It’s Canada Day, and it’s become a tradition here at Chez Harlot to do a little Canada praising on it’s birthday. (More information about the hats, including where to get patterns, on Monday.)
Before we get going, last year an American reader wrote to me after my post on Canada and told me that I was a terrible American and a horrible patriot and that I should be ashamed of abandoning my country and becoming a “Canadian Wanna-be” just because I’m a Democrat. To head off any further confusion, I’m not a Democrat. I’m a Canadian. I was born here, I was raised here, and I live here now. (Technically, I guess she does have a point. That would make me a pretty terrible American, what with not even being a citizen.)
The last year I’ve had wonderful opportunities to travel all over the States and learn lots about it. (You should see the Mississippi from the air, or the Olympic mountains, or this park in the middle of Portland, or eat a real Southern bisquit, or drink Peet’s coffee, or see the Lincoln monument. Very nice.)
Today, I return the favour. Here’s stuff you maybe didn’t know about us.
1. We invented baseball, basketball, washing machines and insulin.
2. We have Homo Milk,
and until I went to the grocery store with an American I had never seen anyone giggle when they bought it.
3. Since the North Pole falls within our borders, Santa Claus is a Canadian. (His address, should you wish to write him this year, is Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0. He writes children back all over the world, thanks to a huge group of volunteers with Canada Post.)
4. 18% of Canada’s population was born outside the country. This is the second highest percentage in the world, after Australia.
5. The United States invaded Canada during the war of 1812. The Americans were defeated by the Canadians (with help from Britain, although more than 60% of the forces were Canadian, as the British were busy at another war) and driven back as far as Washington, where we burned the White House. The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent, in which the parties agreed to both go back to the way things were before and play nice. This treaty re-established the border and independence of both countries. This war is a very important part of Canadian history, and most Canadians are very proud of repelling the invasion.
6. Yonge Street is the longest street in the world, running 1896km, or 1100 miles and beginning in Toronto Ontario, and ending in Rainy River, just about in Manitoba.
7. 91% of Canadians are satisfied with their personal safety.
8. 97% of tea in Canada is consumed hot; in the United States, 85% of tea is served iced. (This should be a warning to travellers from both countries. Just asking for “tea” can be very surprising. (As an aside? When I was in the American south a while ago I discovered that asking for iced tea gets you an unsweetened one. Very nice.)
9. Canada has a surplus economy.
10. Canada adopted it’s flag in 1965.
Before that we used the Union Jack.
11. Same-sex marriage is legal. Nothing bad has happened as a result of this decision. Despite warnings of divine retribution or the ruination of opposite-sex marriage, absolutely nothing has changed.
12. Our Five dollar bill has hockey on it.
and our one and two dollars are coins, respectively called a loonie and a toonie.
13. Canadians are famous for: apologizing, embracing technology, hockey, being polite, eating more Kraft Dinner than any other country in the world, peacekeeping, saying “eh?”, beer, humour and sarcasm. (Those last three may be related.)
14. Canada has the largest English population in the world that has never withdrawn or surrendered to anyone during a war.
15. On July 1st 1916 on the first day of the Battle Of The Somme, 800 members of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment went out of the trenches to fight the Germans. (A regiment of this size was remarkable, considering the small population of Newfoundland at that time.) Despite a reputation for excellence and extreme bravery, only 68 of them were able to answer roll call the next day. 710 members were dead.
“It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour, and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no further.”
— Major-General Sir Beauvoir de Lisle, Commander of the British 29th Division, speaking of the first regiment.
In Newfoundland, this day is Canada day, and Memorial day.
16. I still really love this.
Canada produces a disproportionate amount of knitting genius. Sally Melville
Debbie New
Shirl “the purl” Scott
Fiona Ellis
Lucy Neatby
The Fleece Artist
The Handmaiden
Koigu
Mission Falls.
Kate Gilbert
Knitty
Fiddlesticks Knitting (Dorothy Siemens)
Wannietta Prescod – the fastest knitter in North America
Cabin Fever
Briggs and Little
Elann.com (be careful with that one.)
Needle Arts Book Shop
Philosophers Wool Company
Shelridge Farm
Maureen Mason-Jamieson
Sivia Harding
Ram Wools
NONIA
Robin Melanson
17. Canadians don’t say “sophmore” or “freshman”. We just say “grade nine” (minor niner) or “grade 12”. As in “She’s a grade 12”.
This means that sometimes when we watch American sitcoms, we don’t know how old the kids are.
18. Mounties don’t always wear the hot outfits. That’s dress gear. (They’re also not always mounted.)
19. On December 6, 1917 a Belgian relief ship and a French ship carrying munitions collided in the Halifax harbour. A fire started and the French ship, the Mont Blanc, exploded and virtually flattened then entire city of Halifax.
Until Hiroshima, it was the largest explosion, ever. The state of Massechustts was very generous to the survivors of the explosion, sending an enormous amount of aid, very quickly. To this day, the city of Halifax sends the city of Boston a huge Christmas Tree for the Boston Common as a thank you.
20. Your turn. Tell me your most interesting things about Canada!
invented baseball?? really?? thanks! and thanks for the washing machine, too.
I just love Canada, and love so much the yellow bricks on houses in Ontario!! My mum’s family is from Ontario, various little bits of it, and if I did not have family here, I would emigrate and join you lucky dears. It is absolutely my favorite country in the world. So who knew? An American who actually prefers Canada. Thanks so much for your loving and interesting tribute!
Thanks for sharing your country with us today. I’m an American who is sorry to say I know way too little about our neighbors to the north AND to the south. Homo milk, huh?
The most interesting or at least my most favourite things about Canada are:
We have more than a 2 Party system, i don’t think any of the parties actually represent me but at least I have more choice.
We have universal health care. My mother is under going cancer treatments for Breast cancer and I can’t imagine her not being able to get them because we haven’t got enough money.
I love the diversity of Canada, municipalities differ to an extreme degree you wouldn’t expect, the people are differnet, if you drive from any point in canada for an hour in any direction, you will see something different geographically,(the exceptions to this are toronto traffic and the entire province of SK ;>)
Beer, i don’t drink much of it but we make really good ones, also we consume 80% of the wine we make here, so while you may not have tried it I’ll tell you it’s really really good.
We have great writers, Farley Mowat, Robertson Davies and my fave of all-time, Tanya Huff. (you ever want to know what a cat is thinking read the Keeper series.)
Canada as a whole has great ethics and feels a moral accountability which is why we apologize a lot.
Now if you will excuse me I shall have the traditional holiday feast of timmy’s coffee and doughnuts.
~j.
I’ve never been able to afford to travel to Canada, but I love the wit, wisdom and compassion of Canadians such as yourself.
Thank you for the inspiration to learn to knit in my mid-fifties, the fabulous books you write and your website which I visit every day.
I wish Americans were more like the Canadians I’ve met and read about. Perhaps one day when we grow up.
Thanks for the info on the War of 1812! We were never taught that here unfortunately. So much of what is in our textbooks is edited by a small group of folks with their own agenda.
Thanks for brining glimpses of civilized behavior into our lives. Your enthusiasm and creativity are marvelous gifts to us all.
Niagara Falls, Prince Edward Island…lovely. I prefer my teas hot, so I get funny looks when I order hot tea year-round. This may be because I wasn’t born in America :).
I actually knew about the Kraft Dinner, only here in the States, we call it macaroni and cheese. But could you please explain the Canadian fascination with Cheez Whiz?
You know, I am guilty of being a terrible patriot and a bad American and a Canadian wanna-be, and I have spent a grand total of about 4 hours in Canada.
Because I actually *am* an American citizen.
We have so much in common.
You said: Mounties don’t always wear the hot outfits. That’s dress gear. (They’re also not always mounted.)
I say: Oh but they should be! lol!
Interesting fact about Canada: I went there for my 19th birthday (as every good south-eastern Michigan girl should) and went gambling, not drinking! I didn’t consume a Canadian alcoholic beverage until I was at least 20. 😀
Another interesting fact: It’s the home of the fabulous show Degrassi. Mmmmmm Degrassi.
my favorite thing about canada? Alex Trebek. People think I’m really smart, but in all honesty I just watch a lot of Jeopardy! So thanks, Canada, for making me smart 😀
It really irritates me when Americans forget that Canada is INDEED a different country.
I have serious Canadian envy. Hockey – need I say more?
My favorite thing about Canada? The fact that, while many of its citizens own firearms, they almost never, ever shoot them at one another. I wish I could say the same for my country.
In a gesture of solidarity with my brothers and sisters to the north, I’m going to be watching my favorite movie in which Canada figures prominently: Canadian Bacon, with the very funny late John Candy. The best part is where Stephen Wright plays a mountie/prison guard who writes thank you notes to his prisoners. Priceless.
I’m guessing that homo is short for homoginized milk?
Um, in 1916 Newfoundlanders weren’t Canadians. Newfoundland didn’t join Confederation until 1949, and some Newfoundlanders are still bitter about it.
what a sweet list 🙂 i have only been to canada for a weekend but all my friends seem to love it when they go!
You should also list Molly Wolf under your list of knitting Canadians. She edited a knitting series, and in her other life as writer of Sabbath Blessings (an email ministry) I met her and she told me about you when she found out I enjoyed knitting. She lives in Ontario
William Shatner! Even now he has that self-deprecating humo(u)r that is so typically Canadian.
Happy Canada Day, and let me apologize for my ignorant countrywoman. We aren’t all that way, but the noisiest ones seem to get all the attention!
I grew up in Ottawa, and Canada Day was always my favourite day of the year – nothing beats downtown Ottawa on July 1st! I once met a couple of guys from Sweden who had come to Ottawa especially for Canada Day 🙂
Some of my favourite things about Canada: smarties, ketchup flavoured chips, poutine, and beaver tails. (what can I say, I like food.. 😉 )
The Sphynx cat breed is also known as the Canadian Hairless cat, as the original mutation that was propegated to form the breed occured in a litter born in Ontario in the 60s (I think I’ve got the decade right..) There’s also a German originated mutation, and a French one… but the Canadian one is the most widespread breed 🙂
(So I’m a crazy cat lady who likes food..)
Canada is developing environmentally friendly pigs, so we can continue to eat pork without depleting the world of phosphorus and destroying it with phosphorous waste.
(I’m not just a proud Canadian, I’m a fiercely proud U of G alumni..)
we have fantastic potatoes, delicious ice cream, and an internationally beloved heroin (PEI new potatoes are heaven on earth, Cows makes life worht living, and Anne of Green Gables is magic)
(do I need to mention I’m from PEI…? 😉 )
Happy Day to my great neighbors to the north! (and to those to the south, since in Ann Arbor, MI I am technically northwest of a small part of Ontario)
There are lots of things I love about Canada, but the thing I have loved the longest is Anne of Green Gables. One of these days I have *got* to visit PEI!
I’ve only been to Canada once. When I was in middle school (or maybe high school?) we took a family trip to Sleeping Giant in Ontario. It was gorgeous! And the north shore of Lake Superior is a wonderful thing 🙂
Hey, I’m from northern Wisconsin, we have a thing for Lake Superior here.
Canada was the place that all college students went to from Michigan cause you could drink at 19. Also my parents would drag me to Detroit as a kid and point across the water and say – hey that’s Canada and our money is worth more over there – I could never understand why we never moved there – it seemed reason enough.
Ha, ha, ha! That mean comment you got last year made me laugh (but also it makes me feel like crying) – some people are sooo ignorant and well, not nice. Your posts about Canada make me wish I was a Canadian, especially the way things are going down here in the States. I used to love living here but our freedoms are disappearing rapidly (especially the one about being able to speak your mind!) Fortunately, my hubby has dual citizenship (his mum is Canadian) and my mum’s a Brit so I feel like only a half-American. 🙂 Love to all our friends in the north!
As a Michigander, I didn’t realize we weren’t a part of Canada and vice versa until I was 10 and in California to visit family when I used a Canadian dime in paying for something and got screamed at for using foreign money. *blush*
One thing that still confuses me: what is with the teeny highway signs? I get lost every time I go to Ontario, since I always miss the sign somehow.
I could sooooo live there, though, which I guess makes me some horrible un-American chick or something. It’s like Michigan, with similar dialect and food and weather, but it is more progressive. Hubby also likes the universal health care, and he seriously thinks of moving there any time an insurance company makes trouble for one of his patients.
canada is home to the most beautiful place on earth–Prince Edward island (where anne of green gables grew up.)(i haven’t been there yet)
its home to the spectacular tides at the bay of fundy (most extreme between low/high in the world)I have been there.
Nova Scotia is so far, (and i have seen the east coast of american continent from florida to Nova Scotia) the most beautiful part of the NA coast line.
(canadian are pretty nice too, i got stuck in left lane of a traffic circle (at rush hour) in halifax NS, when i turned on blinker to move right (thinking i would have to all the way round to get over 3 lanes (since my exit was in in 100 feet,) everyone just slowed down, and let me ease over. (it was very clear i wasn’t in US at that point!)
i share a birthday with the oldest retail establishment in the world, the Hudson bay company. I am a lot younger!
and don’t forget tim horton donuts (ok, they are no better or worse than duncan donuts, but they do have tim bits, which definatly have a funner name.)
finally if you are in detroit, and head south, you head into canada.. at least one place, our neighbors to the north -aren’t!
I visited your fair country in the summer before my freshman (that’s Grade Nine) year, with my family.
I loved Halifax, PEI (red roads! I felt like Anne of Green Gables!) and the charming bed & breakfast whence we stayed when on the Island. It’s been so long (yegads, 12 years) now that I’ve forgotten all the places we went, but I loved every minute of my visit. Especially the loonies.
Thanks for that, Steph. Somehow I knew you’d post something like this. For lots more fun facts, check out:
http://www.pch.gc.ca/special/canada/liens-links/index_e.cfm
Happy Canada Day!
I am an Welsh-Chinese UK citizen currently resident in France. Is it easy to immigrate to Canada?
Don’t be fooled by some of these grouchy (and often uneducated) Americans.
I feel I must apologize for the so-called American who attacked your choice of residence.
To our friendly neighbors of the north, Canada IS part of America—has been since this continent was christened “America.”
Geographically speaking, Canada is generally considered part of North America, as is the United States and Mexico.
Central America consists of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
There is also a South America, which consists of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uraguay, and Venezuela.
Although I am a U.S. citizen (born and bred here), I am also an American, as are all Canadian and Mexican citizens and those citizens from Central and South America.
So next time tell those who would complain about loyalty and patriotism and politics and geography to make sure they know what they are talking about before they criticize others. Sometimes (although not always), some folks from the U.S. like to spout off about things they are not quite accurately informed about—either they didn’t pay attention in school or they can’t remember what they were taught. I apologize for all of them!!!
Another interesting fact is that Canada, for the most part, is much CLEANER than many parts of the U.S., especially the larger cities of the U.S. Drive through Windsor one day and then come across to Detroit–you’ll see what I mean.
Happy Canada Day, Memorial Day, and 4th of July!!!
I have always, always, always, loved Molson Canadian beer ads.
Happy Canada Day From A Happy Little Knitter In Alberta! Enjoy The Long Weekend – eh –
I am English and live in England but my best bits of Canada are…
At 20 I went to Toronto – loved it,
At 30 I nearly married a Canadaian – he was lovely,
At 40 I have a Newfoundland Dog called Maggie – I love her,
When I’m 50… Can I come back… please… if I’m good?… Please? I knit… alot.
…one of the numerous things that bothers me about American schools (which I attended, unfortunately) is that nothing is taught to Americans about Canada.
NOTHING!
We invaded Canada in the war of 1812?! And Canadians kicked our collective arse?
Good for Canada!
I feel a sudden desire for a plane ticket…
Well done, eh!
18. Mounties don’t always wear the hot outfits. That’s dress gear. (They’re also not always mounted.)
That made me soooo sad when I visited. They do look splendid all dressed up. Happy Canada Day!
Anne of Green Gables and “The Red Green Show.” Moose and polar bears. Gordon Lightfoot, Nickelback, and the Barenaked Ladies. Alex Trebek and Pat Sajack(sp?). Graham Greene, Lorne Greene, Gordon Pinsent, William Shatner, and Colin Mochrie(sp?).
Do you think Canada needs another infant social worker, computer technician and three ham like cats? I think it’s time to leave Brooklyn.
Easy! Roots, Holt Renfrew, Lettuce Knit, Bloor St, Queens Quay….
I am English and live in England but my best bits of Canada are…
At 20 I went to Toronto – loved it,
At 30 I nearly married a Canadian – he was lovely,
At 40 I have a Newfoundland Dog called Maggie – I love her,
When I’m 50… Can I come back… please… if I’m good?… Please? I knit… alot.
Great things about Canada: Mr. Dressup, Fred Penner, and Don Cherry.
Happy, happy Canada Day! I have loved all my visits to various parts of Canada. When I was 8 months pregnant, I wound up having to spend 3 days in a hospital in Nova Scotia, and the OB nurse took my husband into her own home, and then called us in the US a few weeks later to find out about the baby. Thanks too for all the wonderful inventions, especially Tim Horton donuts and muffins and Nanaimi (sp?) bars. (Um, basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, a few miles from where I grew up). Hoist a Canadian beer for me and have a festive day.
As an American who regularly vacations in the Maritimes, I’m sometimes disconcerted at seeing the history from the other side (and then disconcerted at being disconcerted). One time in Nova Scotia, I pulled into a parking lot to consult my map, and realized that I was stopped in front of the Cornwallis Regional High School. The World Turned Upside Down, indeed.
But my favorite thing in Canada is the blueberries. Yeah, you can get something approximating blueberries in the US, but they’re nothing like what you get in Canada when they’re in season. Last summer, I saw what seemed to be a large number of cars broken down on the highway in New Brunswick. Until I looked closer and realized that the drivers had stopped to pick blueberries by the side of the road.
Happy, happy Canada Day! I have loved all my visits to various parts of Canada. When I was 8 months pregnant, I wound up having to spend 3 days in a hospital in Nova Scotia, and the OB nurse took my husband into her own home, and then she and her husband called us in the US a few weeks later to find out about the baby. Thanks too for all the wonderful inventions, especially Tim Horton donuts and muffins and Nanaimi (sp?) bars. (Um, basketball was invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, a few miles from where I grew up). Hoist a Canadian beer for me and have a festive day.
You mentioned flying the Union Jack. Half my family is English, although I am American, and no one has ever given me a straight answer on the connection between Canada and the U.K. that exists today. Help me out- why is Her Majest Queen Elizabeth on your currency?
I’m another American who kinda wishes I were a Canadian. It has nothing to do with my patriotism; I love my country, too. But even as a young kid in the ’50s, I always thought of Canada as being the nice sibling in the North American family.
I love the sense of humor, too. A Canadian friend told me that when you were voting for the new flag in the mid-’60s, the maple leaf narrowly beat out a depiction of nine beavers pi**ing on a frog. There were only ten provinces at the time, right? (Am I allowed to tell non-PC jokes on this site? If not, delete this and I’ll rein myself next time. Oh, and I really do love Quebec.)
I’ve totally forgotten what I was going to write about knitting. So I’m going to go put on a Joni Mitchell CD, pick up my amalgam of two of Sally Melville’s patterns, and hoist a Molson to Canada!
Having eaten both wild Nova Scotia blueberries and wild Maine blueberries, I have to say I didn’t see much difference between them. But I digress.
My favorite Canadian thing: the One-Tonne Challenge. I’m doing my best to work on reducing my GHG output, despite not being technically Canadian, and even though we don’t admit to having climate change here in the US.
Best thing about Canada would be – they invented the YARN HARLOT!!
You’re right up there on the top shelf, with the washing mashine as a good runner up 😉
(and by the way – Santa is Norwegian!!We have an office returning santa mail too, adress would be: Julenissen, Torget 4, 1440 Drøbak, Norway. Just look here: http://www.julehus.no/sak/000003.asp)
I think I would like to be a Canadian, I can go to the library here and get on line but I can’t go to the doctors for anything. I can’t get a job because I am a legal citizen and no one wants a 52 year old retired housewife when they can have an immigrant who will work for substantially less then minimus wage . I can’t get benefits if I did find the job because no one hires full time anymore, if I had a way to get there I might seriously consider becoming a Canadian.
And many of us went to grade 13! What would that be in American? Senior senior? *L*
Have some poutine for me and have a very Happy Canada Day, Stephanie.
i’m not canadian, but i’ve found that, in canada, when people almost run you over because you are silly and crossed the road without realizing the car was turning and not going straight, they apologize profusely instead of cursing you out.
And don’t forget how wonderful all you Canadians were to the air passengers who were stranded in Gander after 9/11! Did anybody ever think to say “Thank You”??
I have Canada envy. My husband and I travel to Vancouver every chance we get and harbor a (possibly) unrealistic fantasy of moving there at some point. Kumamoto oysters are a big part of the reason. (Oh, and I am a better American when the administration in power represents my sense of morality and justice. This “moral” administration does not represent my view of America, btw.) Been to Toronto, too–it’s a lot like Chicago in many ways. LOVED the clean subway–I had Canadian subway envy on that trip. I do find it amusing that the US Olympic Teams have co-opted ROOTS as if it were an American company. (They have Canada envy, too, I guess.) Granted, they make way better stuff than the GAP, but it seems a little strange…
It really touches me, when somebody loves his country so much and is as proud as you are. I could never be that proud about my land it would feel inappropriate, somehow. Although it is suddenly ok decorating the german flag, normally you feel funny when doing it, I still have a kind of bad feeling seeing all that flags now during the championship.
Once when I grew uo, or at least my kids we will visit Canada. I always wanted to, but its a long trip.
You made an amazing list and I wish you a Happy Canada day”
I was really depressed today, but reading the comment about you being a “horrible American” made my day, so did that clip. I love reading your posts on Canada Day.
I truly love what I’ve seen of Canada: we honeymooned in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, and went back for our 13th anniversary with the children.
HOWEVER, and I quote:
“On Christmas Day in 1621, Governor Bradford of Plymouth Plantation wrote that his men were “frolicking in ye street, at play openly; some at Virginia pitching ye ball, some at stool ball and shuch-like sport.” So we know that a variation of the same game was prevalent over at least a six hundred-year period. It continues into the next century with the first mention of baseball. Puritan divine Rev. Thomas Wilson of Maidstone, England writes in his memoirs, “I have seen Morris-dancing, cudgel-playing, baseball and cricketts, and many other sports on the Lord’s Day.” We can guess that Governor Bradford was not a big fan of Sunday doubleheaders.” From “the baseballpage.com.”
Never mess with a Mets fan and her baseball.
Cheers!
Numbers 11 and 12 are enough to make me pack my bags and move to Canada right now! That and the fact that you are from there.
Intersting thing about Canada: that would be my favorite Canadian (Yarn Harlot) posted on a Saturday! Have a Happy Canada Day . from your neighbor in Minnesota, Sue
PS. I thought your tour was going to bring you to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area this summer? Did that get cancelled?
The discovery of insulin is my favourite thing about Canada, given that my father is a lifelong diabetic and I wouldn’t be around without it. He actually came to Canada to work with one of the co-discoverers of insulin, Charles Best. That discovery, by the way, was awarded Canada’s first Nobel prize.
Oh, and Mitty? Basketball may have been invented in Springfield, Mass, but the guy who invented it – James Naismith – was a Canadian.
Happy Canada Day! I always love to learn new things on your blog and today I got a straight dose of Canadian Education! Happy knitting!
“This means that sometimes when we watch American sitcoms, we don’t know how old the kids are.”
LOLOLOLOL. Considering that in most of American television (sitcoms and otherwise) the ‘high school students’ are played by thespians in their late 20’s, we (your slightly southern neighbors) don’t know how old they are either.
