exact opposite. Even if the polls vary between 35-40% most of the times (and they were around 40% when the last referendum campaing started in 1995), they are having a hard time mobilizing peoples because lots of them are afraid to do another one without winning it.

Please, don't tell us you know how we feel about that when clearly you don't have any idea.
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The biggest enemy separatist option faces is that no separatist party was ever able to draw a sensible plan of what will happen once independence is voted, and that's especially important for newcomers who don't quite understand what the fuss is about. Sure Canada and the US will remain major business partners, but at the moment I bet there's not enough money generated to make it a really viable state. And copying what is made elsewhere in North America while having less money is bound to failure. Before independence, there are bold social decisions to be made, starting with education.
 
V

/V\acpower

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2007
628
498
Cubytus said:
The biggest enemy separatist option faces is that no separatist party was ever able to draw a sensible plan of what will happen once independence is voted, and that's especially important for newcomers who don't quite understand what the fuss is about. Sure Canada and the US will remain major business partners, but at the moment I bet there's not enough money generated to make it a really viable state. And copying what is made elsewhere in North America while having less money is bound to failure. Before independence, there are bold social decisions to be made, starting with education.
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This was more of an issue at the time of the 1st referendum when globalization wasn't clearly there yet and "interior market" was still the best way for an economy to strive.

However in 1995 and today, economically things are very different. Globalization made it so basically a business in a small country have the whole world as a potential market. It doesn't matter today if you are in the US, Finland or Italy, we live in a global economy and we all have access to the rest of the world as a market. A small country can be even more successful economically than a big one. All he really need is a couple of things it does well and export them. Size isn't really an issue in a globalized economy.

Also, this argument that "we don't know what will happen", no we know, we really do. There is absolutely no reason why every country, even Canada and especially U.S. would treat Quebec in a different way than every other industrialized country. It's just irrational to think otherwise. It's not like Quebec would be the only new country in our modern history. It's been done a lot, sometimes very recently, and it didn't cause any problem.

And the "There is things to do before thinking about being a country" argument is just sophistic. There is ALWAYS problems in every country at any given time. No place is perfect, no place will ever be. This argument is basically empty of any value.

Anyway, if there is some problems in Quebec as a province, federalist will say "Well, we should be solving those problems before thinking about a country." And if we actually does "solve" most of them they will say "Why change when you are doing well as a province."
 
C

Cubytus

macrumors 65816
Mar 2, 2007
1,436
18
Canada as a whole has an issue even thinking of trading with other countries side of the US. So when US economy goes down, so will Canada, globalization or not.

I am not talking about political considerations, but day-to-day businesses: infrastructures are crumbling, even a sensible investment such as high-speed trains, decent roads, larger metro network, affordable education, a health system that actually works, or simply keep corruption under control raises more than one eyebrow. You must have seen how many - mostly older - people vehemently opposed affordable education last year as students are struggling to make ends meet. Tuition is just a small part of the equation. And there are major concerns in any developed country, new or old.

Given another referendum, I would surely vote yes because I believe a "shock therapy" may finally make Quebec make progress, not because I buy into this "everything will get better overnight" saying that many separatists want us to believe.
 
Hastings101

Hastings101

macrumors 68020
Jun 22, 2010
2,338
1,446
K
I think of a slightly colder version of America that loves hockey and has a corner that likes to pretend to be France.

I know that's totally inaccurate but whatever, never been to Canada so I have Yahoo! articles and television shows to go off of.
 
S

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
joshuarobi said:
If Canada had the climate of Mexico it would be perfect.
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Yikes! What gives Canada our flavour is that we are a northern nation... What would Canada be like without Hockey and Curling? Where would we be without Timmy's and the long dark days of winter?

Even though I have moved the warmest corner of this great land, I wouldn't want to see it become temperate, eh?

/V\acpower said:
....
Also, this argument that "we don't know what will happen", no we know, we really do. There is absolutely no reason why every country, even Canada and especially U.S. would treat Quebec in a different way than every other industrialized country. ...
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Well, actually - there would be one nation feeling betrayed, and wanting to negotiate very tough terms over the terms of separation. I doubt the Alberta based power centre would feel that they owed the Quebec nation anything and there wouldn't be a lot of generosity about giving away national infrastructure.