My sister was obsessed with Beverly Hills 90210 when it came out. I was creeped out by the fact that the ‘kids’ managed to stay both of legal age AND in high school for approximately 6 years. I know we Americans can be real bone heads but we usually don’t take 6 years to finish high school I swear!
I will have to come back and reread the second 7/8ths of your post, because my ire was raised so high by the ignorant comments of that person last year that I couldn’t concentrate. How in the HELL?……
But Happy Canada Day anyway. Drink something good for me.
canada is great. both sides of my family came through canada (pei and nova scotia) on their way to the united states from europe, and i always tell people im canadian-american.
i read your blog every day and its so funny…. thanks for the good times.
A small person I know and love and who sadly moved to the other side of the world (Australia!) was born on Canada Day…much to the delight of his Canadian relatives in NB. He is just one year old. My grammy and her kin hailed from just south of Yarmouth NS. Most of the 13 of them lived to over 100! Went there and met relatives all the way up to Digby! Love Rappie Pie (home made better than roadside stands). Really like Farley Mowatt (is he still considered an outcast?) and of course the Yarn Harlot!
Well, there’s Leonard Cohen, and although they no longer live there,…Joni and Neil….and I’ve got to tell you, I love Canada, I spent a few days in Toronto and the surrounding countryside in 2000 and just wanted to stay. The country I live in is just so pathetic, policies, etc,(and I’ve *always* had the sneaking suspicion that same sex marriages weren’t a ‘dangerous thing’;) There are just a few things I truly love about my country and actually they’re not even ‘about’ my country,: my mom, sons, daughters, grandchildren and a handful of dear friends, they are who keep me here.
Happy Canada Day to all Canadians and a deeply felt salutation..Memorial Day to all Newfoundlanders. If all goes well, I’ll be able to travel to Nova Scotia this autumn, I can hardly wait.
Loved all your ‘reasons’, they’d be mine also.
Oh yea, and my relatives landed as indentured servants on PEI aboard the good ship Polly.
I’ve only ever been to British Columbia, but I loved it. I particularly remember being on Salt Spring Island (where we stayed in a tree house) and approaching a crosswalk to discover cars stopping. We were just approaching. We were a little nervous, fearing this was a trick to lure us out into the road and run over us, but it turned out to be simple courtesy. Wow. In the US, you’re not safe IN the crosswalk…
Um, not be a downer, but is it traditional to bash the United States on Canada Day?
It’s great you have national pride, and I didn’t know lots of the facts you listed and I will most certainly look them up, but US Citizens, as a whole, are not ruder or meaner or more stupid.
i forgot to say, thanks for the insulin too. thats pretty good stuff.
Living not too far out of Boston, I love that Tree 🙂 Happy Canada Day!
My most interesting thing about Canada–of course it has to do with chocolate–Coffee Crisp candy bars. I do wish we could get them in the U.S. Yum!
When I was about to turn 25 and had never left the U.S., I went on vacation to Canada in September as the foliage was turning. Driving along the St. Lawrence Seaway was breathtaking, as were our days spent in Montreal and Quebec City. Such lovely memories!
Happy Canada Day!
What a great post, made me truly proud to be Canadian. What I love most about Canada is it’s diversity. It makes it truly an interesting country. And I’m really proud of our diversity too.
Here is another proud Canadian. Born in NS (thanks for the words on the Halifax Explosion, and after WWII, we had an explosion at the Magazine Depot on Halifax Harbour while unloading munitions from ships that had returned from the war). This event traumatized the survivors of the Halifax Explosion.
I now retire in BC and was in the Canada Day Parade in Courtenay, BC today. My flag is proudly flying on my house.
Let us all remember to think of our American neighbours on July 4th, as they are people just like us and not like us! That is what makes the world so interesting!
farley mowat and “the grey seas under”. my fave book of all time.
Thanks for the washing machine and insulin, among other things!
However, if you go anywhere south of the M-D line, and order a tea, you’re 99.5% guaranteed it’s going to have (a boatload) of sugar in it.
I’ve never commented before, well, because how does one person possibly read all these comments? But, I did want to thank you for a very interesting post. I learned alot about our neighbor today, thanks to you. So, Happy Birthday Canada!!
From:
Sheri in Georgia, USA
PS Down here in GA if you order iced tea it’s usually sweet tea. Matter of fact, people say “I’ll have a sweet tea.” I love all the differences!
First, let me say sorry for the American who said you weren’t patriotic. I think you are the most patriotic Canadian I know. And not all Americans are complete idiots, some of us are only partial idiots ^_^
Favorite facts about Canada…wel, from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader series: in the War of 1812, the American’s burned York, with the help of the citizens (they made a deal, the American’s burned the government offices, left the buisnesses alone and didn’t loot.) In return, the American troops gave “paroles of honor” to everyone in the area, mostly farmers who would have been drafted and taken away from their farms during planting if they didn’t have the paroles. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone refused to fight?
After September 11, 38 aircraft with 6,656 people landed in Gander (I think it is in Nova Scotia. The farthest place east you can land and still be in North America) with a population of just under 10,000. The stories of what happened their over the next couple of days while the US had grounded all planes…well, if you haven’t heard the stories, do a search, it is well worth the time. When people say that Canadians are polite and welcoming…it doesn’t even begin to describe how amazing the residents were to thousands of strangers.
I love so many things about Canada. The Rocky Mountains, BC, the fact that I thought the grocery store didn’t have pineapple but put bananas in cans. I had to learn what an In and Out store was, oh and 6.1% beer. I loved that. I had to learn to drive on the 401, if you can drive on that you can drive anywhere. So many other things I love about Canada, and so many more place left to see.
I was living in Canada when Desert Storm broke out and my brother was serving in the Army. At the time a coworker of mine called me a war monger because I’m American. I mention this only because people from all countries say hurtful things without thinking, not just Americans.
I’m an American and proud of it. I married my husband, a Canadian, in Canada and lived there for 7 years, I’m also proud of that. I love my friends and family in Canada and am proud of that. I’m still married to the Canadian and we live in the US and am proud of that. I’m addicted to Tim Hortons coffee (not sure if I should be proud of that).
I also love your blog, even though I don’t always agree on your perspective of everything, you show your humor, strength of character and show me parts of a city that I called home for several years. Thanks for allowing all of us to walk into your living room every day and thank you for showing us your patriotism to your country that you obviously love.
Happy Canada Day, eh.
Another interesting fact from a Canadian… it is said, if you learn to scuba dive in British Columbia’s interior, that you are now prepared to dive anywhere in the world.
Also, can anyone else join me in thanking Canada for Brendan Fraser?
http://www.yarnharlot.ca – that’s my most favorite thing about Canada
Happy Canada Day!
# 12 alone is enough to make me seriously jealous of your country *s*
I also happen to really love your anthem.
Happy Canada Day! (and how much longer till hockey season?)
“18. Mounties don’t always wear the hot outfits. That’s dress gear. (They’re also not always mounted.)”
*falls over giggling* Depending on who is wearing it, the brown and blue ones look pretty darn nice too.
I really dig my neighbors to the (120 or so miles) north. Not to mention the next Winter Olympics are in Whistler! If I’m still here in the US PNW, I hope to attend. With knitting.
Two things I love about Canada:
Oakville has the best Greek restaurant I’ve been to in a long time…and I’m from a town with a sizeable Greek community.
Cocoa Camino chocolate. I nearly cried when I discovered I couldn’t get these in the US.
Dear Canada,
I love you. I want to be in you.
xoxo,
Wendy
As another Michigander who lives north of Canada, I want to say “Thank you for the lovely history review.”
I work with many Canadian nurses, who were delighted when I had learned what the ‘two-four’ holiday was. I had always just wished them a Happy Victoria Day.
So, I need to express my gratitude for more than just today’s lessons in Canadian, all of the knitting inspirations, and the mulitude of (excuses) explanations for my ever increasing wool stash that I receive from your daily musings and books.
Looking forward to your visit to Ann Arbor.
And I forgive you for Celine Dion. It isn’t your fault; you had no way of knowing.
As for Canada: Quite possibly the best live Shakespeare in the world can be found in Stratford, Ontario.
As for baby hats: I expect you’ve had about a billion patterns emailed to you, but if there is a need for more, I’ve posted a couple of links to fruit and veg hat patterns (anonyknits.blogspot.com).
I’m from New Zealand, so am a fellow member of the Commonwealth. Can I gently correct one item of information – New Zealand has a higher proportion of people born overseas – 20 percent.
What do New Zealanders think of Canada? Well, I can’t speak for all 4 million plus of us, but here’s a sample of perceptions / stereotypes / knowledge:
1. Canada to the US is sort of like New Zealand to Australia – smaller, often with accents confused, some similarities, but lots of differences.
2. Canada has produced lots of musicians eg Leonard Cohen.
3. Canadians have a better flag than we do -ours is nearly the same as Australias, and too closely related to our colonial origins.
4. Canada is really cold in the winter. This is why I have inflicted on a young colleague, about to head off to Canada on a working holiday, a knitted woollen hat.
5. Vancouver has a reputation as a very liveable and pleasant city. This is why I want to visit one day.
6. The film Canadian Bacon was an indepth sociological examination of Canadian society.
7. Ice hockey is a very violent game.
8. Canada has an immigration programme that is structured in a similar way to that of New Zealand and Australia.
Happy Canada Day, Stephanie,
I AM a Canadian wannabe. I salute your country’s peaceful, gracious existence and hope someday to reside in PEI where my Grandfather was born and from where he proudly served in WWI.
Blessings to all of you.
Ali
Thank you. This is my first Canada Day in the U.S. and I miss Canada desperately. Things I love about home . . . Hot tea is available everywhere and they don’t look at you funny when you ask for milk. Coffee crisp chocolate bars. Easy to follow hockey coverage (I live in Florida . . . nuff said) Not wondering if the guy tailgating you has a gun. Seasons! (again, Florida) People who use “eh” correctly. People who don’t insist on asking if I’m going oot and aboot before I come back to the hoose (yes, I know all Americans aren’t obnoxious, it just feels that way sometimes).
I could go on forever but in the event that you read all your comments, I don’t want to push it.
Thank you again.
You have brought back some very nice memories for me. My husband and I lived in Winnipeg for a year after we got married (the signs attached to our “getaway car” said “Off to see the Blizzard”).
Back then Gordon Lightfoot was an up and coming singer. I saw bins full of chicken feet (to make soup with) at both Hudson’s Bay and Eatons, we were introduced to saurkraut soup (which we still love), I still have a yearning for cottage cheese peirogies, we put the car on blocks and took the bus all winter.
Oh, and we adopted two children up there too. Going back is very much on my “must do” list. But this time it will also include visiting all the yarn shops and woolworks that you have mentioned.
Happy Canada Day!!
What I love about Canada is Native presence: in the US, a lot of people think all the Indians are either dead or live in Taos, New Mexico. I went into a jewelry store the other day and there was a case full of turquoise with a little sign next to it explaining that these Indians lived [sic] in the Southwestern United States and made beautiful jewlery. I gently pointed the faux pas out to the manager and he huffed at me.
In Canada, you tun on the radio, and there they are. People don’t forget.
And by the by, I like that just about every other group is on the radio too, and no one calls it Liberal Domination.
Hmm. Favourite Canadian things? Gordon Pinsent, Great Big Sea, bakeapples (a berry found in Newfoundland and Labrador – also known as Cloud Berries in Scandinavian parts of the world) – can you tell I’m a Newfoundland and Labradorian? What else? Lovely, lovely people!
Have to agree with, I believe it was Kate (?), about Newfoundland not being a province of Canada during the slaughter at Beaumont Hamel in 1916. However, there was a lovely memorial ceremony in Ottawa this morning on the 90th anniversary of that terrible day (and the Battle of the Somme). I think Memorial Day/Canada Day is always a bit sombre for those of us from Newfoundland and Labrador.
By the way, Gander is in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and, yes, was amazing in supporting the people stranded there due to 911. And, yes, the island of Newfoundland is as far east as you can go without hitting England and Europe!
Thanks for your inspirational posting, Stephanie. And on a holiday no less! Happy knitting. I’m knitting a Very Harlot Poncho using Fleeceartist’s hand died silk/wool blend. Jealous?
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Kurt Browning (pant pant pant drool)
I wanna emigrate.
The things I love about Canada are too numerous to type here, so here are a couple of little facts that come to mind:
1. Nova Scotia has two sailing ambassadors: The Bluenose II (a replica of the original Schooner which appears on our dimes) and Theodore Tugboat (whose orange hat and friendly face can be seen bobbing about in the Harbour – How about that Harbourmaster?)
2. The largest whirpool in the western hemisphere is The Old Sow. It is located between Moose Island, Maine and Deer Island, New Brunswick. I suggest it would be a good place for both nations to purge ourselves of unwanted politicians.
3. Grand Manan, NB has the best DULSE. mmmmm… seaweed… mmmm…. salty.
4. Canadian musicians both “old” and “new” continue to do us proud: Sarah Harmer, Sarah McLaughlin, Joel Plaskett, Mattie Mays, Sloan, Ron Sexsmith, Hawksley Workman (HE WROTE A SONG ABOUT KNITTING FER HEAVENSAKES), Neil Young, Hank Snow… Shall I go on? Ok, ok, self-serving – The Heavy Blinkers.
(About those musicians – The Canadian Embassy in London, England, hosted a party last night in celebration of Canada Day. Ron Sexsmith and The Heavy Blinkers played on the same stage! YAY! The Blinkers were completely humbled and honoured to share the stage with Ron.)
You Canucks have the BEST barbecue ribs on earth! Forget about the Kansas City/Memphis debate. Just go straight to Tunnel Bar BQ (usually abbreviated to TBQ) in Windsor, Ontario. It’s just past Canadian customs at the end of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
Astoundingly good ribs and heavenly desserts…in fact, we drove over from Ann Arbor and picked up a van full of TBQ desserts for my high school graduation party! The U.S. customs officer was a bit suprised and more than a little jealous.
I am a Canadian – born, raised, and still here. I’ve lived in three provinces (the three most western), and currently live in Vancouver which I consider to be the most amazing place I’ve ever lived (so lush with flowers and trees). Canada is my home and that makes it the most special place for me. I have loved nearly everyone I have met while travelling or here at home. I credit this to being Canadian – we are taught to be curious and to explore one another’s differences and similarities. Not everyone does this in truth – but this is what Canada is supposed to be about – and largely, I think we succeed.
By the way, in B.C. we have blackberries and huckleberries, in Alberta there are the blueberries and saskatoon berries and the little wild strawberries that are so sweet and burst with such flavour…
We have real problems and not everyone agrees with our government right now either, but there is no other place I’d rather live. Happy Canada Day – to Canadians, but to everyone else too…I hope that everyone can take some of our good things and make them their own and that we can take yours and make our country stronger and more vibrant and more peaceful and happy.
Broken Social Scene, Stars, Kathleen Edwards, Arcade Fire.
Carol Shields, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence.
Two official languages.
Happy Birthday Canada!
Aara
“… but US Citizens, as a whole, are not ruder or meaner or more stupid.”
As a wanna-be Candian, I must respectfully disagree. Sometimes being an American (or U.S. citizen, if you prefer) embarasses the hell out of me. Without saying more, and starting trouble – Happy Canada Day, Steph! My impressions are that yours is a lovely country – progressive, sensible, and socially responsible. I have the pleasure of knowing about a dozen Candians (the joke is that I collect them) and each one is an intersting, kind, lovely human being that I am proud to know. Cheers to you and your country! And I promise to stop teasing my friends for how they pronounce “out” and “about”. (I’m not trying to be mean, really. I think it’s really cool. But I’ll stop anyway.)
Awwww you so humbly forgot to mention, that Canada has given us THE HARLOT!
I’m in MI- I also love DUTY FREE shopping, close to home;)
BTW- hadn’t thought of the outcome of my shish-ka-boob incident, had I been using Metal DPN’s….THAT would have been AWFUL! My Addi DPNS will be going up on ebay…(that a lie- they’re way too fast;) Wood is slower. Albeit, safer. Thnx for stopping by – you made my day!
I am proud to be Canadian too. Three things I love:
Manitoulin Island, where I was born, is the world’s largest freshwater island. Great scenery, local culture, no MacDonalds!
CanLit – our authors are world class! Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence, Robertson Davies, Timothy Findlay, Carol Shields, Timothy Taylor, Austen Clarke, David Adams Richards, Mordecai Richler, Alistair Macleod, Alice Munro, the list goes on and on …
Quebec City is a world heritage site, and a little taste of Europe in North America. Great outdoor cafes in summer and the biggest and best winter carnival every February.
The best thing about Canada is that everyone says “eh”.
So you don’t feel like a dweeb when you do say it.
Canada day I remember well, vacationing on a sailboat, left friday harbor Sunday, couldn’t buy gin for a martini on Sunday, got to Canada, Canada day couldn’t buy gin, went back to San Juan islands only one liquor store on the other side of the island, no gin, next day 4th of July couldn’t buy gin! A sailboat vacation week with no martinis! But the fireworks in front of the Empress were amazing!
My favorite things about Canada:
Don Cherry.
The adorable TimBits commercial they show on Hockey Night in Canada.
The fantastic national anthem.
I’m an American who watches WAY too much hockey!
That is was really interesting and informative, Thanks! If I knew this much about American History maybe I would have been a better student in HS.
PS I’m one of those Americans that really wants to move to Canada and always have.
I am ashamed to say that the bulk of my knowledge of your fair country once came from episodes of Forever Knight.
Happy Canada Day to you, and all
Please forgive my American ignorance but I have a question. I am a fan of Bare Naked Ladies. In one of their songs they refer to Kraft dinner. This always results in me asking my husband the same question… which he still has no answer to. It is a very stupid question. I’m sorry but you’re the only person that I can think of that I can ask this question.
What is kraft dinner? Is it the same as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese? If not, could you post a picture of it? (I know, its dumb and I’m weird. But you mentioning it above really has my curiosity going).
Thanks
A woman in New Brunswick/Nova Scotia (she might have been American, I think she later moved to Michigan) invented the vaccuum. SORRY I can’t be more exact, LOL.
Breastfeeding guru Dr. Newman is Canadian.
Lacrosse is the national sport.
Asking for a ‘double-double’ at Dunkin’ Donuts will get you a stare and no coffee 🙁
We take our shoes off when we go into someone’s house.
Every year we say the blackflies are the worst ever.
AND you forgot Spinrite (Patons/Bernat)!! Oh, and we mustn’t forget Mary Maxim and the picture sweater coats!
Stephanie,
Thanks for all of the great information! I didn’t know most of those things about Canada. (Except for the hockey and beer. I’m from Maine and I think we imported both of those.) The only places I have been in Canada that I remember are Montreal, Quebec City, and Prince Edward Island. Although I don’t remember much of Montreal because the drinking age of Canade made it legal for me to enjoy the night life, I just loved PEI! I also have distant relatives in Nova Scotia, so I am sure that I have visited, but not since I was a baby.
Anyway, I want to applaud Canada on their economy, their healthcare system, and the legalization of gay marriage. These are just some of the reasons why my husband and I would love to move there someday!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Interesting facts? That you didn’t already mention? Hmmm… The only one I know I learned from a David Rakoff interview: what we call American Singles you call Canadian Slices. That’s all I’ve got.
I’d be a Canadian in a heartbeat but I don’t know if I could get enough points for them to let me stay. If I could get a doctorate in something useful and stop aging I might have a chance.
And Libi? She’s not bashing the U.S. Steph is an amazing person and obviously you don’t get it, so go do something constructive like scraping the Bush 2004 sticker off your car.
My husband is from up-up-upstate New York, and the nearest city to him growing up was Ottawa. I think his parents wish they were Canadian, they watch CBC more often than the American networks.
He took me to Ottawa for my first and so far only overnight visit out of the country. It was January and bitterly cold, but we had so much fun skating on the Rideau Canal and eating Bear claws. These posts are giving me the urge to go back, maybe we’ll drive up and spend our holiday there. Happy Canada Day!
I can’t really comment about how awesome Canada is, but I’ve always wanted to live there! The Canadians I know have always been polite, funny, and open-minded. Plus, I like the accent, and the large amount of hockey players 😀 Happy Canada Day!!!
Happy Canada Day!! May I ask – What is Kraft Dinner??
Oh, Wow – I just looked in Wikipedia about it – Cool Laws that Canada has about “truth in labeling”!!! I just love Canada more and more.
I love Victoria’s Symphony Splash! Why don’t more people know about this great event?? Why isn’t it televised world-wide?? I come from Boston for this event. Last year I kayaked into the harbor for a front row seat. It was a little strange, what with every one so friendly and nice, but I did adapt. British Columbia is spectacular, and it is so exciting to have the Olympics there in 2010. The rest of the world will see this beautiful part of Canada. Cheers on Canada Day. (but I will never believe you invented basketball or baseball)
Kris – Kraft Dinner here is the same thing as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, yes *g* And poor BNL used to have boxes of it thrown on stage during the early part of their career (I know when I saw them in 93 and 94 that had stopped, at least in Thunder Bay ;))
Hmm, other things about Canada – Thunder Bay ON, Danny Michel, Sarah Slean, Stephen Fearing, The Arrogant Worms, Hockey Night In Canada, Kids In The Hall, our pop (not “soda” – sorry, running joke with my US friends, some of whom say “pop”, others “soda”) has real sugar in it, our Oreo cookies taste better (US Oreos taste like our low-fat ones), our multiparty political system…
I have visited your great country many times. My favorite trip was on my motorcycle. We rode across the north side of Lake Superior. So many wonderful memories, expecially sitting at a roadside ice cream shop and talking to everyone in the setting sun.
very interesting! thanks.
though as for the tea thing, if you ask for tea in the US, you’ll get hot tea. so really only the americans will be surprised in canada.
one thing from canada i always loved: the barenaked ladies. i always thought of kraft dinners as frozen foods-yes? no? maybe. but that is my mental image of them.
one thing from canada that would make me sad: caffeine free mountain dew. I mean, caffeine is really the only reason to drink something that terrible color. 😉
We have Kraft Dinner not Kraft Mac and Cheese
We have rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks and WATER!!
We are the Beaver! Whereas the Eagle is a predator, the beaver gives a dam!
We have Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, William Shatner, Michael J Fox, Wayne Gretsky, Superman, and Celine Dion just to name a few. You know, thinking about that, you can keep Celine and Shatner.
We have the Canadarm. And the Canadarm2. And the Annik satelite systems. We have Mainframe Entertainment (Reboot! Beasties/Beastwars), Anne of Green Gables, Battlestar Galactica (the new series), Smallville, Both Stargates! and more.
We have been commercials that inspire more patriotism than the federal government (goggle “I am canadian”). A government dedicated to peacekeeping not policing.
You can be a dual citizen here even if you were born here. You get to keep your parental patriotism as well as gain Canadian.
We even gave the Royal Family of Holland a piece of land so their heirs could be born on sovereign soil. That’s why we get so many daffodils from Holland every year – to say thanks for keeping their royalty safe and solvent!
We had the law in the west before the colonization of it. We have the RCMP and before them, the NWMP. They were the long arm of the law and there was no need for sherifs with their own mandates. In the states, you could be a criminal in one district and the sheriff in the next. That was never possible in Canada.
We have the CPR!
We have Roger’s Pass. Kicking Horse Pass. Niagara falls, Hudson’s Bay, Artic Sovereignty and the North West Passage.
We can sew our flag to our backpacks or even wear them as clothing.
We are Canadian.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Canucks. You’re good folk, even if you don’t really get sweet tea. Homo milk still makes me snigger, but I did put your national hymn up today (with music) and played it for my Canadian colleagues when they came in to work this morning. Bonne Fête du Canada!
Tim Horton’s
The Ex
the Metric system
James Naismith
I’m also seriously proud to be on your list of Knitting (k)Notables.
I have a favorite thing about Canada.
In 1979, while the Americans from the American Embassy were being held hostage in Iran… 2 Americans took refuge at the Canadian Embassy. They were smuggled out of Iran and back to the United States.
I’m from Soo, MI. The day it became public, there was a sign on the International Bridge.
Thanks, Neighbor.
Actually, Kate Gilbert is an American who lives in Canada now, just moved there recently. But then again, Lucy Neatby and Fiona Ellis moved from England…Canada’s melting pot is quite something when it comes to who’s who in the knitting community. Montréal in particular is a city of immigrants. Oh, by the way, France won something really big today…did you see the flags? 🙂
Thank you for serving as educator today…I learned a few things I did not know. And I giggle more over the milk being in the bag than it being called homo milk…why, pray tell, is it in a bag? I don’t get it.
Hmm, favourite things about Canada, my list could well be endless.
I am an immigrant from Britain, and lets’ just say I prefer it here, and have plans to return to Blighty.
My fav’s then,
Tim Hortons
The flag tradition in big events such as the current Fifa world cup
Brian Adams
Jim Carrey
The Canadarm on the space missions.
Magna, strange choice I know, but since we are a one income family, and that income comes from them, plus they allowed us the great honour of living in every country in north america for 3 years.
Toronto, what a beautiful city
Richmond Hill, even more beautiful
The high ratio of knitter designers/skilled knitters/ fibre producers
That the whole of Britain could fit into the Province of Ontario.
That to drive the country you need longer than a day.
The endless possibilities for fantastic vacations without needing a passport.
Niagara falls
The fact that ay(british) is pronounced the same as eh!(Canadian) eh did come from GB by the way.
The accents in canada are pretty neutral straight across the country, town to town in GB is different
If I can just stop now and say I really could go on for ever, did I say I love this country!
Happy Birthday Canada.
My grandparents came from outside of Halifax…tiny fishing community named Musquidaubit (which I am sure is spelled incorrectly)! My first memories of knitting are of woolen socks knit by my Grandfather’s sister in Canada…I was fascinated by them!
I got married in Canada (Victoria, BC) in 1997, and we still have a huge Canadian flag hanging in our bedroom 🙂 Oh, and you all can buy Tylenol with Codeine over the counter. Great country. Love you Canada! Happy Canada Day!
If only I’d moved to Canada during the Vietnam era like I wanted to….sigh.
This is not a noteable Canadian informative, as I live in America. As for the the person who verbally assalted you about being a bad American? HELLOOOO
your URL ends in .ca (Canadian) address? You are the one who inspired a 40yr+ crocheter to just knit (only wanted to do for years) I check EVERY day for your new posts & have followed your book signings all over the US. I believe you know more about America than MANY who were born and raised here. You have always shown respect for the “differences” here and quickly and with great wit accepted much of what you saw here. I for one say, if ever you find yourself in the very south of Florida, girl, I’ll show you a great time, some awesome knitters & even put you up (without charging your publicist of course)! hehe Many Americans, fed up with the “life” here have been known to sell all and move to Canada to have a better life.
Maybe they’re on to something…
Thanks, Steph, for the roll-call. Is it wrong that I have more Canadian pride that American patriotism?
ummmmm … Libi, you can’t mean Harlot? Are you refering to someone in the comments? I re-read the whole post thinking I’d missed something but no, not once does she do any of the things you suggest. Besides, anyone who has read any of Stephanie’s posts about her travels to the States will know that she has only wonderful compliments for America and its citizens.
I love what Gander, NFLD did for all the weary travellers on September 11, 2001 when several planes were grounded. I love that we don’t lock our doors … I always thought it was just me until I saw Bowling For Columbine. I love that we don’t have any equivalent to Fox News but instead have the CBC’s This Hour and Air Farce making fun of our government regardless of political orientation. I love that we have a National Green Party that ran a candidate in every single of 308 ridings, two elections in a row. I love that even when people wrongly accuse and insult us, we don’t necessarily insult them right back. Thanks Stephanie.
Other things that make Canada great:
We grow fantastic comedians: Jim Carey, Mark Myers, Rick Mercer
Also, fantastic writers: Douglas Coupland, Robertson Davies, The Margarets, Lorna Crozier, Louise Halfe
If I hadn’t grown up in Canada, I don’t think that I would be able to start a fire; know how to survive in the cold or what to do if I fell through ice in the winter (I have not needed to test this knowledge, but I have it.) I feel *absolutely* comfortable tromping through forests, bushes, hills, mountains. I also doubt that I would be able to recognize all of our major grain exports by how they look in the field. I feel connected to many different cultures and have never felt fear of someone simply because of the colour of their skin.
We can add “u”s to words like “colour” and “honour.” That’s fun.
Thanks for your thoughts on Canada’s history. They helped me remember all of the reasons why I love Canada.
Either I just can’t read or no one has mentioned The Caesar yet! A yummy mixed drink to be sure to snag some confused expressions if asked for in the U.S. I once asked for a Caesar in San Fran forgetting it was a Cdn-only thing. Note to American bartenders: a Bloody Mary is NOT a good subsitute! Tastes nothing like! Ick!
(A caesar is a spicy tomato-y flavoured based drink with vodka, tobasco sauce, worchester sauce and Clamato – sounds gross but is delish- tomato and clam juice, served with a celery stick and a celery salt rimmed glass. Yum, Canadian!)
At this point in my life the thing I’m most thankful for about (aboot?) being Canadian is the one year maternity leave. We mums in Canada get to take a year off of work and are compensated for some of our pay through our unemployment insurance, so we can stay home with our new babies. I recently spent the most wonderful year of my life bonding, breastfeeding and babbling with my little guy, and felt luckier than I could have ever imagined to live in a country that allowed me that special time with my baby. The best part is, I’m doing it again next winter with our second. Yay!
Actually, Santa Claus is from Finland and he is there in Lapland with all the reindeer year round and speaks a gazillion languages. However, he does not have such a clever address. Blame Canada! 😉 Happy Canada Day!
Well, I didn’t know we got our collective arse’s kicked by Canada.. just goes to show how good American History class is.
Other than you, Stephanie, my fave is the Anne of Green Gables series. I know.. I know.. but I do love it so.
You forgot Tim Horton’s butter tarts and coffee (my ex was from just across the St. Lawrence, in St. Lawrence county, NY, and my ex-father-in-law was born in Timmins, ONT on Canada Day.) And poutine!!! Artery clogging, mouth watering, awful for you, delicious poutine. And Red Rose tea, cinnamon spread, Dare fudge cookies… Niagra Falls is better from the “Canadian side”, cleaner and there’s more to do, (sorry, NY, you know I still love you!) and Canada accepts American currency as far north as Timmins, whereas no one five blocks south of the customs check point wants to see even a Canadian penny. Happy birthday, Canada and Dad!!!
A few of my favorite Canadian things (imagine the tune):
1) My mother-in-law
2) the Okanagan
3) All Torontonians (?), especially my husband’s cousin and wife, the Harlot (and family), my ex-student who now teaches at U of T, and the entire staff of the Toronto Children’s Hospital which took care of my son during a very, very bad patch which happened to occur while we were in town. And several restauranteurs and yarn sellers who will remain nameless.
4) Stratford Shakespeare Festival (on principle) AND Slings and Arrows (for sending up the aforementioned festival
I could go on …
Great things about Canada (from an American’s perspective).
1. The YARN HARLOT
2. Carol Shields
3. Alice Monroe
4. Rohinton Mistry
5. Stargate and Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica are filmed in Vancouver
6. Paul Gross and Men With Brooms
7. L.M. Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables
How’s that for starters………
I have been to Canada once in my life, when I was a teenager. We took the ferry from Maine into Nova Scotia, and I was terribly seasick from the roiling seas. As we were going through customs, the customs agent asked my father if we would be leaving anything in the country. At that moment, I puked in the backseat (into a plastic bag). My father replied, “just my daughter’s guts, thanks!”
That’s when I learned that Canadian border patrols are totally unflappable.
My favorite thing about Canada is that is where my Mum and her family are from. I loved your “Joe the Canadian” clip. I would have loved to send it to my Mum but she has passed on. Your post brought up some great memories and one questionable one…I didn’t realize that the one summer I stayed in Canada and had Kraft dinner for lunch everyday we were just being Canadian! I came back to the States and couldn’t look at a plate of the stuff for about 2 years! I remember my Uncle Bill paying off my cousins and myself to “disappear” during hockey games. And going down to the corner grocery for something called a lola (?) a triangular blocky shaped popsicle type treat. Other favorite things…It’s one of the cleanest places I’ve ever been. I love how cosmopolitan Toronto is and that its a big city filled with a bunch of small towns. And a donut shop on about every corner!! I could go on and on but most recently what I love most about Canada is the Harlot!
Nobody’s mentioned the late Peter Jennings, also a Canadian….
Hey, great post! Happy Canada Day, and thanks for all the info!
I knew Santa’s home address was up there in Canada, but did you know that Santa also has a summer address in Indiana? It’s true – right here where I live, in the town we named after him – Santa Claus, Indiana. Here, we reach him through the Post Office at : Santa Claus, c/o Postmaster Santa Claus Indiana 47579.
Or we just catch him in the grocery store. Santa looks pretty slick in shorts and Hawaiian shirts, let me tell you! 🙂
I always loved the fact that Canada has a store called The BiWay. Cracked me up the first time I saw it. One of the great things about living in Michigan is the ability to go to Canada anytime we want. Canadians are always nice to us – something most Americans could remember when meeting people from other countries.
My favorite things?
1. Gay marriage
2. Midwifery being much more mainstream
3. My friends
4. Yarn Harlot
5. Joni Mitchell
6. Cree Summer
7. Over all Canadians ARE so much nicer and more polite than us US Citizens…
8. The accents
Once I am a midwife (some day…) I want to move to Canada…at that point I’ll have something to offer them in return for citizenship. 🙂
Canada has by far the better view of Niagara Falls.
And a most excellent skate boot fitter in Toronto. We could have a knit-in at the shop – they’d love it 🙂
Thanks again Stephanie. This Southern American just learned lots about our neighbors to the north. And I was just thinking this morning that I haven’t had a biscuit in a long time……they’re a health hazard. So are Krispy Kreme donuts, by the way, and they are also from the South (they are born in North Carolina).
You are always entertaining, interesting, thoughtful, educational or humorous or all of the above.
When American slaves ran to the north they went to Canada. If I had to pick the best thing about Canada it would have to be the way enslaved people found freedom there. Oh, and that lowered drinking age seems nice especially to the American college student.
My dad was from Huntington, Quebec and, as a child, I spent a lot of time there in the summer on the family farm. Anglos and French got on well. I loved the place. They tell me I’ll need a passport to visit so I’m getting one, but if I go there, I may not come back. Love Quebec City, Montreal, Nova Scotia, and Victoria and need to visit the rest of the country. Does anyone else remember Expo 67 – too cool.
Nanaimo bars!
Dude, happy Canada Day! Be careful, or you’ll start a massive migration North.
One of the best vacations I’ve ever enjoyed was last year’s trip to visit a Canuck friend I had met through the internet a little under seven years ago. (O stop, y’all, it was in the interest of internet artwork. Oh hell, that’s not going in a better direction…) ANYWAY, my friend and her husband were just as lovely in person as they were via email, blogs, letters and phone.
The Canucks rocked [except for one incident in the entire nine-day hootenanny – I damn near broke some drunken sod’s hand when he groped my right breast (I admit, the girls are magnificent, but most persons restrain themselves) after a hockey game where the Oilers trounced the Stars (I cheered for the Oilers)].
The people were friendly, Edmonton is a gorgeous area, the food fantastic, and not once did I feel homesick for the upper Mississippi River valley.
My grandmother was born in Saskatchewan and I could’ve gotten Canadian citizenship if I’d applied earlier. My dad still can.
I’m a born and raised Prairie girl and no one has mentioned Saskatchewan yet so here goes:
-writer Max Braithwaite. If you have never read “The Night We Stole The Mountie’s Car”, you really should.
-I live in Regina (yes, it rhymes with the v-word but we never think about it) and am within a stroll of the RCMP Training Depot. It is commonplace to see a group of recruits jogging by in all weather.
-There are a lot of Richardson Ground Squirrels but we call them gophers.
-Corner Gas.
-We wear bunnyhugs. Other people call them hoodies.
-If you don’t like the weather, wait ten minutes.
-We don’t ever have to worry about hurricanes.
-There are no rush hours in Saskatchewan but there are rush minutes in the cities.
-When we go summer fairs we can buy perogies to go with our corn dogs and mini-donuts.
Happy Birthday Canada! I can’t imagine making my home anywhere else!
Barenaked Ladies.
And you JUST explained to me something I’ve wondered about forevah – why they say “minor niner” at the beginning of “If I had a million dollars”. Thanks.
Oh. And RoRo. At http://rosemaryrowe.typepad.com/creampuff_revolution/.
this year we drove through VT and into montreal
i was completely AMAZED beyond everything at the number of gigantamongus farms/fields. i grew up in vermont next to farms so they’re not all that noteworthy to me, but these were beyond huge. and the silos were connected in this rube goldberg-esque design. it was all very astounding.
so far i haven’t been able to find out what is being grown in such huge portions at the edge of the great white north either but there it was : )
if you play the trout radio at this site http://www.troutmusic.com/ these guys have an awesome song about alberta. they’re from down on the gulf of mexico (arkansas) so being in alberta in january certainly made an impression on them
Hmm, Springfield Massachusetts USA claims to be the inventor of basketball… we frequently don’t admit that the man who invented it was born in Canada before he came a bit further south! 🙂 He invented it as something for the outdoor sports teams to do during the winter… so if he had moved even further south, there might be no basketball!
Um, my two cents about Canada? I’ve been there three times, during cold months, and it is cold… but three cheers for the underground malls in Montreal that stretch for eons! Huzzah!
I’d like to thank Canada for Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Sprite Ice (please tell me it’s still being made, because I love that stuff), and most of all, approximately half of my college’s hockey team.
(And for the Yarn Harlot too, of course!)
ps – i forgot to mention you folks get way better chocolate choices from cadbury then we do down here!!!!
for anyone that hasn’t been what struck me most about montreal was it being a city of contrasts – buildings over 200 years old with architecture that defies words and neon signs in sleek modern buildings right next door. sometimes it was a bit surreal to see
i’m so bummed i’ll need a passport if i ever want to go back blagh 🙁
I’ve been to Canada twice so far. First time, summer mid-eighties, I drove 13 hours to take in the Montreal Jazz Festival. Second time was my first cruise – NYC to Nova Scotia, in September. I packed shorts and swimwear, and as you can guess, I was cold.
Happy Canada Day – I wore my Montreal Jazz t-shirt today in Canada’s hono(u)r!
wait… I thought you guys buy milk in bags?
Hey as A U.S./Canadian/ Spanish citizen I would like to spread my appreciation to everything Canadian and U.S. (except for Pres. Bush) I woulod also like to reiterate a story from one of my many trips through the US/Canadian border…
I was coming into Windsor one fine day when the border guy asked for my citizenship. Not wanting to explain I hold 3, I swiftly said, “American” HE FLIPPED OUT and said Canadians are Americans too. He is right..as are Mexicans, Guatemaulans, and Brazilians. American is a term that applies to anyone in North, Central, and South Americas. (There just is no way to say U.S.-ian) That’s why when most people ask, I just smile. Who wants to explain why they hold 3 citizenships?
I love so many things about Canada. I’m one of those terrible American Canadian wannabes. Yep.
Things I love about Canada:
1. My sweetie, whose birthday is actually today, on Canada Day! Happy Birthday, John!
2. Your government doesn’t torture people.
3. Your government recognizes that gay people are normal people.
4. People are so much politer in Canada than in the US.
5. It’s cleaner.
6. Jane Siberry.
7. Arrogant Worms.
8. Great Big Sea.
9. North of 60 (I don’t have a tv anymore, but that was a great show).
10. Kids in the Hall.
11. Margaret Atwood.
12. Robertson Davies.
13. The Fourna Grill in Sydney, NS (try the Mediterranean Panini).
14. Much less chance of being shot.
15. Health care for everybody.
16. No rBGH.
17. The scenery in NS.
18. The friendly drivers. (They don’t swear at me when I’m on my bike! Wow! It’s amazing!)
19. Your money is pretty.
20. YOU, dear Harlot!
Yeah, I want to be a Canadian. I’m working on it…
“18. Mounties don’t always wear the hot outfits. That’s dress gear. (They’re also not always mounted.)”
HA!
Every time I am in Vancouver I have a very strong desire to move there permamently.
Peter Jennings was Canadian and in the days following September 11 he seemed like a beacon of stability for many of us. He could articulate our pain without ever resorting to jingoism or xenophobia.
But right now, for me, the most interesting thing about Canada is the fact that my beloved cousin, Abigail, and her brand new baby sister will be moving there in the next few months (with their mom.) Right now, I’m resenting Canada quite a bit, so I appreciate your posting some wonderful things.
Mustard! All ground mustard seed aka mustard powder, table used to make mustard (like French’s, Gulden etc.)passes through Hamilton Ontario first , to be ground for the mustard makers of North America.
We even have a Mustard festival in Hamilton where they serve mustard related foods, have really cool jazz bands and tell you all about the history of mustard and how we have the only mustard powdering facility in North America.
If you have a domestic brand of mustard on your hotdogs, hamburgers, brats etc on July 4 th it came to your plate via Canada.
Steph, one mistake, the flag we flew before the current one wasn’t the Union Jack but the Red Ensign (union jack in one corner), when I was a kid in school they had both! Happy Canada Day & a fabulous Fourth to those south of the border.
I liked your post today very much. My husband and I drove up to Vancouver today from Seattle and spent the day up there. We had no idea it was Canada Day until we got there and asked about it. Happy Canada Day to you!!! We had a lot of fun up there. Canada is a place I would definitely consider moving to. I saw a parade of cars waving flags and honking and it reminded me of your posts about the World Cup and someone must have won something. I think it was Portugal.
I liked your post today very much. My husband and I drove up to Vancouver today from Seattle and spent the day up there. We had no idea it was Canada Day until we got there and asked about it. Happy Canada Day to you!!! We had a lot of fun up there. Canada is a place I would definitely consider moving to. I saw a parade of cars waving flags and honking and it reminded me of your posts about the World Cup and someone must have won something. I think it was Portugal.
Things I know about Canada…hm…
I know Busch Gardens are amazing.
I know Victoria was such a lovely trusting town that 20 years ago they would deliver pizza to a bunch of lost high school students stuffing themselves into a phone book.
It’s also one of the most beautiful cities on earth.
I know that Kelley Armstrong and Tanya Huff (both pioneers in the vampire/werewolf/witch genre that is huge today) either live in Canada or visit often.
I know that Canadians will probably leave 1/100th of the litter in the wake of Canada day than Americans will in the wake of the 4th of July. Goddess bless you all.
I know that if I ever travel abroad I’m going to bone up on Canada and tell people that’s where I’m from so they’ll be nice to me. It’s not honest, but I’m a big believer in self-preservation.
Red Green! Okay, not many people know about it ’cause it airs on PBS here in the states, but it is by far the best comedy on the air anywhere. 🙂
Oh, and the best creepy episodes of the X-Files (really anything before they moved their shooting location to stupid LA) were filmed in Vancouver. 🙂
And yes, I am a TV freak, I work in television, I’m allowed.
1. Only one hour away (I’m in Toledo, OH)
2. Legal drinking age is 19.
3. Tim Horton’s
4. CBC-9 and Mr. Dress-Up! (We didn’t have cable tv until 1983 – it’s true! – but I could always get Mr. Dress-Up to come in if I arranged the rabbit ears just right!) And now my daughter loves him too (except we have cable).
5. Everything else everyone already mentioned!
And no, we’re not all idiots “down here” – some of actually know stuff about Canada, eh!
I live about 3 miles from the Canadian Border,(B.C.) in the US. My favorite Canadian things are – poutine, odd kinds of British foods you can’t find in America. And…my sister-in-law, who is Canadian.
And Molly Wolf’s from the US, too — her father was an Episcopal bishop here — but I join in on the “terrible American, Canadian-wannabe” thing. When I’m abroad and people think I’m Canadian, I let them!
Ten of my favorite things about Canada (the short list in no particular order)
1. It gave me my Dad
2. The humor
3. The chocolate — I’ve loved Cadbury’s Jersey Milk and Caramello since my first visit to Grammy Dot’s in N.B. when I was 10.
4. Canadian shopkeepers respect all sorts of diversity: US money spends nicely everywhere I’ve been. The US is unfriendly. If you get more than 20 miles from the border, US shops scorn Canadian money — which shows our lack of artistry: Canadian money has been prettier all my life.
5. It gave me Grammy Dot, who taught me to knit.
6. The Harlot (duh)
7. Lucy Neatby
8. Nigara Falls are so much better from the Canadian side of the border
9. The swimming pool at that hotel in Toronto that had salt water instead of chlorinated water!
10. I can DRIVE there! for things like the Shakespeare festival!
oh… and it shares its wonderful talented citizens with us shmucks here in the US. Lately, it seems altogether a better place to live if it weren’t for the fact that hockey season can last so much longer OUTDOORS there. (I like shorter winters)
Canada has SMARTIES!! And I’m not talking about those sour candies we have down here in the States, these are candies that beat M&Ms hands down! My friend on Vancouver Island sends me some from time to time. Yummy chocolate!
I’m really glad you included your liking for a downtown park in Portland. I’d like to invite you to head 1 hour south when you are here next. I think I saw Powell’s on your tour list for this year.
There is a nice little yarn shop in my town, in the middle of wine country….. And lots of nice parks as well.
Neat things about Canada? Well, you, obviously.
Barbara.
Ben.
Maggie and Miranda.
Canadians themselves. (Probably not all of them. Don’t like to generalize). Happy Canada Day.
Favorite things about Canada:
1) My boyfriend
2) Your national anthem-it totally rocks! No bombs, things bursting in air or anything violent…
3) watching the sunset from Third Beach in Stanley Park
4) Hockey
5) I mentioned my boyfriend, right?
6) The Yarn Harlot, and all of the knitting blogs I read, where I say to myself, “wow, this is one really cool kntter”…then I find out they are Canadian. =)
It makes a great story, but the Canadians didn’t burn down the White House.
Well. Without Canada, my home state of Louisiana wouldn’t be as it is today and I’d not be able to call people dirty names in French…poutine is good…I like Coffee Crisps and hockey too. But I can live without Buckley’s, how can you drink something that smells of catbox, no matter the benefit to one’s sinuses? It’s appalling. But other than that, yay for Canada!
Happy Birthday Canada!
Without a doubt, my favorite thing in Canada are the inukshuks in Ontario…they’re beautiful!
All of Canada I have seen is beautiful…from the primeval forests to the prairies to the mountains. The people are kind and generous to a fault. Hmmm, has anyone yet mentioned quiviut???
Happy Canada Day!!!
I love the Niagara Falls!
(yes,yes I know that there is a US side also).
Sign me,
Proud to be from the USA and
Grateful to have such a great neighbor!!!!!!
Margie
There has been some wine tonight, so I will be typically random.
1) Hey, I have homo milk here too!
1a) Consider this my official commitment to knit baby hats, in lieu of actual email.
2) 1) Goes with the gay marriage, if you add in a fedex truck.
3) Remember what I said about wine?