And then the US would demand the newly independent Quebec to give up the same sovereign rights that Canada surrendered in order to keep the border open. Which is ironic, because the strongest opponents in Canada to our erosion of sovereign rights in exchange for an open border came from Quebec. Of course an independent Quebec would come to those negotiations with far less clout and would likely have to give up even more.

And of course there would be customs and immigration controls between Quebec and the ROC.
/V\acpower said:
It's just irrational to think otherwise. It's not like Quebec would be the only new country in our modern history. It's been done a lot, sometimes very recently, and it didn't cause any problem.
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Yemen? South Sudan? Eritrea? Croatia? Serbia? Kosovo? Yep - lots of success stories.
/V\acpower said:
And the "There is things to do before thinking about being a country" argument is just sophistic. ...
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I think one of the problems is that - until negotiations - nobody really knows how some rather fundamental issues would be resolved. Like who would have control over the rather large and important Government of Canada infrastructure in Quebec, and the status of Aboriginal Peoples (and their land) within Quebec? It is naive to believe that a fully independent Quebec would gain control over everything.

But there is a more fundamental issue ... there isn't even a consensus on the degree of independence for a separate Quebec. How can any discussion about separating be taken seriously without settling that question first? Is an independent Quebec going to give up some sovereignty and try to work with Canada (or the US) similar to EU? Or be fiercely independent and look more like Serbia/Croatia? How can anyone make an informed decision about separatism until that very basic question is settled by the people of Quebec first?
 
J

joshuarobi

macrumors regular
Sep 7, 2009
123
0
Arcata, CA
snberk103 said:
Yikes! What gives Canada our flavour is that we are a northern nation... What would Canada be like without Hockey and Curling? Where would we be without Timmy's and the long dark days of winter?

Even though I have moved the warmest corner of this great land, I wouldn't want to see it become temperate, eh?

Well, actually - there would be one nation feeling betrayed, and wanting to negotiate very tough terms over the terms of separation. I doubt the Alberta based power centre would feel that they owed the Quebec nation anything and there wouldn't be a lot of generosity about giving away national infrastructure.

And then the US would demand the newly independent Quebec to give up the same sovereign rights that Canada surrendered in order to keep the border open. Which is ironic, because the strongest opponents in Canada to our erosion of sovereign rights in exchange for an open border came from Quebec. Of course an independent Quebec would come to those negotiations with far less clout and would likely have to give up even more.

And of course there would be customs and immigration controls between Quebec and the ROC.
Yemen? South Sudan? Eritrea? Croatia? Serbia? Kosovo? Yep - lots of success stories.


I think one of the problems is that - until negotiations - nobody really knows how some rather fundamental issues would be resolved. Like who would have control over the rather large and important Government of Canada infrastructure in Quebec, and the status of Aboriginal Peoples (and their land) within Quebec? It is naive to believe that a fully independent Quebec would gain control over everything.

But there is a more fundamental issue ... there isn't even a consensus on the degree of independence for a separate Quebec. How can any discussion about separating be taken seriously without settling that question first? Is an independent Quebec going to give up some sovereignty and try to work with Canada (or the US) similar to EU? Or be fiercely independent and look more like Serbia/Croatia? How can anyone make an informed decision about separatism until that very basic question is settled by the people of Quebec first?
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Forgot about hockey. They took it off tv down here. Go Caps.
 
B

Benjarr

macrumors newbie
Oct 1, 2013
1
0
dejo said:
The Quebecers are their own nation within Canada. It's hard to explain their actions sometimes.
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I'm from Montreal, Québec
I understand where you're coming from, but that isn't quite the way we want it to be. Most of the people in Québec do not support the seperation, proposed charter of values, bill 101, etc.. Most of us can't wait for an opportunity to re-elect the liberal party so that she can leave.
Also, in terms of booing the american anthem, I'm not much of a hockey fan, but I do agree that that was a really disrespectful action on our part, but I don't want it to become what America thinks of us.
 
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M

malman89

macrumors 68000
May 29, 2011
1,651
6
Michigan
This whole shutdown and gridlock makes me want to just jump over the border to Canada.

I've played hockey all my life (ref it too), we have Tim Hortons, and I've been there plenty of times before. Windsor is just a mere 20-30 min drive away.

So tempting. :p
 
OneMike

OneMike

macrumors 603
Oct 19, 2005
5,814
1,795
I don't really think about Canadians or Canada to be honest. Other than ginger ale (Canada Dry), unlike many other places I can't think of many things that make Canada come to mind.
 
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