4) I think I might be more Canadian than Democrat. Don’t tell anyone.
5) The sheer fact that you can claim Debbie New is enough for me. The rest are just proof it’s not a fluke.
6) Again with the Newfies, check out the third act of, ironically enough, “This American Life”: http://207.70.82.73/pages/descriptions/01/201.html .
7) You are, like, the WORST American, like, EVER.
8) Turns out if Rhys transfers, it would be to Toronto. In moments of employment anxiety, I am comforted by the wooliness (and the beeriness) of your city (the gay-friendliness goes without saying), and feel I can become accustomed to the hockey-ness of your people.
9) Is it wrong that my dog’s current theme song (everyone in my house has a theme song) is to the tune of O Canada?
HAPPY CANADA DAY, STEPH!
There are all sorts of things to love about Canada. Besides all the Candian knit designers, here are just a few of my favorites:
1. Canadian beer.
2. The Boundary Waters (okay, we share that, but water flows downhill so it starts with you)
3. The Canadian Rockies
4. Being a peaceful nation which doesn’t run around invading other nations.
5. KOIGU!
6. Leonard Cohen
7. health care for everyone
8. Peter Jennings
9. Having a sing-able national anthem
10. Montreal Jazz Festival
11. Groovy flag.
12. Homo milk AND gay dignity
13. No hurricanes (give me snow any day, please)
14. Barenaked Ladies
15. Joni Mitchell
16. People who understand the correct use of firearms
17. Niagra falls
18. Labrador Retrievers and Newfoundlands!
19. of course, Canada has YOU, Stephanie!
and #20 … last but not least … thank you for Cajuns. If you guys hadn’t exiled them from Canada, Louisiana would, sadly, seem only like more of Texas.
And nobody down here would say, “eh,” or “ay.”
🙂
I am so ashamed to share the same country with the person who was so nasty to you AND so illiterate as to not be able to interpret the “.ca” at the end of your blog address.
She is probably the sort of moron who talks extra-loud and extra-slow to people for whom English is a second language.
Sadly, a great many Americans consider any criticism of our government to be highly unpatriotic and completely forget that our nation was founded on the basic human right to GET RID OF government if it becomes tyrannical.
Power to the peaceful (see my favorite things about Canada #4).
P.S. Terri, please forgive the public correction, but Arkansas is not on the Gulf of Mexico. Arkansas is on top of Louisiana, which is slowly but surely dissolving into the Gulf. So there is hope for an Arkansas coast someday, but I wouldn’t invest in a casino qiute yet. Nonetheless, Arkansas natives would no doubt be impressed by a Canadian winter.
Yummmmmy stuffs from Canada that I miss:
Butter tarts!
http://www.our-daily-bread.com/recipes/buttet.htm
Nanaimo bars!
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/185/Nanaimo_Bar12225.shtml
Beaver tails!
http://bread.allrecipes.com/az/BvrTilsfrmrlCndin.asp
Poutine!
http://thecookingblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/poutine-recipe.html
Plus coffee crisps, Timbits, tourtière and REAL maple syrup.
>>>They’re also not always mounted.<<< Perhaps we could arrange to mount them more often?
BNL! My kids sing their songs.
Kids in the Hall – I love the “Chick Drink Drunk” skit.
Happy Canada Day!
I’ve changed my cell phone ring tone to Oh Canada in honor of the occaision.
Though I am born & raised in the USA, lately there’s a lot less to be proud of given our nation’s current international policy…. but rather than state the obvious, I will stick to something less fractious that makes me love Canada — its citizens’ love of dogs.
We just came back a few weeks ago from a two-week holiday in Nova Scotia with our beloved Newfoundland dog. Everywhere we went he was warmly greeted (as were we) and most appreciated. It was really great to be able to travel with our big sweet lug and have everyone not only know exactly what he is (he’s not a bear, nor a pony, nor a dark miniature cow……) but also that the most fearsome thing about him is his drool. 🙂
Also I must add that Cape Breton is amazingly beautiful.
I love that the Canadian $1 coin is a loonie. I spent many vacations in the North Woods (northern Wisconsin & the UP of Michigan) & the cry of the loon has always represented happy, peaceful times breathing clean air (something in short supply in the Chicago area). I have always been a “loonatic”!
One of the most populous birds in the Chicago area is the Canada Goose. They love all the ponds in the suburban shopping areas & apartment complexes. They were at one time (in the 70’s) endangered & thus protected by many laws. You can get into big legal trouble if you kill one. It is not unusual for them to WALK across major roadways. You will see traffic stop in an area without an intersection & when you figure out what is going on – it is a Canada Goose (soemtimes an entire family) waddling across the road. Interestingly, I have never heard anyone honk at them & there are some very rude drivers. But everyone seems kind of fond of the Canada Geese. I think at one time they summered in Canada but have gotten so spoiled by all the free food & nice surroundings in the suburban complexes that they now stay here year round. The only unfortunate thing about them is that they have poop the same size as that of a medium sized dog & the average goose poops 4 pounds of it a day which can create snitation problems.
My favorite things about Canada are the 7 years that I spent in London, Ontario attending both high school and the University of Western Ontario, the Canadians that I still have as friends, the wonderful education that I obtained at University, the cities are cleaner than American cities, the people are more polite, the colorful money, Timbits, almost any Canadian beer, poutine, Victoria, and the list could continue on and on forever! Even though I live in California now, I visit as often as I can.
One of my very favorite (or should I say, “favourite”) people in the world is Canadian – my cousin-in-law Sarah. But, I will never forgive Canada for the horror it has inflicted on it’s southern neighbor – Celine Dion. In the name of all that’s Good and Holy, please take her back!
I meant to also say that my paternal grandmother who taught me how to knit was born in St John NB. She was a fiercely independent woman who I admired greatly even as a young child. When my DD lived in Louisiana, we went to a Cajun outdoor museum one time when we visited. They had many historic photos & I was amazed to see how strongly some of the women resembled my grandma. Duh – of course – the Cajuns were Acadians & she came from that same area.
While living in Canada, Alexander Graham Bell invented a telephone in Brantford Ontario. The first telephone exchange was located in Hamilton Ontario.
I love that Hockey Night In Canada (on Saturday nights during hockey season) is the most watched television program in Canada uniting people from coast to coast every week for the last 64 years. I further love that it’s theme song is as recognizible as Canada’s anthem, and to some its interchangeble with the anthem!
I love that, despite a lifetime of singing the national anthem every morning at school and singing it a couple evenings a week at hockey games, I still get choked up at about 3/4 of the way through the song.
I love that Canada’s cultural symbol is a mosaic and not a melting pot: that we actively revere people’s diversity and encourage the continuation of their cultural heritage.
We have The Sadies!
We don’t think smoking pot is a jailable offense (Though we still don’t like folks to grow and sell it – we just haven’t found a way to get the government in on that one) or all that deviant.
One year Maternity leave!
Universal health care! (You may have to wait 6 months – for non-emergency procedures – but you can get the top doc in the country to do your surgery and you don’t have to pay a single cent!)
OOOOOOH! Buttertarts!!!!!! So fabulous! Alex Trebeck, Red Green (can you have too much duct tape?) L.M. Montgomery, lots of the celebraties mentioned, and Anne Murrey (ouch, grey hair showing) and growing up 38 miles from the Ontario border, 72 from Thunder Bay. Listening to CKPR Radio for weather because it was closer and more accurate for us, than Duluth, MN. One of my best friends and one SIL who are both transplants. And the first guy I dated was a slightly crazy French-Canadian who was a family friend for years.
My mother-in-law is Canadian. My husband teases her mercilessly but I’ve been known to defend many of the awesome ideals like gay marriage and such. But, I will admit, every once in a while we tease about the conversion thing. Its just funny, sorry 😉 Oh, and I have a favorite line from South Park, “We’ve already apologized for Bryan Adams on SEVERAL occasions.” Uh, and something about Canadians having flappy heads.
Thanks for putting all the interesting info about Canada. I actually forwarded the link to her so she could share 😀
OOooo another Canadian favorite. The US is SOOO stupid about the production of hemp (I could go on and on about HOW much more efficient hemp is than using trees and you can make plastic from its oils instead of petroleum… I’ll spare you any more). There was some hemp farmer in Canada that said something to the effect that if the US finally made hemp growing legal he’d bring over the first truck load of seeds. Man, sometimes its embarassing to be from the US… sorry fellow americans, but its true.
Hi Steph,
I just got back from PEI.
You forgot the wonders of Canadian Lobster.
Also, MacCausland’s Mills and Mini Mills on PEI. Especially Mini Mills – you won’t believe the yarn blends I brought back, you will cry. Hope to see you at the “leap” party at Lettuce, I’ll bring them then.
Beaver tails and hot chocolate on the Rideau Canal during Winterlude in Ottawa, and the Muskrat Jamboree in Inuvik, NWT.
90% of the Canadian population lives within 30 miles of the US border.
90% of the Canadian population lives within 30 miles of the US border.
Stratford Festival, Bruce Cockburn, The Kids in the Hall.
As a citizen of the United States, I don’t see that there’s much we can defend down here–except maybe our greed. We are certainly the greediest people in the world. Or maybe our gluttony, since we consume more resources than any other nation in the world. We’re number 1 when it comes to the number of military installations in the world–I guess that might also make us the biggest bully.
Oh yeah! We’re the only industrialized western nation that doesn’t provide health care for its children. But, we do have the most obese people on the planet. And, I bet the state of Texas alone has enough religious zealots to rival Iran…
Wow! If we include racism, sexism, classism and the exploitation of poorer nations, the United States becomes so awesome how could one even begin to think Canada could compete?
I’m certainly baffled.
USA! USA!
1. During WW2 Canada was a refuge to the Dutch royal family. Queen Whilhelmina was pregnant. The room she gave birth in was temporaly declard part of the Netherlands so that Princess Juliana could be Dutch and eligible for the throne. In thanks the Netherlands sends Canada tulips, not daffodils.
2. Another cool historical fact to do with the Netherlands. Canadians were mostly responsible for the liberation of the Netherlands in May, 1945. Canadian soldiers remained there for 3 years, during which about 6,000 babies were born to Canadian fathers and Dutch mothers. None of these births were reported as rapes. Many Dutch women married these soldiers and moved to Canada after the war. My dad’s family is one that moved to the dutch community in Hamilton.
3. Tim Hortons is amazing.
4. We have the Acadians. They were the French who would not fight against the British, instead wanting to be peacefull. Unfortunately when the British won they were all kicked out. Many went to the states, and became cajun. Through all this, many Acadians returned to Canada and live in New Brunswick (the only actually bilingual province in Canada, all the rest are English except for Quebec who are French).
5. Speaking of Quebec, they have language police in order to retain maximum frenchiness.
6. Double-double is in the Canadian dictionary. Look it up.
7. We are the most hockey crazed country in the world (I think), but we only have a hand full of teams in the Stanley Cup. Which we started. We also export Canadian hockey players like crazy.
8. You can take American history in Canada, and learn about the other parts of this continent. When I went to a party in California, I was asked how/why Canada exists. People had no idea that the French actually owned the New World first. That’s why we have Quebec.
9. We are fircely proud of where we came from before we arrived in Canada. Somewhere along the way we were all immigrants. When someone asks what my background is I can say Dutch-German-Scotch-Irish without batting an eyelash. But when I travel, I’m fircely proud of being Canadian.
10. Canada is HUGE. It’s second in size only to Russia. When I went to Britain a guy asked how long it would take to drive from Toronto to Victoria. He guessed a few hours. I told him a few days. I drive for 6-7 hours to go for my grandma’s for an hour in Michigan. Just for the weekend.
Happy Canada everyone!
My daughter insisted that I buy a cookbook that she found in a book bin at our grocery store the other day — “Canadian Culinary Road Trip.” It is part cookbook, part picture book, (very small) part travel guide. So far, she’s prepared salmon served with dill sauce and we have our eye on something with bison. We have thumbed through the book numerous times, just to look at the pictures. I have done a little road-tripping in Canada and the pictures in that book only make me want to do more. So far, Alberta is my favorite — utterly breathtaking — but I haven’t been to the east. The doc who delivered my first-born was from Saskatchewan, and there is an occasional visitor to my blog from Saskatoon — I must admit to a little thrill every time I see THAT spelled out in my stats.
Oh, and I just about blew a gasket when, on page 17, I came across a little blurb about Screech under the heading of “The Spirits of Newfoundland and Labrador” (the only such heading in the book, no other province having anything that quite compares, I suppose). It’s even listed in the index. ; )
Happy Canada Day!
I can’t imagine you read all of these comments, but I’ll throw my two cents into the ring, anyway. 🙂
I love Canada! I was there twice. Once to visit a penpal in Montreal, and once to study for a semester at Laval University. I dated a guy there, too, so I’ve been to Toronto.
Wonderful country! If you guys were as lazy with immigration as we are, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
I’m a big fan of Charlene Prickett (It Figures exercise program which I think has long since been off the air). I drink Labatt Blue.
Canadians are so much more civil and decent than Americans. I loved that part in Bowling for Columbine when Michael Moore went across the border and found that Canadians don’t lock their doors!
Oh, and one of my favorite groups…Great Big Sea. I have all their CD’s!
My favorite thing about Canada, next to the Yarn Harlot, of course ;o), is Buchart Gardens.
Loved the post, and am enjoying a Molson right now, actually. Other ways I feel kind of Canadian: lived in Wisconsin, learned to drink beer in the snow and go to the Niagara Falls areas annually, where I see the CN Tower in Toronto across Lake Ontario. Love Toronto, which has THREE Chinatowns. When I go to the lake this month, I will toast my beer to you and the rest of Canada. And one day I will finally make it to Vancouver.
Glad you Canadians still put up with us here south of the border, and thanks for the knitting goodness.
First of all, let me apologize for the invasion. What were we thinking? When my son was living in England, people were always surprised to find out he was an American. They all thought he was Canadian because he was so polite.
I love that you can go south from Detroit & hit Canada.
My mom’s side of the family is from Canada – from the late 1700’s.
My cousins insisted I learn all the names of all the provinces. (They were quite annoyed that that I didn’t know, but then, product of a the California Public School system.)
It stays light really, really late in the summer.
Canadians buy at the mall what should properly describe a horse disdaining his breakfast – an oat fit. Oh, an outfit. Out. Fit. Clothing.
Canada is big.
One of my favourite things about Canada? Well, I think it might be the generosity and tolerance of the majority of the populace (that I’ve run into, in my 38 years here — I’m an immgrunt) and that we freaks don’t get called freaks to our faces. Today a coworker asked me how I got to be so “interesting and creative”. I’m thinking that there’s a lot of places I’d just have been locked up, instead.
I thought insulin was “invented” by Eli Lilly?
Happy Canada Day. I drank a beer (or 2 or 3) in celebration of the Great White North.
Where did my comment go?
It included recipes for yummy butter tarts, beaver tails, nanaimo bars (mmm) and a bit about how I miss coffee crisps, Timbits and poutine.
Also, I miss the awesome Indian food on Gerrard in Toronto!!
Santa Claus is Canadian? Norwegian?
Well, don’t know about the nationality, but he sure lives in Finland. It is even possible to visit him in Rovaniemi.
http://www.santaclaus.fi/?deptid=14561
Mon pays ce n’est pas un pays, c’est l’hiver…..
Curling!!!!
CanLit- Margaret Laurence, Joy Kogawa, Tom King et al……
Dead Dog Cafe, Vinyl Cafe
Stuart McLean – a National Treasure
Jean Lamon and Tafelmusik, Angela Hewitt…..
Emily Carr, The Group of Seven…..
Happy Canada Day, eh!!!!
I see a couple of other people have mentioned that Santa Claus is from Finnish Sapmi; good. I’m not the only one who knows that. He can’t live at the North Pole, although that is a convenient mailing address. There’s nothing there for the reindeer to eat.
Two more things for Canadians to celebrate with pride: Newfies and Labs, the nicest dogs there are.
Canada has the best Niagra Falls. We took a family vacation to the Falls when my son was 18. We had traveled every year on wonderful vacations including “up” into Canada from Northern Wisconsin. But that year that we went to Niagra Falls, Ben asked why we had saved the BEST vacation until then. We had no answer! And we’ll be back soon and travel on further north.
Kids in the Hall is my #1 favorite thing about Canada. LOVE it.
Happy Canada Day to you and all your fellow Canadians. You have much to be proud of and to celebrate as a nation. Celebrating Canada doesn’t take anything away from any other nations. (Near or Far)
East or West, Home is Best.
Happy Canada Day to You!
I love Butchart Gardens. I love ‘eh’. I love the Walter P. Chrysler car show in Victoria. I love Stanley Park. I love loonies and toonies. I love taking the train from Everett to Vancouver for the day. Lunch in town, dinner on the train. I love the thought of taking a trip to eastern Canada and knitting along the way. My very first visit to Victoria was years ago, traveling with the man I did not know I would later marry. We were standing on the outside deck of the BC ferry by ourselves when what to our wondering eyes did appear…HUGE breaching Orcas. Making a show just for us. Took breath away. Walt Disney lives. What a moment. Thanks. I’m lucky enough to live in a place in WA where favorite stories and stories of favorites are also told. And bless us every one.
More things to be thankful for. Purdy’s Chocolates, the ability to step off the curb and not get run over, large cities who get the idea of mass transport, and poutine.
Also, we should thank Britian for allowing Canada to import Lucy Neatby and her funky hair.
Though I live in Southern California, I have many favorite things about Canada! These things include [in no particular order]: gay marriage, maple butter, headlights that stay on all the time, the special vinegar for french fries that we don’t have here, Montreal, hockey, Kids in the Hall, universal health care, Koigu, and [most of all] my nieces and sister-in-law.
Well, I have to admit that I’m a fairly ignorant American when it comes to Canada, but I’ve learned a lot from your post and reading the comments.
BUT, I do know that my favorite Canadian things are The Yarn Harlot (duh), and the TV show “Forever Knight.” It was kind of cheesy, but I was really into the vampire thing as a teenager. I had to stay up ’til 12:30 or 1:00 on Saturday nights to watch it. I kind of wish I could find it on DVD.
And my boyfriend spent a summer in Montreal for an architecture class. He has informed me that we will be honeymooning in Quebec after we get married.
I don’t know for certain that this is true, but I heard that after Katrina, the first military group that showed up to help sort things out was …
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
And the last wedding I went to was in Victoria, BC, for my friends Kathy and Candace, who had decided that after so many years together they should “stop living in sin.”
Their marriage does not seem to have affected the quality of heterosexual marriages around them.
Belated “Happy Canada Day” …Canada is the only place in the World I’d consider living after England.
shhhhhh…not so loud, you’ll have us all up there! 🙂 Happy Birthday Canada!
–I second Paul Gross and Men With Brooms. Heck, Paul Gross, period.
–And Paul Gross, Callum Keith Rennie, Gordon Pinsent, et al, on due South, for smart, witty, engrossing TV, and poking fun at *both* countries. Plus for the intro to Sarah McLaughlin. Thank you kindly!
–The hospital in Grand Forks BC, north of the Washington/Canadian border, and the only one within close reach of the small, remote NE WA town of Republic…with doctors who saved my mother’s life when she had a hiatal hernia, her stomach tore free of its moorings, twisted around completely and had to be sewn back in place, and on top of that, she got pneumonia. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
–And the fact that Grand Forks is the only place anywhere near Republic where you can find a Chinese restaurant. Just drive to Canada! (about 40 miles or so.) Plus still has Dukhobors.
–The RCMP officers who seriously calmed down the drunken Americans ::blush:: left-over from the Calgary Stampede at the motel we stayed at, on our way through Alberta to BC when I was 14. I only regret I was asleep and missed seeing the whole thing.
–Lovely, polite, considerate border guards.
–Vancouver and Victoria BC, *lovely* cities both, with ambience that makes me feel like I’m at home in Portland, but enough of a twist that visiting is exciting, too. Why aren’t Portland and Vancouver sister cities?? We both have polite people, we’re on rivers, we’re green, we have mountains close by…
–Crumpets with your hot tea. (I grew up on hot tea from a very young age, despite being American. I never have learned to like coffee.)
–Another Canadian author, Charles de Lint.
–Lake Louise and Banff.
–Kids In The Hall, again.
–The Fraser River Valley.
–Highlander: The Series, and The Sentinel, filmed in Vancouver.
–Fantastic blues musician Jim Byrnes, of both HL and Wiseguy, who’s not originally from Canada, but lives there now – a marvellous man.
–Glacier Park, shared by both countries.
–Mt. Fraser, where my brother got to participate in a major expedition ascending it. (He was in charge of one of the last base camps before final ascent.)
–The UBC’s incredible museum, although I’ve never gotten past the lobby. Yet. But the totem poles were awe-inspiring.
–Cowichan sweaters.
–The Farmer’s Market on Granville Island in Vancouver.
–The busker’s square, ditto.
–The lovely 10 Nations lady with her beadwork, who saw me knitting during a break in a Highlander con at a hotel in Vancouver, asked if she could join me because we crafters had to stick together … and got me engrossed in a lively, interesting conversation that lasted for a wonderful two hours.
–Stanley Park and its black squirrels, plus everything else in it.
–Oh yeah, the beer!
–I like loonies and toonies, too, and still have some from my last trip to Vancouver. 😉
Happy Birthday, Canada!
Thankyou for the washing machine!
Despite the greatness of Canada, I think we in Denmark have something much more grand.
We have a Gods-elevator.
(Gods = goods, as in packages etc.)
PS – And the fact that Canada had on the list for re-naming part of the NW Territories, the name ‘Bob’. You’ve gotta love a country with a real sense of humor. Plus Spider Robinson, another authorial American who sensibly moved to Canada. ::shutting up now::
Happy 139th fellow Canucks.
The best thing about being Canadian is:
that we can celebrate Stompin Tom, Susan Aglukark,the Group of Seven, Wayne Gretzky, Thompson Highway, Green Peace and Birute Guldikas all on the same day.
That I can sit in my local park in downtown Toronto and carry on conversations with New Canadians, immigrants and refugees from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and all the alphabet in between.(Sittin’ knittin’ is an amazing way to strike up conversations with people who have little English – try it- it works)
That we’re the only country on earth that celebrates Queen Victoria’s birthday.
That our national motto is
Peace, Order and Good Government
That we have a Governor General who was a refugee herself.
That Sick Kids Hospital has the Herbie Fund so that very ill children from all over the world can come and be helped.
The list goes on and on – how grateful should we be? Immensely
My husband must be a bad Canadian; he didn’t tell me today was Canada Day! Things I learned from marrying a Canadian:
1. The pronunciation of “pasta” is different.
2. In Canada, ordering a “regular” coffee means there is milk and sugar in it.
3. The whole university vs. college thing.
4. Grade 13.
5. He likes to mention that burning down the white house incident a lot.
6. Romney in Toronto is a yarn bomb aftermath.
7. Poutin is… interesting.
8. The word “bum” is used much more.
9. NEVER EVER use fake maple syrup.
10. Canada is called Canada in pretty much every language. The United States of America is called various things in different languages. This only comes up when you are in foreign countries and are stopped by armed military who ask you where you are from, and they don’t understand “USA” or “United States”, but they universally understand “Canada”.
Don’t forget we invented the zipper too!! Some of our finest knitting wouldn’t be as nice without that wonderful thing.
Heh. I live 30 miles from the Montana-Alberta border and have actually only been to Canada once. That’s sad. I keep meaning to go up there again sometime soon (maybe this summer?) to at /least/ have Joey’s Only Seafood. And shop. Yeah. Shopping is good.
I had no idea same-sex marriage was legal in Canada. Go Canadians!
This isn’t /exactly/ a Canada fact, but… In this part of Montana, at least, we see a lot of Canadian coins in circulation pretending to be American ones. Pennies, Nickles, and Quarters. It was always disappointing as a kid to get change back and discover a Canadian quarter… because they didn’t work in the vending machines. *laugh*
I have $15 Canadian tacked to my wall awaiting my day-trip to Canada.
Happy Late Canada Day!
Coffee Crisp! And the Yarn Harlot, of course.
It’s home.
I miss it so much that I still cry myself to sleep sometimes, even after 26 years in the UK.
Frost on scarlet kinnikinnik leaves.
The smell of sweet clover on hot summer afternoons.
Waking to the peculiar silence and gentle luminance from the window that means it snowed all night.
People who say ‘You’re welcome’ in reply to ‘Thank you’.
The sound of the first meltwater in spring.
Aspen trees glowing gold against the blue sky, with the sharp, sweet smell of poplar leaves on the ground.
Navigating the grid roads back to town by following the telephone lines.
Roger’s Chocolates.
Driving down and back through time to Drumheller, the Cretaceous, and my childhood.
But I don’t miss shopping malls 🙂
My sweetie is Canadian, so thankyou, Canada, for him, and also:
Timmies.
Canada geese.
Apple cider.
A small correction: Israel’s population is approximately 27% foreign-born, rivalling Canada’s and Australia’s status as leading immigrant societies.
Happy Canada Day!
I thought, no, no – basketball was invented in Springfield, MA – and it was – by a CANADIAN! It is that way Canadians can walk among we Americans totally undetected (should they choose to do so) that can be confusing. We honeymooned in Newfoundland – I have never met consistently friendlier people anywhere ever!
Wait! You didn’t mention bags of milk! Or is that just local to the bit of Canada north of Michigan? ?:|
I have to correct you all about Santa Claus or Julemanden as we call him. Every child in Denmark knows for a fact that he lives in Greenland!
In the early nineties Degrassi High was big here in Denmark, really big. They even had interviews with the big stars. Joey was of course the favourite.
You missed aname from the list of knitting Genius:
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
We have a queen. Officially she is not the Queen of England to us, but the Queen of Canada (most Canadians don’t seem to realize this.) The queen is our Head of State, not the Prime Minister, not the Governor General, but the Queen herself. Because she doesn’t reside in Canada, the GG is simply her representative. 😉
Happy Belated Canada Day! 🙂 I am an American. But I’ve spent enough time in Canada for summer music programs to love it almost as much as the US. And being the rabid hockey fan that I am, how could I not love it? 🙂 If that makes me a bad American, so be it. Loved this post!
As a proud Canadian I must add my favorites: socialized health care, the CBC, lots of green spaces, my sense of security but most of all it’s the inclusivity and not much exclusivity found here.
I could add what I don’t like but that is not the theme for today.
Thaks for the post Yarn Harlot!
i love your work stephanie…but debbie new is australis, complete with australian accent and all. i met her for coffee one morning with my snb group in fitzroy (a inner suburb of melbourne). she was here to attend a family wedding. and if i am not mistaken kate gilbert is american….which i am sure you know.
hence, i suspect there is a bit of tongue in cheek happening today.
Great info. Of course, here in Minnesota we feel a special affinity to Canada. Hockey in Minnesota, much like Canada, is nearly a major religion. We share a border. There are lakes that are half in MN/half in Canada. This causes many disputes involving where walleye was caught and prompts many shore lunches. People in other parts of the U.S. think that it is cold and frozen here all year long, they think this about Canada too. Even though the border is a 7 hour drive from Minneapolis, people in the NE U.S. think it’s so close that we can have dinner in Canada and be home for the 10:00 news. My husband and I went to Canada on our honeymoon. Getting in was easy and the Canadian border patrol officer was very friendly and even advised us on places to go. Getting back in to the U.S. was a whole other deal and we almost just stayed!
Gay milk. No wonder y’all are okay with gay marriage — you drink the idea from birth. Or from when mom cuts off the baby…. Whatever.
Happy Canada, day, babe. Good stuff up there.
Fact: You can stop at a garage/yard/tag sale in Canada while on vacation and buy fabric and other fun stuff with American money. !! LOL
Alice
Thanks for all the interesting facts about Canada – I sure learned a lot! I have a great deal of respect for our neighbors to the north, and have enjoyed visiting Toronto and Montreal in the past.
One thing you said did stick in my craw, though – we don’t actually know the origins of baseball. There are many people and places who claim it, but the fact is that it evolved over centuries, so it’s impossible to pinpoint the inventor.
Didn’t Canada invent hockey, though? I always thought it was kind of odd that the NHL is based in the U.S., but hockey is MUCH bigger in Canada…
I’m another American who wants to be Canadian. Some of my favorite people are Canadian, who married Americans and now live in Wisconsin–which is not so very far from Canada. I studied French in Canada–Quebec, University of Laval–in the summer of 1971!! Thank you, to Canada, for giving us k.d. lang, my favorite singer of all time. Also, thank you to Canada for marrying two of my friends who have been together for 35 years but who could not marry here in the “land of the free” USA. Nevertheless, I still can’t stomach the Red,Green show, although my 14 year old likes it!!
Isn’t Lucy Neatby British?? Who moved to Canada with her husband??
This is undoubtedly not the most interesting thing about Canada, but it’s one of my favorites and I haven’t seen it listed: CBC broadcasts Coronation Street which my brother (near Detroit) tapes and sends to me.
Thanks for all the great posts about Canada. Happy Canada Day!
I think you might be bragging here.
Happy Canada Day all you lovely Canadians.
Never having visited Canada (it’s a long way from Britain), I’m not sure what the best things really are but here’s my list of things I currently like:
Maple syrup
Whales
Lots of snow
Gay marriage
Wonderfalls (yes I know it was a joint production but it had a lot of Canadian actors in it)
Multiculturalism
The way Canada acts as a grown-up country on the international stage – they don’t posture or make a fuss, they just quietly get on with things that need doing. I like that.
Someone asked about the Queen. Canada used to be part of the British Empire (as a self governing colony) and is now part of the Commonwealth. The Queen is still the head of State of Canada, as someone else pointed out.
I have to admit, as a teenager living in Buffalo, NY, I was so glad that the drinking age in Canada is 19.
The Canadian Falls is so much prettier than the American Falls, and they charge you 50 cents (American or Canadian, no bother) to get back across the bridge to the states – smart thinking!
Has anyone mentioned Degrassi? I’ve never watched it, but I hear it’s all the rage with the tweens, despite it’s sometimes controversial subject matter.
Go Canada! And happy holiday weekend!
We have Canada to thank for the Red Green Show. Love it. Also love the Man’s Prayer from the show:
I’m a man.
I can change.
If I have to.
I guess.
I work with biologists. My first thought on homo milk was:
“They’re selling mothers’ milk in the grocery store?!!!”
Homo S. of course
best steaks ever.
if you are in any region other then quebec the people are very nice.
montreal was a mix of french rudeness and politeness.
i saw a hockey game in montreal playing ottawa and the whole game was in french and i had no idea what they were saying.
although i did figure out rather quickly ‘but’ means goal and “le defender d’la but” means goalie.
That was really all I needed to know.
And lacrosse is much more fun to watch in canada.
And lastly Canada is so much cleaner then the US.
The only issue I had was it was so freakin cold. I was there before I started knitting again so I didnt have a lot of warm wear to wear.
Oh and the best thing to come out of Canada?
Yarn Harlot of course:)
Thanks
the first time i traveled/flew alone i was 9 and i went to visit a friend that i had met the summer before in mexico city. she lived in ontario and i would call home everyday so homesick and cry the enitre time. finally my mom told me that i couldn’t call home again if all i was going to do was cry. the next phone call i was very brave and tried so hard not to cry, and i don’t think i’ve been homesick since!
“Oooooh Caaaanaaadaaaa….”
I have always said that the Canadian national anthem is much more creative than the US one.
I love that motorcycle helmets are required by law in Quebec (and in other providence?) and that Cirque Du Soliel has spread around the world after it’s birth in Montreal.
I have considered moving north a bit…I’m just not sure that osteopaths are as welcome as allopaths…
Just GREAT!! I’m an American who lives in Canada because Life brought me here about 50 years ago.
One of the incredible things about Canada which you didn’t mention is its population: Population-wise, Canada is one of the smallest countries in the world. It is smaller than any other European country and yet … look at it!!! Look what it does!!!! Look at its diversity AND unity! Look at its contirbutions to the world – in people as well as money!! Well done!!
Thank you, Canada! Happy Birthday!!
My favorite vacations have been in Canada. Love the scenery and the people!
I like that tree. Thank you Halifax!
Dear Stephanie – I have been in Canada twice (Montreal) and I loved it. I hope I can go back eventually. I wish we had the generall civility you have, and the national health care system. We really need that.
I hope you don’t mind my mentioning this – in item number 10 “it’s” should be “its” (its flag). No apostrophe needed here.
I also like Moosehead and Labatt (also had some Laurentides once, but can’t get it here)
I look forward to meeting you when you come to Oklahoma City (which is not nearly as exciting as Montreal).
Dolly Dearner
Thanks Steph! Here’s mine: We had just finished taking care of my mother in law who had alzheimer’s – We had her live with us for two years while I took care of her. When she died, (and I was exhausted) Dave and I packed up the 3 kids and went to Niagra Falls in Canada. It was a beautiful trip. The people we met were very friendly and they showed the kids the “loonies and toonies”!! It was perfect.
Canadian tv shows the Olympics in real time. I could watch the opening ceremonies as I cast on, as I am lucky enough to live near Canada and watch Canadian tv.
Happy belated Canada Day! Growing up in Detroit, I watched my fair share of CBC Windsor, so I was brought up with Mr. Dressup, Friendly Giant, et al. I knew what Timbits were even before they came to the US. And ya gotta love Hockey Night In Canada. I also remember watching SCTV and then later on Red Green. Yay Canada! (Plus, when I was younger, going over to Canada to drink because the legal age there was 19 🙂 )
I have many fond memories, and some eye-opening ones, of the nearly two years I lived in Canada (Toronto, to be exact). Some of them…
* Milk sold in bags! What’s up with that?!
* Butter tarts…mmmmm…
* Being corrected when I said I was from “America.” I was told, “We’re in America, too: NORTH America. Are you from the States?”
* At university, I took a Canadian lit class and was first introduced to Margaret Atwood. She’s now one of my favorite authors.
* In that same class, I learned a key cultural difference between Canada’s view of their immigrants and the U.S.’ view of immigrants. Canada refers to the “mosaic” culture, while the U.S. refers to the “melting pot.” In other words, in the U.S. we want everyone to blend in and assimilate (like the Borg, I guess!), while in Canada it’s about contributing your own culture to the mix of cultures that IS Canada.
I think every person born in the U.S. should spend some time really experiencing life in other countries; it would make us more tolerant.
Before I left Canada and returned to the States, I bought a Canadian flag to fly on Canada Day. I don’t own a U.S. flag. I guess that makes me one of those “traitor” democrats, eh? Many times, I really wish I had stayed in Canada.
BTW, I really love that Joe Canada bit, too!
…the skating on the river in Ottawa in the winter. (I’m 1/8 French Canadian!)
Cirque Soleil. Nathalie McMasters.
No wonder you’re so weird. You drink Homo milk. That explains is all. 😉
Damn traitor democrats with your homo milk.
I, for one, welcome our Canadian Overlords.
My grandparents were from Canada ( Wiarton and Walkerton). I was introduced to Tim Horton’s thirty years before the rest of my donut eating Yanks. When Tim Horton’s invaded the states I was a happy, happy girl.
I love Canada, you magnificent peoples.
Well, my mom is Canadian (from BC), and even though she hasn’t lived there for almost 50 years, I can still surprise an ‘Eh?’ out of her every now and then. Also, I have heard about the healthcare. Wish the States would go there. That and the absolute beauty of the place makes me want to move there. 🙂
In Ft Erie, ON there’s this great Chinese restaurant Happy Jacks. We used to go there on the way home from outings to the Great White North. I miss living 20 minutes from the border.
Canada has produced some of the best (in my opinion anyways) singer/songwriters/musicians of the 20th Century. To name a few: Leonard Cohen, kd lang, Bruce Cockburn, The Tragically Hip, Ron Sexsmith, Chantel Kreviazuk.
I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this, 265 posts are way to many to read when your two year old wants to go play in the sand box before noon.
Canada was instrumental in the liberation of Holland during WWII. So much so, that they send us 1,000,000 tulip bulbs every year as a Thank You. Ottawa throws out the tulip bulbs from last year and when my Mom was a teenager (back in the late 50’s early 60’s), she and her friends used to follow the gardeners to the bins where they threw the bulbs and take some while the gardeners turned a blind eye. In fact many older homes that have tulip bulbs outside got the originals this way.
Four simple words: Kids In The Hall.
We are forever in your debt, Canada.
The United States borders on the magnificent……….
…how could I forget Gordon Lightfoot…….
I’ve only been once, during Expo ’70 (a very long time ago). My favorite memory was the changing of the guard at the parliment building.
Two little old ladies were trying to get one of the guards to smile. One succeeded. My father snapped a photo, and to this day, it hangs on the wall in his den.
I was only 5, but the other thing I remember is the very large room we had at the Hotel Frontenac.
As an American, I’m proud to say that I know some of the words to “Oh, Canada” thanks to Canuck Geddy Lee’s (of Rush – but you know who he is, you live in Toronto too) version. I recently met a mountie from Vancouver that my husband was in a training class with. He told me that if I forgot the words, I could just sing “more beer” over and over again to the tune!
Favorite things about Canada:
My sister (and her family)in TO,Coffee Crunch, Lassie Mogs, President’s Choice Chai Tea, SCTV (the original 1/2 hour show), Trivial Pursuit.
The Yarn Harlot has to be one of best Canadian things ever…
I’m a native of Michigan and spent many a summer vacation in Canada, beautiful places, gigantic blueberries, horseflies the size of ultralights.
One of my favorite things about Canada? You neither elect or execute the retarded.
Did I say that out loud? oops.
Being a dog lover, I have to brag about Newfoundlands, Labrador Retrievers and Nova Scotia Duck Tollers.
Here in sunny Vancouver it only snows once a year. You can find cuisine from any country in the world and you can get to Grouse Mountain ski hill on the city bus.
What else? Oh yes, fresh salmon, gay marriage, blackberries free for the picking, 17 hours of daylight in the summer, dog-friendly hotels.
Many, many eagles, ravens, hawks and herons everywhere in the Lower Mainland, including over the cities.
Naniamo bars – need I say more?
I would apologize first for the American who wrote you such a hateful letter. I am ashamed.
Now to the good stuff: I LOVE CANADA
1. I was born and raised about 25 to 30 miles from the Peace Bridge in Buffalo that connects us to Canada. Canada has always been a part of my life and I consider it a beloved country.
2. I love Maryville on Wolfe Island, which had the only stores on the Island where I spent many happy summers in a small cottage with my family every chance we could get away.
3. I love the money, which I still have some of with the beautiful young Queen pictured on it.
4. I love the flag with the beautiful maple leaf.
5. I didn’t know the Canadian Anthum was NOT played after the American Anthum in other states, when TV used to sign off every night (boy, does that date me)and I was outraged when I found out.
6. When NC was in the Stanley Cup finals this year and the Canada Anthum was played, I quietly wept into my knitting as the anthum tugged at my heart. I do not feel disloyal to love another country, it doesn’t diminish my love for the USA and it does not make me a bad American. And even after all these years, I sang along loudly once I regained my composure and remembered every word.
7. I like Canada’s manners. That’s how we were raised in my family and the whole world would be a better place if more people were polite.
8. I love Canada’s bacon.
9. The Niagara Falls can best be viewed from the Canadian side in my opinion.
10. I feel safe and warm having Canada as my border country.
Happy Canada Day!
http://soccerchic-knits.blogspot.com/2006/01/oh-canada.html
Great post! Thanks. 🙂
Oh my god. I am so honored… I mean honoured… to be counted as a Canadian. Thanks.
Oh, and Ashley MacIsaac (sp). Who couldn’t love a rocker who performs in a kilt and combat boots, or a rock band that includes a bagpipe?
Oh Canada! During every hockey game on Hockey in Canada, my college roommate made me sing and stand the Canadian national anthem. We were at Central Michigan University, so CBC was part of basic cable.
And let me just say, a country that combines cheese, gravy & french fries and gives it a scary name to ward everyone off (poo-teen) has to be a fabulous place!
Being from and living around Detroit, we have the extra special opportunity to celebrate the Freedom Festival and the fireworks with our friends in Windsor.
Looking forward to seeing you on the 30th in Ann Arbor!
Apart from knitting, my favourite thing about Canada is hockey. I’m an ice hockey timekeeper for my local club in England ( Slough Jets ).
It’s my ambition to do a hockey tour of Canada. My favourite team is Canadiens ( sorry Harlot! ).
After 3 years of infertillity, my daughter was conceived at Harrison Hot Springs. Does that make her an honorary Canadian?
Most interesting thing about Canada that *I* can think of?
-Its where you are from!
Wow… First time I ever wanted to print out one of your posts! (And omgawd… It’s 78 pages long at this point.) Several of us in my family will be savoring it… My favorite thing about Canada? …
… that you just hosted my 13-year-old daughter’s French class bus trip to Quebec. She learned so much, speaks French so much better now, had a great time, and says… “MOM, THEY ARE SOOOOOOO NICE THERE!”
It must be all that knitting.
What I love about Canada is its diversity! I live in Nova Scotia and don’t know anyone who says “eh” and cannot buy “homo” milk in the store. It’s a big beautiful country with so many different people and cultures.
My parents were part of the post-WWII emigration from the Netherlands and are now celebrating 50 years in Canada this year! We are REALLY proud to be Canadian!!!!
Don’t forget wonderful salmon fishing… the Mirimichi River… smoked salmon… fishing camps… talented guides. My parents worked for Field & Stream magazine and took many a float plane trip to the wilds of Canada!
Heath care providers and their patients world wide are indebted to Dr. Brian Haynes and his colleagues at McMaster University (Ontario) , who edit the ACP Journal Club, a medical magazine which makes the results of recent research easily available around the world.
Margie
did no one mention the northern lights????
when i was little (ok being a packrat i still have it) i had a game called Mille Bournes. which was a sort of antagonistic driving card game. i still get a kick out of playing. when i moved to seattle and first was able to drive into canada i got very excited that the traffic signs in the game were the same as in canada!!!
happy canada day!
I love Canada. I really do.
I have friends there that tell me.. In Canada, the mountin dew has no caffene. I’m not sure I believe them. But then again, they are from Canada. Would they lie to me?
Also, Canada made the tv show Due South. Which is the reason for my mountie fetish.
Nice post, but it would be better to drop the whole Canadians > Americans undertone. Decisions our country makes do not reflect on the population as a whole. Canadians are not automatically funnier, more peaceful, or more liberal than U.S. citizens.
Love your post to pieces . What I love about Canada would take up too much space . I will say though that I have travelled across all of our country from coast to coast, BEFORE I would travel any place else to see other lands. Loved it ALL. Oh and I don’t think anyone mentioned Paul Anka, Anne Murray or our beloved and funny Stompin Tom Conners.
The best thing about Canada is that that it is a country that can spell. It is coloUr, FavoUr and Joe Canadian is right, it’s ‘zed’ not ‘zee’.
Happy Canada Day!
I honestly never knew there was anything interesting about Canada. Now I know.
I’m originally from Newfoundland, so my list is biased. 😉
Great Big Sea
Connemara
Irish Descendents
Shanneyganock
Gros Morne
Tim Bits
George Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland
Joan Clark
Cape Spear
Placentia Bay
I took a road trip through BC and Yukon, camping all the way, and I LOVED that the plentiful, beautiful campsites came with pre-split firewood, just sitting there in a neat pile, waiting for the next camper to show up. I loved the plentiful cheap public shower/laudromat establishments in the towns, and the stunning enormous lakes. I’ve only ever been in Western Canada, but man, it puts the Western US to shame. I salute you!
Regarding the “American reader”–I am soooooo ashamed of my fellow citizens at times like these! {sigh}
I’ve only been to Toronto (several times) and Montreal (once), so I can hardly say I know Canada, but I love both cities. I was most struck by people in Montreal who would patiently wait for me to spit out a sentence in my horrific French rather than rolling their eyes, thinking “Damn tourists!” and switching automatically to English. (Yes, I know about the “language issues.”) Great thanks go to the Canadians for insulin (which I knew)–my boyfriend is a Type 1 diabetic and I am very grateful to insulin for his life. Though my favorite Canadian item to date has to be the Yarn Harlot–though a close second is maple syrup. 😉
My favorite thing about Canada: I have only been to Niagra Falls (but many times over), and driven across that bit of Canada from Detroit to Niagra Falls once. So my knowledge of what there is to love is very limited. I love that when you go to Canada…Niagra Falls from the US…you leave a dirty, muddy and drab US side of the border….and cross into a bounty of grass and tulips, with cute little trolly cars,and beautiful botanical gardens, and streets full of tidy little houses with neat little lawns and lots of flowers (no cars up on blocks in the front yard)! The air is fresh and clean……and the spring flowers abound.And all the people in the shops and resturants are friendly and kind to the stupid American who can’t figure out the money difference! Now I realize that not all of the US is as dirty as the US border at N.F., and that surely parts of Canada are not the utopia that N.F. feels to the taveler…but if this is all you have seen then it’s your frame of referece. So when I think of Canada…..I always think of those gardens and all the red and yellow tulips!!!And the friendly people. And every time I read about a 9 year old American child who can’t get heart surgery or chemo treatments because their insurance doesn’t cover it or they don’t have insurance….and that the family is having garage sales and car washes to raise a quarter of a million dollars so that maybe their child will have a chance to live I think of Canada…and while I know that there are problems with your medical system as well.(nothing after all is perfect)…children don’t die in Canada becuase of low car wash attendence!!!!That is something that I think ALL Canadians should be very proud of and that ALL Americans should hang their head in shame for! (gets down off soap box and puts it away) Happy Birthday to our neighbor to the North!!! Thank you for all that great yarn and knitting experts and of course my favorite blog……jenna
Stepahnie … that’s a great post. Thanks for being such a proud Canadian. I do think you got one piece of our country’s information wrong; well, not wrong, just not 100% correct. Before the Canada Flag came to life in 1965, Canada did fly the Union Jack as the flag of Canada until 1945 when parliament decided to fly the Canadian Red Ensign as our unofficial flag, “until such time as Parliament shall adopt a national flag” …
Anyway, just thought I’d put my two cents in. My grandfather fought in WWII under the Canadian Red Ensign so it sort of has a special place in my heart. 🙂
Massachusetts – I won the 5th grade spelling bee with that word & have remembered the spelling ever since. I do occasionally forget how to spell other words, but I keep a dictionary around!
Great info on Canada – love the Homo Milk!
Massachusetts – I won the 5th grade spelling bee with that word & have remembered the spelling ever since. I do occasionally forget how to spell other words, but I keep a dictionary around!
Great info on Canada – love the Homo Milk!
Happy Canada Day. I love Canada too. In fact, I wanted to become a Canadian for many of the reasons you mentioned. However, being past my earnings prime (retired) and certainly not possessing any critical skill, you did not want me. A word of caution–I noticed in the NY Times that your new prime minister wants to boost military spending by many billions. A govt. surplus can disappear with a big poof (just ask anyone south of the Canadian/U.S. border.
There are many things I love about Canada. First is my husband who grew up in Thunder Bay, no really. I also love that my children will have the chance to have dual citizenship once they turn 18. I love how race, gender and prejudice blind Canada is. It is a goal I aspire to in raising my children, to foster the Canadian (from their father) in them and less of the American (me) in them. Don’t get me wrong, I love my country, I just think Canada some somethings better than we do. Happy Canada Day!
Despite the burning of the white house, I remember being taught that Canada has always been our Number #1 (oh crap, I am having a mental block..allie ?). The few time if have had the opportunity to visit, I have been ready to move (although I am pretty happy with my neck of the woods in California). Hope to get to your area soon.
Are you sure about the baseball thing though ?
Happy « Belated » Canada Day !!!!
Shawinigan Québec is where we call home. Small but important city that has brought upon this country a blessing and a curse all wrpped up in one .. Jean Chretien !!
Stephanie you are a genius and deserve a governor general medal for promoting Canada !!
Guylaine
oh, canada–Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn and Bare Naked Ladies ( present company included)…but mostly Joni…I could drink a case of youoooooo, darlin.
Hello, neighbor! I’m glad all misunderstandings between our countries were settled long ago.
20. Canada is home to the Arrogant Worms and my daughters sing their Birthday Song to me every year. My youngest also loves singing “Rocks and Trees” ad nauseum.
21. Canadians are about the friendliest people you’d ever want to meet.
As a Finn I am proud to acknowledge the fact that Santa Claus, Joulupukki as we call him, does indeed live in Finland. His home is located at Korvatunturi (roughly translation: ear mountain) -a piece of information originally shared with the world by a radio voice Markku-setä about 50 years ago- but he can nowadays be reached in the Artic Circle. The sad truth however is that, though he welcomes letters from children all over the world, there is a fee for response (and two service providers).
We too are retired and without “critical skills”, though personally I consider spinning, knitting and weaving to be critical to my well-being, and not quite wealthy enough, so were unable to immigrate to your wonderful country. We investigated the possibility thoroughly. So we did the next best thing. We bought a house on a hillside 1/2 a mile as the crow flies from the Canadian border, near a little BC town called Midway. Our view from our front window is Canada 🙂 and it is a 10 minute drive to come visiting.
Short of my own backyard in Maine, Prince Edward Island is the best place in the world!
Happy Canada Day! We have an organization (or as you say, organisation) down here that supports Canadians living in North Carolina (www.cansouth.com). They have a link on their web site of Canada Day parties all across the U.S. Thought you might enjoy seeing the parties south of the border! http://www.connect2canada.com/canadaday/
Cheers!
Belated Happy Canada Day! I was going to post yesterday…and should have! There were fewer other posts to read to be sure I don’t repeat what too many others have said. First, to answer this question:
“You mentioned flying the Union Jack. Half my family is English, although I am American, and no one has ever given me a straight answer on the connection between Canada and the U.K. that exists today. Help me out- why is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on your currency?”
Ahem…In the 1600s Canada was “settled” by the French, much to the dismay of the natives. However, after the British arrived, they proceeded to fight the French for possession — and won by surprising the French and defeating them on the Plains of Abraham. What is now Canada came under British rule…though Quebec maintained its (then) strong ties to the Roman Catholic Church, and its Napoleonic Code of Law (still in place — the only province with it).
In 1867 the British North America Act was created, making Canada a federation of provinces under a central (federal) government — it’s this act that we celebrate on July 1. A Governor General, appointed by the Crown, represented the British monarch as Head of State. Until the 1940s, we had no constitution; that is, matters of constitutional imperative had to be settled at Westminster (i.e., in the British Parliament). That’s why the Famous Five
had to go England in 1929 to ask the British Parliament to overturn our government’s ruling that women were not persons under law (Google the Famous Five — they’re an interesting bunch! Susan B. Anthony would’ve loved ’em!)
However, the Statute of Westminster gave us greater control of our own government. In 1981 (?82), Prime Minister Trudeau was able to have our constitution ‘repatriated’ from England. There was a big ceremony, with the Queen coming over with it and signing off etc. Since then, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms has given our Supreme Court license to find just about anything “unconstitutional” (but I digress…)
Now, our Prime Minister appoints our Governor General; currently, she is Micheal Jean, a beatiful Haitian-born Canadian former broadcaster… But she is still the Queen’s representative in Canada. And though we are no longer part of the British Commonwealth, we still have ties to the Monarchy (not appreciated by everyone, of course…)
Many of my favourite Canadian things and “isms” have been mentioned, but I’ll add these:
CBC Radio “2” — the ‘classics and beyond’ — esp. Tom Allen, Jurgen Goth, and Peter Tonje; Anne Murray — beautiful, gracious, and talented; maple syrup (I grew up where it’s made, in southern Quebec); “Corner Gas”; Rex Murphy’s commentary; “Just for Laughs” and the Halifax Comedy Festival; Allan Thicke, Jim Carey, James Cameron (“Titanic”), Wayne Gretsky, The Crazy Canucks, Lynn Johnson (“For Better or For Worse” creator/cartoonist), Donald and Keifer Sutherland, Terry Fox (whose international annual ‘runs’ and ‘walks’ have raised gazillions for cancer research, and whose aborted run across Canada started the ‘run for the cure’ phenomenon); L.M. Montgomery (the “Anne” books); the late Jessica Tandy and her husband, Hume Cronyn; Dan Akroyd; Norman Jewison; the creation of North American football, initiated by a game played between McGill University (Montreal) and Harvard…
I grew up 16 miles north of the Quebec/New York State border. Now I live 3 hours north of the Alberta/Montana border. I am proud that it’s still the longest undefended border in the world — and I hope it stays that way, “Between Friends”.
Happy Independence Day for you all on Tuesday!
You forgot…. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee in the knitteres list. But then Canadians are generally modest too!
Buttertarts! (You did a blog on these.)
Lots of fresh water.
Women in the military in combat roles (not that I’m crazy about combat but I appreciate the equality.)
Two official languages and we sing our national anthem in both of them!
Happy Canada Day!
I <3 Canada as well, esp. the North….as in North of the 60th parallel.
-Folk on the Rocks music festival, Yellowknife.
– Crowberry and blueberry picking on the tundra just outside of Iqaluit.
– the ONLY group of white pelicans that nest in rapids around Fort Smith, NT and Fort Fitzerald, AB. Very B-e-a-utiful!
-Land of the mid-night sun. You can golf @ mid-night during the summer!
-Northern Lights.
-Tanned moose or caribou hide mittens, seal skin kamiks (boots).
-APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network)
-Mmm Arctic char 😀
-Toonik Tyme and Caribou Carnival spring celebrations, respectively in Iqaluit, NU and Yellowknife, NT.
-Lucy Idlout
-Tanya Tagaq Gillis
-Leela Gilday
-Susan Aglukark
# 1 for me—-HNIC! Go habs go!
I could list a lot more but I think I’ll stop now.
**Oh yeah, It’s spelled, q-i-v-i-u-t. No “u” after the “q”
I <3 Canada as well, esp. the North….as in North of the 60th parallel.
-Folk on the Rocks music festival, Yellowknife.
– Crowberry and blueberry picking on the tundra just outside of Iqaluit.
– the ONLY group of white pelicans that nest in rapids around Fort Smith, NT and Fort Fitzerald, AB. Very B-e-a-utiful!
-Land of the mid-night sun. You can golf @ mid-night during the summer!
-Northern Lights.
-Tanned moose or caribou hide mittens, seal skin kamiks (boots).
-APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network)
-Mmm Arctic char 😀
-Toonik Tyme and Caribou Carnival spring celebrations, respectively in Iqaluit, NU and Yellowknife, NT.
-Lucy Idlout
-Tanya Tagaq Gillis
-Leela Gilday
-Susan Aglukark
# 1 for me—-HNIC! Go habs go!
I could list a lot more but I think I’ll stop now.
**Oh yeah, It’s spelled, q-i-v-i-u-t. No “u” after the “q”
There is one lake for each person in canada!!!
I love that when you bump into someone in the mall they always say sorry
Dawn , northern ontario
The musicians! The Barramacneils of Cape Breton, Richard Wood of PEI,dances in Mabou, CB, MacCleod’s in Inverness, and of course PEI, the only place I know of where they announce if it’s good clothes-drying weather on the radio! 🙂
Laurie, in upstate NY
hi all:)
this video is amazing!
its of the Ross sisters from the late 1940s
please check it out & pass it along, im hoping it will get tons of play online & maybe we can then find out what these ladies are doing & about thier lives as there is little online about them.
amazing is all i can say
peace&blessings all 🙂
mary~
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/145193/solid_potato_salad_the_ross_sisters/
i have one i am sure is not posted yet: coffee crisp candy bars! i smuggle them back every time i cross the lewiston queenston bridge! and on that note- you also have niagara on the lake and the falls s better on canada side than US!
Well, I truly am one of those Americans who should be ashamed of herself because I like Canada better than the U.S. But it’s not because I’m a Democrat, it’s for all the things you and others have mentioned—it’s more diverse and more peace-loving. I’ll be joining you in Toronto one of these days, Harlot!
BTW, you missed one on the list of knitting geniuses: The Yarn Harlot.
I’m humming “Favorite Things” from _Sound of Music_ while I type this….
These are a few of my favorite things about Canada:
1. When I was a kid, I could only get the “Dr. Demento Show” on my radio from a Canadian station (in Alberta, I think).
2. I have wonderful friends in Calgary (Hi, Carol! Hi, Will!)
3. Campbells’ Soup can labels in French
4. Mackintosh Toffee
5. Classic Coke made with *real sugar*
6. The look on the faces of some of my other Canadian friends when they discover that in the U.S., Mountain Dew has caffeine in it….
7. Philosophers’ Wool. Absolutely. Tied with Treenways Silk. I have avoided Fleece Artist so far because they don’t have any retailers in Montana….
8. Some of my very favoritest writers in the whole friggin’ universe come from Canada. In no particular order: Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay, Margaret Atwood, Yarn Harlot….
9. Knowing what poutine is, and being secure in the knowledge that, as an American (a United Statesian?), I *never have to eat it!*
10. Screech.
11. Really good hard cider.
12. The Arrogant Wyrms.
13. The Red Green show…
14. Loreena McKennit….
15. The wheatfields of Saskatchewan, which oddly enough, look a lot like the wheatfields in Montana, reminding me of how artificial boundaries sometimes really are….
I agree with you that Canada is pretty awesome. My favorite Canada experience was the Thunder Oak Cheese Farm.
BUT– You didn’t INVENT insulin. It’s a hormone. All lucky people have bodies that make it. Canadians did discover it, but it was there all along so they can’t invent it. 🙂
Kind of like knitting. Did anyone invent knitting or did they just discover it?
A very happy Canada day!
Just a few comments–
Milk is sold in bags in Canada so that we can serve it at the table in a pitcher. Pitchers made for this purpose may be plastic or pottery. Just put the bag in the pitcher, snip off the corner of the bag and pour.
It is malt vinegar we serve with fish and chips–and probably that hearkens back to our partly British heritage.
And tea!! I was so disappointed when we vacationed in the US and tea was served in a styrofoam cup with the tea bag in it, and the water hot but not boiling. It even gets a sort of white foam on the surface that way. In my home we had a tea pot and the pot was “heated” first by pouring in boiling water, letting it sit for a bit, and then pouring it out, and then putting in tea bags (or loose tea) and more bubbling boiling water, and letting it steep.
My husband, who is from Britain, added more to the tea ceremony, and we had a tea cozy sent by his mother–a small quilt to fit over the tea pot to keep the tea hot for the second cuppa. It makes a real beverage for tea time. Try it. You’ll like it!!
Happy Canada Day to fellow Canadians.
Thanks to our US friends for their positive comments. I have always enjoyed my vacations in the US and envy you your southern latitudes.
And Happy Independence Day to y’all on the fourth.
In Windsor/Detroit we celebrate our International Freedom Festival together and appreciate our linkage and friendship.
Thanks for the post – made me homesick as an ex-pat canadian living in Boston…
Canadian innovation in snack food choices: ketchup flavored chips, and Coffee Crisp among many others. O Canada, how fond I am of thee, and thy grocery stores.
A belated Happy Canada day to you! Before I forget, my diabetic cat and I would like to thank Canada for his insulin. It’s been almost a year since he was diagnosed, and without the insulin I would’ve had to put him down.
Other things I love about Canada:
Degrassi and Degrassi: The Next Generation
Barenaked Ladies
Peter Jennings
Anne of Green Gables (who taught me that having red hair wasn’t *so* bad)
Canada’s Wonderland (I think that’s the name of the amusement park outside of Toronto that my high school marching band performed at when I was 15)
Bryan Adams
Gay marriage
Thanks for all of those, Canada!
I was raised in Western NY (on a clear day I can see across the Lake to Toronto). Two things – I was 24 before I found out that states outside of Western NY consider a Canadian quarter “foreign”. Up here, Canadian coins are interchangeable with American. Second, we have two Canadians who attend our church here. In honor of Canada Day, after singing ‘America the Beautiful’, we sang ‘Oh Canada’. It was lovely.
Last Friday, Maine Things Considered, a public radio news show aired a story in which they interviewed people on the street about Canada and Canada day (you can listen to it here: http://www.mpbn.net/radio/ondemand/mainethings.html
Click on June 30, and scroll ahead to 18:17 unless you want to hear about crazy Maine politicians). Some of the highlights: Canadians are less insane than Americans (they obviously don’t know the same Canadians I do!), know more about Americans than we know about Canada, and are more polite to visitors. I would add that Canadians tend to be more culturally aware, both of themselves and others.
Happy holiday weekend!
Jen K.
Many of my very favorite people are Canadians. And obviously, one of my favorite blogs is too. Happy belated Canada Day! And can we please have some of that cold air you’re always hogging up there?
I have to agree with absolutely every reason given above, but one that’s so far been overlooked is…Howard Shore! The composer who wrote the full score of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, as well as the initial theme song for Saturday Night Live. He’s one of my favourite composers of all time.
It’s my first time posting, and what better excuse than to celebrate Canada Day!! I love more things about this great country than I can list, but my hometown of Stratford is high on the list, and our amazing Festival Theatre. Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley, L.M. Montgomery, Roberston Davies…Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLaughlin, Timmie’s, hockey, and the amazing freedom we all enjoy on a daily basis…I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world. And to all you fans of Forever Knight (I LOVED that show), it’s available on DVD online at Amazon in 2 volumes.
I do have to jump in on the tea bit – for many years, I came to understand (through traveling and reports from others) that Texas was the only state in the American South that served iced tea unsweetened in restaurants. It took about five instances of asking for “tea” in Georgia, adding my 1/4 packet of Sweet-n-Low, and taking a sip of something that tasted like (and probably was) sugar water before I figured this out. Nowadays, many places offer both sweet and unsweetened iced tea – but I still order unsweetened.
I’d probably drink most of my tea hot too, but our climate down here makes it uncomfortable to do so a lot of the time.
Hmmm, what Americans know about Canada appears to depend on where they grew up. I’m a New Yorker (NYC suburbs as a kid, college in Rochester, and a fair amount of info about Canada) who spent a year in Toronto at the univ, a summer in Quebec at Laval, have camped in Ontario and Quebec, and in recent years have gone to adult chamber music camp in Ontario, where they did have to explain loonies and toonies and that doughnut place to me and welcomed me warmly. (And by the way, in NYC if you order a regular coffee, it comes with cream and sugar. If you just order “tea” in the southern US, it comes iced and sweetened. Thanks for the news, Stephanie, that if I order iced tea down south it’ll come without the sugar! And thanks for the autographed book at the Washington DC book expo!)
Paul Gross. I’ve never quite recovered from “Due South.”
Thank you very kindly.
I know they’ve been mentioned already, but I’ve got a serious craving going on… (no k.d., not constant, but serious)
Coffee Crisps. Mmmmm.
And Bruce (Cockburn, of course). Not the boss, but Bruce nonetheless!
Oooh, forgot to mention — one thing that always amazes me is how freakin’huge Ontario is! Growing up in NY I knew Ontario and Quebec were to the north of the border. Went to Rochester, visited Ontario. Lived in Toronto. Came back to the US and years later moved 5 or 6 states west to Wisconsin, looked to see which province was north of the border and it was… Ontario!
I’m an American, and one of my favorite places in the world is the old part Quebec City. I love the cobblestone streets and just how it feels to be there. We went there for our honeymoon, then again for our 10th anniversary, and will be going back in a few years for our 20th– this time taking our kids because we want to show it off!
What always amuses me when the topic of Canada vs. the USA is discussed the folks from the States always say “I don’t know much about Canada “and there is always the inevitable bunch who want to live here… It would be a rare Canadian who doesn’t know a bit of the US history & geography. We in Canada study these topics in junior high along with Canadian and world history & geography. Daily we are bombarded with the US culture and consumerism via their TV networks. There are very few Canadians who would say, “Oh, I want to move to the States”; sure, we may go there for school, or work however, we always come home. Sad to think of such large nation so self absorbed that they don’t know anything about a neighbour let alone the rest of the world culture. What we don’t know makes us afraid. Diversity is the key not assimilation. Those before me have mentioned much of what I like/love about Canada: our beloved CBC, Can Lit, Can Music, the vastness and beauty from coast to coast to coast. Canada eh!
I would say that the best things about Canada are:
1. You get gravy on fries. Yum.
2. You get plum sauce with chicken strips. Yum.
3. Coffee Crisp candy bar. Yum.Yum.Yummers.
4. Ketchup potato chips-Old Dutch kind. Yum.
I don’t know why it’s all food related. I also love it when my Canadian friend says “cheeky” “phone” and “anti-inflammatories”…tehehe.
We took our two boys to Niagara last month and my six year old fell in love with the country. He was just standing here while I was reading your blog and he recognized the picture of the loonie and toonie and asked what I was reading. I explained to him that I was reading a website of a knitter lady who lives in Canada. His big brown eyes lit up hopefully as he asked, “Can I go live with her?”
1. Polar bears
2. Paul Gross (in Mountie dress uniform, preferably. Or not )
3. Calgary Stampede – yeehoo!
Elizabeth – Australian, but wanna-be Canadian
That list is way more than I’ve ever known about Canada in my whole life. I guess that would make me a terrrible Canadian. Hee. Thank you for the washing machine!
This is my confession, I am a wannabe Canadian. My mom was from Canada. Growing up, my family spent lots of time at my grandparents’ camp on the Winnipeg River in Ontario. I miss it terribly. My grandmother was the one who taught me to knit, she was my knitting hero.
Oh yeah, I adore Kraft Dinner, eat chips with vinegar, and my tea is Red Rose brand, (hot of course). Ketchup chips are my favorite delicacy, and chocolate from Canada kicks butt, especially Smarties.
Back in 1988, roughly 85% of the population of Canada lived within 100 miles of the Canada/US border; I don’t know if that is still true. I would assume so as I doubt the weather has changed much in the far north. The first time I visited Canada, I was floored by The Bay, and I was floored by how everyone seemed so dressed up for shopping — no sweatpants, etc. More than anything, I was moved to hear that a group of Polytec students cried whent the Challenger exploded. I was embarrassed to admit that if anything terrible happened in Canada, the US news would be unlikely to cover it. I am absolutely embarrassed that the US never publicly thanked Canada for helping a number of US embassy workers avoid becoming hostages in Iran.
Happy Birthday, Canada!
I love the fact that according to the news 20,000 people claimed that their religion was “Jedi” on their census forms one year.
Your #15 isn’t so much a testament to the bravery of Newfoundlanders, but to the utter bloody stupidity of war, and it made me cry.
The story of my parents’ honeymoon is too long to tell properly, so I’ll sum up: “It’s Canada– you can’t get suburned in Canada.” [24 hours pass] “Don’t. Touch. Me.”
Most of my favorite stuff has already been mentioned, but I’ll add J.D. Frazer, who writes the webcomic UserFriendly, to the humor category, and Chris Norman to the list of musicians.
Staggering Knit Talent there, but, oh, YOU’RE the best! You are right to be proud of your country. Sorry to say I have a few issues with mine ( USA ). By the way, I had forgotten the burning of the White House involved Canadians. Here it is attributed to the British in our history books, but, you know, I don’t know anyone who worrys about it. Our view is this is why we painted it white.
Favorite things about Canada:
1. My dad was born in the Red Deer River valley of Alberta.
2. Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies.
3. Montreal for not only it’s beautiful downtown but also for its hospitality.
4. You can get a decent cup of tea no matter where you go.
5. Air Canada where you get real cheese on your sandwich, not rubber. (Mine was Gruyere!)
I haven’t seen many comments on baseball, but the person who codified modern baseball was Alexander Joy Cartwright who was born in New York City. There were many versions of baseball prior to that.
Happy Canada Day!
Thank you for both the washing machine and the lovely tree that Halifax sends to Boston (where I live) every year. I always try to swing by the common to look at it. 🙂
I am truly impressed by the vast aggregate of knitting genius in Canada, but, as someone who spent many summers driving kids to hockey camp on PEI, I’ve just got to bow down to a country with hockey players on its $5 bill.
THANK YOU Stephanie! I am a Jamaican born Canadian citizen now living in the States, and was thrilled to read this. I have a habit of telling anyone who will listen that “so-and-so, you know they’re Canadian right?” As in, “You know the Yarn Harlot? Yeah. She’s Canadian.” LOVE IT. My years there were the best of my life and I still miss it.
Here’s a interesting Canada fact, the real Winnie the Pooh bear was in fact a Canadian. You can read all about it here
Darn this new fandangled technology.
Here’s the link to Winnie the (Canadian) Pooh bear story:
http://www.geocities.com/louanne_wendy/poohhist.html
Enjoy!
My partner in life first told me he loves me while we were vacationing in Canada. Perhaps the setting encouraged good habits, as it has been seven years, and he still says it every time I see him.
warning: in the Deep South, such as Louisiana, you must order Unsweet Tea (as opposed to “Swee-tea”) unless you want your tea so heavily sweetened that it is best made with a sugar syrup. No kidding! I must have UNsweet tea, thank you very much. Swee-tea is the defalt. Yuck!
I grew up in southern California with a Canadian step father and everytime he went for doughnuts he only bought jelly doughnuts 🙂 my brothers and I never knew why until we saw Strange Brew.
Happy Canada Day!
A remnant of the War of 1812 still stands on the shores of a small town called Penetanguishene- or Penetang- Ontario. A naval outpost was setup to guard the waterways of Georgian Bay against “evil American invaders”. Today it is a tourist site, teaching people about the lives of early seamen and their families.
In the same area is Saint-Marie-among-the-Hurons, a misionary/village. Jesuits integrated themselves among the indians of the area to teach them the “civilised” ways of Christianity. At least until they were forced to move to a small settlement on Giant’s Island in Georgian Bay.
Not sure I would call this my *favorite* thing, but I don’t think this has been mentioned yet.
I loved “Reach for the Top” on the CBC when I was in junior/senior high.
I learned geography (which schools were from where) and that the Canadian school kids were much smarter than their neighbors to the south in my part of Washington state.
what i love about canada:
the kids in the hall, SCTV, degrassi (street, jr high and the next generation).
tim hortons
coffee crisp, skor, smarties (the real ones, with chocolate)
milk in bags
our money
clean air
cultural influences
grey squirrels
that no one knows how to say “touque”
and last but not least
the harlot….
happy canada day
Hmm, and all this time I thought it was the pancreas that invented insulin… 😉
Nothing much left to say, except: thank you, Stephanie, for being a proud Canadian, and not being afraid to express it. — from a fellow (proud) Canadian.
Robertson Davies was like a rock star to me when I was living alone in Portland, I used to visit him a lot at Mecca (Powell’s). I saw him at Portland Arts and Lecture series the year before he died! He is my favorite cultural icon from Canada, besides you!:)
Happy Canada Day and Memorial Day!
We in Massachusetts did not at all mind sending the aid; thank the folks in Halifax for our beautiful Christmas Tree. I watch them put it up every year. My favorite thing about Canada is my high school sweheart’s cousin, who is something of a beauty, and routinely used to pose for postcards for her town. I think I have one of her lounging on the hood of an antique fire truck somewhere. She was really cool.
I must add that I think Amercians should forgive Canada for producing Celine Dion. After all, America inflicted Britney Spears upon the world. Being from Louisiana, I feel especially guilty about that.
After reading #13, I think I’m more Canadian than I realized.
-Canadian via adoption by Step-father
When I was on vacation there, I was short on cash for lunch and this lovely lady I’d never met gave me $10 and directions to her favourite place. I love Canada, I love Canadians, and some day, I’d love to live there. Hooray!
I’m about two days late and probably a whole dollar short, but without Canada there would be no Strange Brew! It’s a jelly, eh?
Bongo, Caesar & Angus from the Bowmanville Zoo
Back bacon on a bun
Universal Health Care
Niagara Falls
The Canadian Shield
The fact that both countries celebrate my birthday with fireworks! (My birthday is today, July 3 8-D )
As for apologizing so much? No matter who we are, if we make mistakes, it’s best to own up and seek forgiveness. Everyone gets along better that way.
That’s my two cents anyway.
Montreal
Montreal Bagels
McGill
Robertson Davies
Ah, but after you burned the white house (most US citizens continue to blame England – we couldn’t blame our neighbors after all), you were driven out of the city by lightning and some tornados (which did more damage to the city than your troops).
I am a Hockey fan. I love your national anthem. It is so regal. Thank you for sharing interesting snippets about Canada. I have only spent an hour in the Toronto airport. I must plan a vaction there. Why so many knitters?
Sigh. Every year on this day I’m envious of you and your country full of mostly rational folks. You teach SCIENCE in science classes. Nobody wants to put Jesus anyplace in your system of laws. It’s somewhat poignant to me that two of my great-grandparents were children of Canadian immigrants. So close…
Peter Jennings, may he rest in Peace.
Thanks for the Canadian history lesson! When I was a kid, my parents would take us up there for vacation (Banff/Jasper area) EVERY single year! I sure miss that. I always remember the friendliness, cleanliness and just what a great place it is in general…if I had a job there, I’d move in one minuto!
Your blog inspired me to pick up my dusty knitting needles and try my hand at a sweater I’d been eyeing (after multiple failed attempts, I had hurled them into the closet months ago). As I did my very first decreases ever (left and right!) I had a real “Look Ma, I’m Knitting!!” moment…but no one was there to rejoice with me. But…I knew you would appreciate it! 🙂
All the best!
The Niagara region has some kick-ass ice wine. 😉
The Niagara falls on the Canadian side are much more dramatic and prettier than those on the American side.
Canada invented the game lacrosse and it is the oldest sport in Canada.
AND Bryan Adams comes from Canada. 🙂
being a Detroiter, it took years for me to consider Canada a different country. at 19, we all went to Windsor to drink. We still go over for the best dim sum i have ever eaten. I went to Toronto and fell in love with a city as a whole. Canadians say “Mum”, which i find very endearing. and canada has a great indie rock scene that the rest of america misses out on. and i listen to CBC2 radio all the time.
Happy Birthday Canada! and thanks for Alex Trebek, William Shatner, Mike Myers, Sloan, The Tragically Hip, BNL, etc, etc…
OK, here is the only thing I have to add – Quebec City is the only walled city in North America, which is pretty darn cool.
Also, #19 was very interesting – my birthday, my home state, and I had no idea that big xmas tree in Boston Common comes from Halifax! Terrible about the explosion, but an interesting historical bit. I imagine very few Bostonians know its origin.
My most interesting bit about Canada? My best friend, Terra….=)
If what the Yarn Harlot states about the Canadian character is true…she is an embodiment of it all.
378 comments?!?!?!?????
Well, all I can say is, you may not be a good American, but you are a VERY good Canadian – and I LOVED that vid!!!!!! 😀
While I’m an American and for the most part I’m proud of it, I do love Canada. I have been several times on vacation and have loved the country, the people and the weather, eh. Everywhere I go everyone is friendly and nice. If I had to live anywhere besides the US it would be Canada.
Canada Oh Canada…Happy Birthday to you and to we Americans (tomorrow).
I live only 90 some miles from the BC border and travel BC and some Alberta for vacations. Things I love about Canada:
The Rocky Mts.
Vancouver Island (yes the whole thing)
The Sunshine Coast
Orcas
First Nations People
Buchart Gardens
The Govt. Bldgs in Victoria all lit up
The Empress Hotel
Banf
Lake Louise
Nelson
Ainsworth
Radium
The Yarn Harlot
The Fraiser River Valley
Waterton Lakes
Funny Story: Idaho vehicle plates read “Famous Potatoes” We came out of the hot springs at Radium and found a small purple potato on on our windshield with a note spiked through it with a toothpick. It said…”Enjoy an Alberta Potato” with a smiley face.
Not so funny: the U.S. border guard who confiscated my potato! I made him give me the sign back though and I still have it.
What I love about Canada:
1. My mother, who was born there.
2. Prince Edward Island, especially the National Park on the north shore. I’ve been camping there since I was 11 (and I just turned 59!) and the only thing that has changed in the park is that you now have to pay for your fire wood. (It’s still a bargain.)
3. You had Stan Rogers, and you shared him with us. Can’t believe how long he’s been gone, but his music still makes me homesick for Canada.
4. Butter tarts and malt vinegar with my fish and chips.
5. Brock’s Monument in Niagara-on-the Lake, one of my best memories from childhood.
6. The Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the Lake. Where else can you hear Shaw like that?
7. The Shakespeare Festival at Stratford.
8. Pierre Berton, who keeps writing books to tell Americans about the War of 1812. Read “Flames across the Border”.)
9. The “Madame Benoit Cooks at Home” cookbook I inherited from my Nana.
10. Being able to see my native land, the USA, from your point of view. Thanks, Steph!
While I am a proud American, my mother was from Quebec, who moved to Detroit and married an American.
I then married a Canadian and “moved back”.
More great things about Canada:
1) Summer holidays from school are only 8 weeks instead of the nearly 12 we had when I was a kid, which makes for an easier time for parents. (My mother was a saint!)
2) The milk is SO much better-tasting — even skimmed milk. Try American skim — tastes like coloured water!!
3) Laura Secord — Chocolate AND an 1812 war heroine. ‘Nuff said.
4) How hard it is for young folks to get a driver’s licence — a graduated system. Makes them really WORK for it.
5) Pretty decent public transportation — Even in Windsor. Try catching a bus in Detroit.
6) Tim Hortons
7) Screech
8) Swiss Chalet
9) Windsor’s Erie Street — some of the best REAL Italian food you’ll ever eat.
10) The Freedom Festival that celebrates July 1 and July 4 with a phenomenal fireworks display over the Detroit River. Free public shuttles down to river and back for that night!
O Canada.
While my dad was born and raised in Montreal, I’m American through and through (although I remain convinced that my politeness and consideration are pure Canuk). I always thought of Mounties as the equivalent of State Troopers in the states but my dad informed me that they are more akin to the FBI as they are a federal law enforcement branch.
He also told me he and some friends joined the Canadian [I forget the name but it’s like the National Gurad in the states] when he was younger because they could get cheap liters of beer.
I forgot one of my favorite Canadian things when I was making my list earlier:
Victor Garber. Nuff said.
I want to move to Canada. I have had it with the US … the politics, the craziness. We frequently drove to Niagara Falls, ON because it was a “day trip” for us…and I was amazed at the St. Lawrence Seaway. Canada was my favorite vacation spot! 🙂 Happy Canada Day!
Heh heh. This time last year was my “first” Canada Day. (Newfie Hubby and I had been together about 9 months and married for two.) On July 1st, he asked me, “Do you know what today is?” I pondered this for a moment, then said, “Canadian New Year?” This is now officially a running joke, because on Saturday, I woke up and wished him a happy Canadian New Year. 😀
My favorite things about Canada
Glenn Gould and my summers in Sault Ste Marie on Sugar Island…which is in the States, but so close that we have an annual “swim to Canada” contest for the kids….
My favorite Canadian thing?
“I’m a man. But I can change. If I have to.”
So, until next time, keep your stick on the ice.
Red Green. Love, love, love that funny man!
Happy Canada Day! Okay, so I’m a few days late, but it’s always fun to extend a celebration, isn’t it?
Some of my favorite things about Canada:
the yarnharlot
Charles DeLint
Margaret Atwood
Great Big Sea
Barenaked Ladies
Bruce Cockburn
Joni Mitchell
Mike Meyers
cleanest streets I’ve ever seen
Busch Gardens
Roger’s Chocolates
the Royal British Columbia Museum
Fleece Artist – yummiest yarns
Knitopia – Principessa and I need to go back there for another International Yarn Purchasing Excursion
my childhood pen pal – oh, I had such a crush on him
Thanks for another great post! Looking forward to seeing you back in the NW in September.
I am impressed especially with the list of knitters but I also want to thank you for the washing machine. SOme of the best fight my husband and I had when we were first living together was when we at the Laundry Mat. Best wishes for a belated Canada Day. cecilia
Ferron, Heather Bishop, Lucie Blue Tremblay, Sherry Shute, Lorraine Segato, Natalie Merchant, Veda Hille, Connie Kaldor, Jennifer Berezan, Sarah Harmer, Sarah McLachlan, Loreena McKennitt, Beverley Bratty, Faith Nolan…..musicians and women all.
And the (now-defunct) Leaping Lesbians! on CKMS-fm in Kitchener.
I may not have anything to add but a deep, sincerest thanks for giving me hockey to watch and the Toronto Maple Leaves to root for!
Sorry for minijaxter who had a bad experience in Mtl.. But what i like about Canada – is that no matter what, when you really get to meet the people, the language barriers come down. I am originally from Quebec City, came in Mtl to study at U of M and remained here. Although my heart still lives in Quebec City – for its French atmosphere, quaint streets, etc.. I love Mtl – the diversity you find here is amazing : i have friends from different backgrounds: anglo, italian, barbadian (Barbados) etc. and at the end of the day we all get along… something i want my daugther to know too. I sometimes try very hard to show my friends why some of my fellow French Canadians think some ways, but at the end of the day we all share the same values: that our kids can live in peace… Happy Canada Day to all !!!!
Don’t rub it in okay? We’re trying to emmigrate, but it all has to do with the employment situation.
Anyway, I’m guessing the musicians and authors are covered in the previous 391 comments.
I can only add:
–“Regina” (we don’t giggle over “homo milk” but Regina brings down the house every time).
–bagged milk (eeewww!)
–“washroom” (so polite — and accurate — relative to “bathroom”)
–Rick Mercer
–Nelvana (producers of just about every decent kids’ television show…and a few I could live without. Thank you for Franklin, if nothing else)
–Edward Burtynsky
just a few. I SO have nationality envy.
I actually like Canada. I have traveled their several times by car (I live in NW Indiana, so it is a short trip). I love that Canda is clean. Since I enter not far from Detriot, it is lovely going from a dirty large city to the green farms.
I love the Straford Festival.
I love that my US dollar goes just a wee bit farther in Canada.
I have only been to Canada once. It was without a doubt the CLEANEST place I have EVER seen!
The first time I went to Canada was to visit my now hubby. Him and his brother tried to make me believe there is wall of snow at the border. Silly boy!
Moxy Fruvous. And all the other wonderful Canadian musicians. And my friend John B., the king of hockey. And that I know that when the s*** hits the right-wing fan here in America, I’ll have someplace to flee to on my way out of here.
Um, Steph? I loved this post, but if anyone can claim to have ‘invented insulin’ it was God, or whichever higher being or greater energy to which you choose to attribute creation.
Um, Steph? I loved this post, but if anyone can claim to have ‘invented insulin’ it was God, or whichever higher being or greater energy you think was responsible for creation.
Just returned from a cruise to “Alaska” – sailing (no sails!) in and out of Seattle. I put Alaska in quotes because half of the destination ports were Canadian – Prince Rupert and Victoria. Prince Rupert had bald eagles like pigeons at the dock. Wish we had been able to spend more time in Victoria – seemed like a neat place – we’ll go back.
We have a hilarious (we think) picture of a restaurant sign in Prince Rupert that says “Canadian and Chinese Food”. My husband wants to know what “Canadian Food” is. Never mind that there are similar “American and Chinese Food” signs in the US.
Spent way too much time in the Seattle airport as a result of airplane equipment trouble and re-routing, but it is (to echo an earlier comment in a way) the CLEANEST airport I’ve ever been in. I’ll chalk it up to proximity to Canada. (As part of that trip we spent some hours in the Cleveland airport – ugh! – and I live in Ohio, so don’t whine at me.)
And insulin was isolated by researchers at the University of Toronto.
I’m sorely dissappointed about the Mounties. In my imagination, they were all strapping big, cute boys in red coats on horseback with the muscular stout that could only come from being reared on hockey and homo milk. Now you’ve shattered yet another fantasy. Oh, happy day.
My little heart went pitter-patter when you wrote about the Battle of the Somme; my undergrad thesis was on the generation who fought in Kitchener’s Army and what influenced them to go, and although I focussed on the British kids, I just had to get my geek on for a second.
Sorry if you got any on you.
–K
I’m from SE Michigan, and my several visits to Canada were always fun! (Most of which were when I was less than 19, too.) I’ve patronized your very nice campgrounds on Lake Huron, and visited Toronto for shows… and don’t get me started on Stratford!
Other things I like about Canada – people smile back when you smile at them. You surprise people with courtesy. You have fun cuisine, and you can laugh at yourselves. That and when you order ‘pop’ in a restaurant, you don’t get a funny look. (Michiganders say pop. The people in Mass where I am now emphatically don’t. Poor buggers.)
One last funny bit – people in New England don’t get my accent. I guess I seem courteous and enunciate enough, because people keep asking if I am Canadian! I am always sorry to say no. 😉 (Though if the US loses more of its science budget, I might be coming to you guys for a job… hehehe)
Have fun on your day!
Lovely post, great comments. I have lived in (Southern) Vermont my whole life, but have only been to Canada a handful of times. We went to Montreal for our honeymoon and keep hoping to go back.
What a great post and awesome comments! Yay Canada!
My faves have already been mentioned: maple syrup, ice wine, orcas, Harlot. Oh, but how about the white wolves of Ellesmere Island? And the giant lakes at the top of mountains? Wow!
And who can forget the famous McKenzie Brothers’ version of “The 12 Days of Christmas”? It’s not officially Christmas for me until I hear that song.
As a Baltimorean who has recently moved a little closer to Canada, I was tickled to read so much about the War of 1812 on a knitting blog of all places. I’ve become interested in learning about the war because of the Baltimore connection – Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key and all that. It’s been hard to learn anything about that war – I can’t wait to find some Pierre Berton books. Thanks guys!
Happy belated Canada Day!!
One word: Superman.
I’m with you…I love #16. Almost makes me want to move there. I do have the apologizing and sarcasm traits down pat (am constantly working at getting rid of the sarcasm; not something I like about me or anyone else). But at this time of year I want to move anywhere north of Tennessee…hate hot humid weather; it sucks the life out of me.
In view of your post today, I gotta ask: is your Ph.D. in History? I haven’t read that much history since I was forced to…not that it wasn’t interesting; everything is more interesting when you get to decide for your self whether or not you will do it. HOMO MIlk? I love it! Tee hee.
I didn’t realise that the inventor of Basketball, James Naismith was a Canadian! He invented here in the USA and eventually taught at Kansas University. We have a big arena named for him! He also served in the Kansas military on the Mexican border back in 1918. Lots to learn!! My best and only time in Canada?? I won a trip to Chateau Lake Louise in Banff National Park!!! One week in Heaven!!! Simply lovely!! The Chateau was so beautiful!! And Canada is sooooooooooo clean!!!! I must say though I saw more Japanese there than Canadians!! Busloads!
You’ve got the hottest french singers: Garou, Roch Voisine, Daniel Lavoie to name a couple.
The females aren’t badlooking either: Isabelle Boulay, Natasha St Pier, Celine Dion and many more.
And the sexiest accent in French 🙂 Yep, it makes me drool even more than the accents from Southern US.
Cheers Eva
My favourite thing about Canada? The Boyfriend owns a little slice of it, on PEI. I keep trying to coax him into moving up there and turning it into a sheep farm (it’s a potato farm at the moment), so I can devote my life to fibery goodness and escape George Bush Hell. (Why, yes, I am a horrible patriot and a Canadian Wanna-be. Thanks for noticing!)
My favorite things about Canada are mostly from my childhood. I am American but my family spent a lot of time in Canada camping in the national parks.
1. Few (in many cases, no) billboards along highways.
2. Niagara Falls – I know it’s a cliche, but I can’t help being moved by the sheer beautiful force of the water.
3. The Canadian National Park system – all of it.
4. Montréal
5. Gordon Lightfoot
6. Hudson Bay Blankets (I still have two three-point multistripes.)
6. Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe (obviously NOT from my childhood)
santa’s village in bracebridge rules. my sister almost got eaten by a goat there. it was awesome. happy canada day, y’all.
santa’s village in bracebridge rules. my sister almost got eaten by a goat there. it was awesome. happy canada day, y’all.
Proud I am to be a Bostonian. Albeit an adopted one.
The Nationals will never charm me like the Expos….
“As It Happens” for the best interviews on radio; and Thanksgiving in October (a sensible month! and isn’t just a prelude to Christmas.)
Favorite Canada memory–the kind people in Nova Scotia who came to our rescue when we had car trouble, and then invited us over for a beer (we accepted). And my New Brunswick-born grandparents who, despite settling in the US, remained Canadian citizens. Happy Canada Day!
(a bit late)
You made me so homesick! I agree with everything you said, including the rant commercial and favorite things of mine I would add: Old Dutch Salt and Vinegar chips, Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp, summer nights that don’t get dark until 11 p.m., Stampede week and neighbourhood pubs where nobody cares how much money you make or what you do, just if you know the hockey score or if they can get it on TV there!
Thanks so much, although I’m tearing up a little with missing it right now! Stampede week starts this Friday…
Forgive me if I repeat other commenters here, but there’s no way I’m reading through the 419 comments that come before mine. In fact, I can’t believe that you still find the time for such a Herculean feat, and I hope you’ll soon be able to afford an assistant to do it for you.
Anyway. I’ve been living in Georgia for the past year, but because I don’t drink milk (and when my partner visits he drinks 2%) I never noticed that they don’t have homo. I have noticed, though, that in my local grocery store in Athens GA you can only get buttermilk in gallon jugs. Also, try explaining to an American about milk that comes in bags!
A few of my Windsor friends are trying to start a movement to give the five dollar bill a “common” name, similar to the loonie and toonie: the shinny. Because the kids are playing shinny, of course.
I’ve gotten so used to having to order “hot tea” in order to get real tea in a restaurant that I’ve done it a few times here in Canada since coming home for the summer. Because, as you well know, asking for “tea” down there is a grave, grave mistake.
My most interesting thing about Canada was “learned” in the past month. During a trip to Toronto, I left my purse in a cab. With my wallet, cell phone, and both my and my husband’s passports. “Panic” is an understatement.
Toronto is the fifth largest city in North America. Unlike what would have happened in the third, fourth or sixth largest cities in North America, the cab driver noticed my purse, came back to the corner where he had dropped me off, and waited for me to come back.
I don’t recommend leaving purses in cabs, but if you are going to do it anywhere, I recommend doing it in Canada!
My most interesting thing about Canada was “learned” in the past month. During a trip to Toronto, I left my purse in a cab. With my wallet, cell phone, and both my and my husband’s passports. “Panic” is an understatement.
Toronto is the fifth largest city in North America. Unlike what would have happened in the third, fourth or sixth largest cities in North America, the cab driver noticed my purse, came back to the corner where he had dropped me off, and waited for me to come back.
I don’t recommend leaving purses in cabs, but if you are going to do it anywhere, I recommend doing it in Canada!
I don’t think Basketball was invented in Canada. I seem to recall, and I could be wrong, that basketball was invented in Massachusetts.
But other than that … Happy Canada Day!
Tania – my understanding is that basketball was created in the US, by a Canadian (James Naismith).
Thanks for the list Harlot!
Perhaps the tea thing is like asking for “soda pop”/”soda”/”pop”/Insert carbonated beverage name here. Each region has a different common name for sugar-fizzy-beverage and it wasn’t until I ventured into Arizona that I heard someone refer to it as “pop”. In California, I can ask for Tea and I will be asked a) Iced or b) Hot. If you reply Iced, you will be asked if you want it flavored, such as raspberry or peach. If you reply Hot, you may be brought a nice little sampling of different teas. If they give you Lipton, you should signal the waitress and again, politely, ask for tea. She probably won’t get your point… Alas.
Love listening to the CBC (2) on internet radio. That’s a great Canadian contribution to the music world.
Happy Belated Canada Day!
You know, it’s too sad, seeing all these “I hate US Citizen” comments on here. that’s what I was commenting on. but, as usual, people have reading comprehension problems.
Too bad. And by the way, Jenn, I don’t have a “I love Bush” or anything else on my car.
You know nothing about me, other than the fact that I’m a US citizen who doesn’t hate my country. Oh my! Does that make me a horrible human being because I don’t hate my country and LOVED CANADA!!! How sad that you have to hate the US to love Canada. Is that one fo the requirements, Jenn? I know Steph doesn’t hate the US, but most the people who post to her blog do. How sad. I guess I’ll quit reading her blog, because only US hating people post to it.
People, if you hate the US, leave. Go to Canada, we have plenty of people who are desperate to immigrate to the US and we’ll have them, who love us, come and take your place. 🙂 Happy solution for all.
I believe that years ago, during an episode of SNL David Spade stated that Canada was run by a small boy with psychic powers.
BARE NAKED LADIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS I forgot about the Inuit art that I’d collect if I had enough money!
My favourite thing about Canada is that the Yarn Harlot has mentioned my home town; no one ever talks about Rainy River (pop. 998-ish). Home of many knitters but no yarn stores.
Other great Canadian things: CBC, This Hour has 22 Minutes, Mary Walsh, Rick Mercer and Hatching Matching and Dispatching, peacekeeping, east coast music and that yarn, of whatever fibre content, is called “wool.”
Libi, sweetie, take a breath, let people disagree with you occasionally and we’ll all still be friends in our love of knitting. Sit back down on Steph’s chesterfield (it’s the sofa right behind you), and I’ll pour you a cup of tea; we have a pot of nice hot English Breakfast just brewed here. Have you tried spinning? It’s very peaceful.
I think we can also agree that although it was very good of the FSM to invent insulin, it wasn’t doing diabetics much good until Dr. Banting’s lab realized its function and figured out how to produce it in large quantities.
Oh, and Blue Rodeo, Colin James and Jan Arden are Canadian, Xavier Rudd has dual citizenship and we’re really happy that David Francey and Harry Manx decided to come and live here.
This is starting to sound like an Adam Sandler song…
For me the best thing about Canada is that we are not at war. For the most part we all have enough to eat, a roof over our heads and access to basic healthcare. Most of us have jobs with paid holidays, sick days, coffee breaks and lunch breaks. Everyday I remind myself how lucky I am to live here. I’ve lived in South East Asia, Australia , and the UK. Traveled through all those coubntries as well as India, New Zealand. Western Europe The United States and parts of Canada. It is truly the best country to live in, in the whole world.
For me the best thing about Canada is that we are not at war. For the most part we all have enough to eat, a roof over our heads and access to basic healthcare. Most of us have jobs with paid holidays, sick days, coffee breaks and lunch breaks. Everyday I remind myself how lucky I am to live here. I’ve lived in South East Asia, Australia , and the UK. Traveled through all those coubntries as well as India, New Zealand. Western Europe The United States and parts of Canada. It is truly the best country to live in, in the whole world.
What do I know about Canada? That Vancouver BC is a place I’d like to live next or even Victoria BC! Sigh, probably won’t happen in this life time. I also liked a certain boy from Halifax for a bit. He was loads of fun and so were his friends. That was some serious beer drinking and cribbage playing (among other things) that I did! 🙂 I even can sing the Canadian anthem at hockey games as well as the American one. Did I say I love hockey as well as beer? :o)
My fav thing about Canada are the sandwiches at the Hebraique Deli in Montreal. And a dear friend of mine that hails from the Toronto area.
But I don’t see why so much of why Canada is good has to be in comparison with the US. I’m sure it has plenty of its own merits.
Wow. That is really cool. I never knew a lot of these things.
Im an Eastern European born, who moved to the US 9 years ago. But I have considered moving to Canada at some point in my life. If only for a few years.
For me the best part of Canada is Whistler, BC, but that is just because I am a fanatical skiier and thats the only part I ever go to. Of course I generally meet more people from New Zealand and Australia there than from Canada.
Besides being lovely and inhabited by just as lovely people, what else nice could I say about Canada? Not sure, other than can I emigrate?
I almost forgot one of the great things about living in Canada:
Holmes on Homes.
Rowrrrr!
And if buzz-cut beefcake is not your cup of TV programming, then maybe Rick Mercer or Ottawa’s own Stuntman Stu?
Life is good and the scenery is lovely.
Luv Canada, luv Canadians! Met my hubby there.
Being an Aussie however I am in awe of the fact that 4-way stops actually run smoothly! We have an epidemic of roundabouts because no Australian could possibly agree on who would be the first at the 4-way!
Happy belated Canada Day!
My dad and stepmom lived in the Northwest Angle – a small part of Minnesota surrounded by Manitoba, Ontario and Lake of the Woods – for many years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Angle) It’s SURROUNDED by Canada, so does that count? Anyways, the history surrounding the area is fascinating.
I spent a weekend in Montreal a few years ago and that started my love affair with Canada!
It is the Lincoln MEMORIAL that you saw…:) That’s in case you ever need to know. Monument goes with Washington…easy memory tool.
I loved my experience…in the early 70’s camping in Canada. Clean campgrounds and friendly helpful locals. Wild vodka swilling Ukranian Canadians (?) came & camped on weekends. Major party people.
I do love my country, and I always will… but an incident this weekend at the border crossing has sadly put a good many doubts into my mind as to just how hospitable my country is. My boyfriend is an American citizen, and we don’t get to see each other as much as we would like to. I love spending as much time as I can with him, so I picked up a plane ticket for him and flew him to Detroit on Canada Day to visit me for three weeks. We have theatre tickets for Stratford, he’s going to teach me to paint… lots of fun stuff! So, I go across the border to get him – no worries, the American guards were very business like, but gave me no problem at all. On the way back however, the Canadian border guards pulled us over to Immigration to be questioned. Okay, I thought, no worries… I have his itinerary with me showing his return plane ticket, he has his birth certificate and his driver’s license… no problem. Well, we were both grilled for over an hour at the border, and he was accused of coming to Canada to try and find work here. He is physically disabled, and cannot work a normal steady job back at home, so why would he come here to find a job? That was a mistake to mention his disability, as now the border guard thought he was sneaking into Canada to try and scam free health care. We did everything we could to convince her that he was just coming for a vacation, that even though he had very little money, he did not want to “steal” Canadian health care. How could he get it for free anyhow, when he doesn’t have a health card? This guard then turned to me, demanding I prove that I can support him for three weeks. I told her where I worked, what my income was. Not good enough, she told me… I could be lying. She forced me to log into my personal banking online and show her each and every bank balance I had, to demonstrate that I could afford this obvious three week “burden” on Canadian society.
By the time we left, my BF had a visitor’s record in his hand granting him the right to visit Canada for three weeks… but if he does not go through immigration on the way home, he will never be allowed to set foot in Canada ever again. We are both in their records now as possible scam artists, as potential criminals… and all because we wanted to love one another in person for more than a couple of days at a time. Sadly, before all of this happened, we were discussing getting married some day, and his desire to one day become a Canadian citizen, the right and legal way. Now he is terrified of ever coming back here, afraid of being interrogated by what was more like trying to enter a police state instead of one of the most peaceful well respected countries in the world.
Steph, I am so sorry for ranting like this but I was mortified, disgusted, and furious at not only my country’s treatment of me, but moreso of my boyfriend, an American citizen, a literal next door neighbour who cannot help it that he is disabled and cannot work a regular job and doesn’t have a whole lot of money. Being poor and disabled should not make a person a criminal in the eyes of a country that prides itself on diversity, on equality, and on an open arm policy to aid those in distress (remember all of our good works overseas?)
I hope you do get a chance to read this Steph, and I apologize for the strength of my emotions (I mut be a true Canadian, I’m saying I’m Sorry *grins*)
GREAT SITE
DOES ANY ONE HAVE THE PATTERN FOR THE DRAGON MITTENS
THANKS
WENDY
Yeah but we had Elvis.
Some of my favorite things about Canada that I don’t think have been mentioned..
The Guess Who
Salmon Arm
Michael J. Fox
Pamela Anderson
Shania Twain
Moosejaw
and for the big finale………
Good Ole’ Stompin’ Tom
Ginny, if you are sure of your ground, write to the Minister of Immigration, your MP, and anyone else you can think of (make sure all are cc’d at the bottom of the letter so they know the others have been written to). Outline the entire incident, explaining you think the border guard was WAY out of line. Some people do let a little power go to their heads. The more detail you can provide about the incident (date, time, name of crossing, guard’s name) the better.
Tell the person to whom you are writing exactly what you want them to do. You want this guard found (if possible) and FORMALLY reprimanded (then it’s on her record). You also want your name and your boyfriend’s names cleared and you want a written apology for you and/or your boyfriend.
Something may or may not happen, but it’s been my experience that writing a proper letter (no e-mails, those get ignored) to someone at the top can have a miraculous effect.
My family and many friends have been wishing for a day when the upper midwest of the US or maybe just Wisconsin and Minnesota could be annexed to Canada–we feel we have more in common with you than with the citizens of many parts of our own country, and definitely like your governmental policies much better than our own. We try to visit your country once a year and breathe in the “cleaner” air and atmosphere-mostly have been in Northern Ontario (I agree with other writers that Lake Superior is wonderful) and in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI, where the plantlife is much like the shore of Lake Superior, but with the added attraction of salt water and the amazing Bay of Fundy!
Best wishes to you and your kinder, gentler citizenry.
We’re bilingual: you can have your french fries with vinegar and/or ketchup.
I’m a Canadian, but I’m on vacation in London, England right now. I brought 12 boxes of Kraft Dinner with me for my (Canadian) sister-in-law who lives here at the moment, as well as 2 Robert Munsch books for her son – that was what they asked me to bring! We went to Trafalgar Square on Canada, where there was a big Canada Day party, complete with (ball) hockey.
Actually, while we would indeed say grade 9 (or “minor niner”) for freshman, sophomore in this context means “second year”, so a sophomore would be in grade 10 rather than grade 12. I’m not sure where “junior” and “senior” fit in (as they’re terms that are also often thrown around in sit-coms), but I suspect that they’re grades 11 and 12. At least I’m pretty sure that grade 12 would be the senior year, and that really only leaves grade 11 to be the junior year. It’s all pretty darned confusing, though.
Montreal bagels. Coffee Crisps. Crispy Crunch. Shreddies. Smoked meat. Cherry blossoms.
My grandfather is a first generation American – he came from Quebec. He’s 87 and only this year got his own citizenship papers. (He came when he was 2 and had always used his dad’s papers.) So, my standard answer when people ask what country my family is from is, “Canada.”
We were in the Vancouver airport a few weeks ago (the reason my Grandpa needed papers), and I ended up with a coin with a pink ribbon. May have been a quarter? I thought that was interesting but couldn’t find much about it in a search.
I am a huge Canada. My dh and I even discussed trying to live there as it is just across the bridge. There are so many things I love about Canada. When I “meet” someone online that I click with, they are usually Canadian. We love Colin Mochrie on Whose Line. I love that it is so peaceful and safe. I feel great when I visit. I love how different everything it. We think curling is a hoot. Steve Yzerman is from Canada as are so many of our favorite hockey players. And Canadians make winter look FUN!
I don’t know if anyone will ever get this far, but I’ve enjoyed reading ALL of the comments (a lot of fun!) but I must comment on the following:
“It makes a great story, but the Canadians didn’t burn down the White House.
Posted by: Loulou at July 1, 2006 11:12 PM”
What do you mean? That they didn’t burn down the current White House? Or that someone else burned it down? Back to the history books. Here’s a
good book about the event: The Burning of Washington by Anthony S. Pitch.
My best memory of Canada: as a youngster just learning how to read, we drove from Norwich NY to Canada and I was driving my family nuts reading all of the signs, until we got to the part where the signs were in French and I became very confused.
Steph, I saw you in Skaneateles with friends and enjoyed the evening. You have a great site and wonderful books – Thanks for sharing your talent!
I’m from Edmonton, now living in Florida. I miss Alberta more than I could say. Some of my memories are childish and chocolate/candy ones.
Coffee Crisp, MacDonalds Creamy Toffee, Aero Bars. Laurentien Pencils, scribblers, Tick Tick, that recess game with the rubber bands around the ankels, mukluks and bob sled runs, curling…I could go on and on…
I never told my favorite things! I love Toronto … we visited a year or so ago, and I fell in love. The different ‘neighborhoods’ .. the vast aray of cuisines .. and you just can’t beat the weather, when already here in the South it’s pushing 80 degrees (Farenheit of course) and there it’s a balmy 60-70 if we’re lucky. Such a nice break.
I never told my favorite things! I love Toronto … we visited a year or so ago, and I fell in love. The different ‘neighborhoods’ .. the vast aray of cuisines .. and you just can’t beat the weather, when already here in the South it’s pushing 80 degrees (Farenheit of course) and there it’s a balmy 60-70 if we’re lucky. Such a nice break.
I’m very interested by the fact that you say eh? Here in Guernsey we locals are well known for ending sentences with eh? As I am sure you are aware, a very famous Canadian, Sir Issac Brock was born in Guernsey – his “town house” here has a plaque on it describing him as one of Guernsey’s most famous sons 🙂
a coincidence eh?
Thanks for enlightening us about your country. When I was reading the blog entry Boy A (age 5) exclaimed, “Canada flag!” and rushed over to the computer stepping on knitting to see it. We then marveled at the hockey money and the pretty coins. Thanks,
Stephanie.
Evelyn – When I was just barely a teen, I left my purse in a small town in the Great Lakes region of New York. I did’t even remember *where* – because I didn’t use it much. It wasn’t until I got back home that I was able to write a letter to the last place I remembered having the purse. Well, that place didn’t have it, but they asked every business in town for me, and it turns out I left it in a restaurant. They mailed it back completely intact. I’m still amazed at the effort and good will the whole town took to return a purse to a foreign ‘kid’. I say ‘forget your purse, if you must, in New York State’.
As for Canadian stuff I love –
*free health care (although it could be better)
*decent social net (although it could be better)
*gay marriage
*Trans Canada Highway – at 7604 km its the longest national highway in the world
*2nd largest country in the world: “it’s not what you do with it – it’s the size that counts” (thank you Arrogant Worms)
*Vancouver
*Manitoulin Island and Parry Sound
I just returned to Maine from Ontario. I was there over Canada Day, in Prince Edward County, diving in Lake Ontario. There are so many things I love about Canada. I did experience the “beer, humor and sarcasm” while I was there. And stopped at Timmy Horton’s on the way home. My husband even started saying “eh” at the end of his sentences!
We love traveling all over Canada: Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ontario, the Rockies, etc, etc. The people are polite and open, strangers aren’t afraid of you, and we always have such wonderful times.
David. Freaking. SUZUKI, PEOPLE!!!
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/
What I love about us is our environmental consciousness. But then, I am a West Coast girl – Vancouver Islander. I know that, back east, it can be a different story. Everyone I know bikes, walks, buses or carpools.
I also have to put in a word for Rex Murphy and Cross Country Checkup… I read all the comments and haven’t come across it yet.
And, for Michele in WA – sorry, but I don’t understand what is funny about “phone” or “anti-inflammatories”. What do you call YOUR phone? or your anti-inflammatories? (Really – “I want to know!”, to quote an Anne-book character.)
And, because I am a Canadian and don’t want anybody to feel hurt or left out, here’s what I like about the US: Noam Chomsky.
Peace, order, and good government to all.
i am a minnesotan-canadian-wanna-be. many, many happy childhood memories come from spending two weeks a summer canoeing around quetico provincial park. beautiful. also i adore each place i have visited in the wide range of canadian cities i’ve visited. (although i especially loved vancouver)
also i love canadian music. let’s not forget rush, barenaked ladies and sarah mclachlan. i know there are more, but it’s early and i haven’t had much coffee.
I love Canada. I’m stuck in the US, fantasizing about Life Canadien.
However, I live a bball’s-throw from the basketball Hall of Fame, which is in Springfield, MA, USA. And yes, Dr. Naismith was Canadian, but the game was ‘Born in the USA.’ Not to get too nationalistic about it (and I don’t really care about sports anyway) but hey, it’s 100% American.
It is odd that you find Canada so much more superior to the slag-crap heap of the United States. Please notice that many of the people and ideas which you consider Canadian, though born in Canada, have propered and blossomed and reached their zenith in the United States. Also remember that you yourself have gained much from the sales in the United States of your mediocre books about knitting — the contents and techniques of which can be found anywhere else. Beware of trashing (or killing) the golden goose to your south which provides you with money to fix your porch, bake your cherry cakes and pad your yarn stash.
Maple Syrup!!
My grandfather’s family is French Canadian, and I have always loved the real Maple Syrup he brought home from his trips to Quebec.
I was born on July 1st
I love hockey
I want a Newfie!
I love to knit.
I, as well as many many people from the states, have a great fondness for our neighbors to the north. You guys rock!
This is my first visit to this immensely enjoyable blog! (waving) I can’t resist joining in the praise of Canada. Hooray for Canada!!
Regarding number 16: My mother’s from Canada, so Canada can also take credit for half of KnittingHelp.com’s existance! 😉
Germaine Arnaktauyok
Nuff Said!
Tilley hats. After 17 years, I just bought a new one in HEMP. The first one is still going strong, and they both look charming with knitted hatbands.
dear tisra, in response to your query: her majesty queen elizabeth II is on our money because canada is part of the british common wealth. historically when the americans were revolting against king george for independence and dumping tea in the boston harbour, all those wishing to remain loyal (hence the name:Loyalists) to the crown came north to canada and maintained ties to britain. there’s a lot more to the story, but that’s the main idea. thanks for asking! 🙂
Canada is one of the few places in the world that is actively seeking immigrants (Ottawa, especially, or so I hear), and that warms my heart. I’ve now two useless degrees and little to offer, so I’m not likely to be one of them, but I live in Minnesota, so I’m close enough (one of my mom’s good friends from International Falls made good use of the proximity during the draft, which is another reason for my Canada fondness).
Well, I have recently (one month and counting!) become a resident of Toronto(well, Markham, really) Ontario, having moved here from the States with my hubby and baby, and I really enjoyed your list o’Canadian facts. I admit to a bit of a chuckle when I bought some milk the other day. One of the things I have noticed about Canadians is that they love abbreviations. “Ice Cap” completely threw me the other day. I thought it was some strange, exotic, Canadian beverage. That it was just an iced cappucino didn’t even cross my mind. Anyway, thanks for the laugh, and the information, about my new home!
I keep asking my husband if we can move to Halifax – its kind of an in-joke as we live just down the road from Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK but I’d much rather move to Halifax, Nova Scotia!!
As a proud loyal patriotic American, I want to apologize for May’s clueless remarks on July 6th (Nancy Reagan’s birthday.)
Listen, sister, praising a country other ours does NOT equate America-bashing. And ad-hominem attacks are just… tacky. If you want America to be loved and respected, please behave in a loving and respectable manner.
God Bless (all of) America
Well, basketball and volleyball were invented by a Canadian, James Naismith, but he did it at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, so, you decide. Baseball? The traditional story is that Abner Doubleday invented baseball as we know it now, in 1839 in Cooperstown, New York. It has also been said that Doubleday didn’t really invent baseball, more that baseball invented him.
That said, I love Canada, spent a semester at the University of Montreal in college and my honeymoon in Nova Scotia & Prince Edward’s Island. Two of my all time favorite authors are Canadian, Robertson Davies (I met him once, autographed first edition of “Murther and Walking Spirits”) and Michael Ondaatje (I’ve met him twice, autographed first editions of “The English Patient” and “Anil’s Ghost”.)
wow. thats alot of new things i just learned about our neigbors to the north. i live in Ohio so, wer’e actually pretty close to u guys.
im a freshman and am amazed that the war of 1812 gets top billing with canadians. if remember correctly, the war of 1812 ocupied one chapter of our textbook (it was a horrible textbook, mind you. im a history buff and i noticed things that were incorrect in the book. aren’t i’m the one who is supposed to not know these things??)
It’s same GENDER marriage. Not same sex marriage.
Check out the radio episode online “Who’s Canadian?”, from the show “This American Life”, distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It episode #65, from May 30th, 1997 (www.thislife.org)
As a Canadian living in the US (I’m a dual actually), whenever someone mentions a famous Canadian (i.e. Michael J Fox), I am so tempted to point out that he/she is Canadian…. just to let them know. It’s somehow preprogrammed in me to do that. I don’t know why. Please help.
Mike.
I only realised on a recent trip to Yukon Territory that America had almost entirely hi-jacked the Gold Rush too. Everybody remembers ‘North to Alaska’ but in fact the gold was found in the Klondike in Canada. Some people went in by way of Skagway, Alaska, and the Chilcoot Pass, sure, but they had to cross into Canada to get digging. So it’s your gold and your credit!
The mot interesting thing I know about Canada…hmmm..I live in northern Michigan and I actually live north of Canada. Well, parts of Canada. Like…Windsor…
North of Canada. That’s a lot for a former Florida girl…
Thanx for all of the Canadian facts. In two weeks, we will be moving to Canada, Thunder Bay to be exact, and I am terrified. Not of Canada or Canadians, but just adapting to a different culture, the metric system, $$, insane taxes, etc. I’m trying to figure out why people live there, but all of these comments certainly help me understand.
I do believe that I will celebrate BOTH Canada Day and Independence Day. Any reason to have a glass of wine. How am I going to survive without my favorite California wines, eh?
Although I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why it is illegal to bring our mattresses with us when we move. ;-?
My first time in Canada this summer i rest assured your beer is really good, light and rich flavoured. I’d rather spanish wine. i suppose you must have invented igloos, kayaks, bear watching, and icehockey. Hey, Spain is the best team in hockey on wheels!
Suppose you invented jumping jack and electric chain saw art!
Totems are really lovely!
I’ve lived in upstate NY and Michigan…states designed for people who secretly wish they were Canadian (plus I practically grew up in an ice rink)…but anyway, in Canada, you don’t “take” a test/exam in school, you “write” it. You spell stuff the “British way” (which is cool in my opinion). Plus the Barenaked Ladies are from Canada, and where would we be without them? But then again, Celine Dion is Canadian as well, although I guess we can forgive you for that one.
i think its great for you to embrace your ‘canadism’, without the help of South Park the move, i am however english but i used to live in your country and it is, without a doubt the most polite and beautiful country ever. your people ar just so nice and i think that Canada is what America be if it tried
oh yeah and thanks for basketball and the washing machine, all england ever gave you was the light bulb and football (soccer) although the americans took the credit for the bulb
Canada produced a lot of Americans, too, as well as baseball, washing machines and insulin! Three of my grandparents were born in Nova Scotia before moving south to Massachusetts. Their ancestors were in Canada as far back as the mid-1700’s (the “Foreign Protestants” of your history books) and I’m also related to thousands (really!) of present-day Canadians.
Saw your post for the first time today on the eve of 9/11. Thank you so much for sharing with our US sisters (and brothers who knit) what makes us Canadian whether born here or elsewhere. I arrived in 1968 and have learned to appreciate our diverse and very colorful history and culture. Still can’t get used to calling “yarn” “wool” even when it isn’t! With warm wishes to our US knitters on this weekend of remembrance. Appreciation to Goose Bay Labrador where thousands of travelers were welcomed on 9/11 by a small community with a huge heart!
Returning from British Columbia, a fellow traveler commenting on the Canadian pin I was sporting asked if I were Canadian. My reply was, “No, but if I had had any sense I would have fled north to escape going to defend the world against Communism in Vietnam.” To those who rally under the banner of U.S.patriotism, I do support our troops {having been spit upon and cursed for being in the military}, however, I do not support the political puppets who wave flags and make stirring oratories to bolster the ranks of hired thugs to fight illegal wars. Patriotism has become blind in the U.S. The patriots offer themslves and their children up onto the altar of democracy…their blood flows while the politicians and their cronies’ wealth and power grows.
That brings me to another sore spot. By definition, everyone born in, or is naturalize into a State in the Western Hemisphere is an AMERICAN. Where do people get off at specifying U.S. citizens as Americans? It would seem to be more appropriate to us Usians, after all we do have a history of piously using people. The United States of Arrogance has a certain sterling ring of clarity, shameful as it is.
I am not anymore proud of my attitude towards my homeland than I am of our history. Congratulations on repelling your southern neighbor. We were more successful with Mexico…that’s how we got Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The world should be astonished that we actually purchased Alaska.
Wow! I said all of that just to say that I really like Canada. Can I come back to live there?
D.A.Sauer, former Sgt., USMC
P.S. I wonder how long it will take before the Gestapo will be beating on my door after posting this. I may need to flee to your border.
I had not the time to read all the comments 🙁
Gander is in Newfoundland and St. John’s airport (also in Newfoundland) is the farthest east. Halifax airport is in Nova Scotia and also hosted many of the diverted 9-11 aircraft.
The Halifax explosion threw a cannon to land near Albro Lake in Dartmouth (the other side of the harbour from Halifax), about two miles inland. The Magazine explosion (1945?) broke window panes at a Canadian Navy radio installation near Albro lake at a distance of around five miles.
Mr. Dressup (aka Ernie Coombs) was an American.
I pick on Americans all year long, but I do so in good humour. 😉
Oh yeah… The Queen… She is officially the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Military. We did not revolt against the Empire, but arrived at a mutually beneficial agreement with it.
Newfoundland joined Canada in 1947(?) with a vote of 51 or 52% in favour I think. I know several people who still fly the flag of The “Republic of Newfoundland”.
I have lived in BC, MB, NB, NS,and NL; and have at least visited the rest of the provinces (but not the territories unfortunately), have cruised the coast of Labrador on a coastal boat, driven the Rockies in the winter (while driving across Canada), driven to Ontaro on a road-test (about 1400 miles each way), lived in a shack in the woods on the North Mountain of Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, and currently reside in Dartmouth, NS.
I just wish I had found this site earlier. 😉
Oh yeah… I used to knit as a kid. Mom had a terrible time teaching me because I’m left-handed and she had to think backwards.
Hello!!
my favorite place in canada is Canada’s Wonderland,because it’s really beautiful there
you get to go on many different rids and so.
because i am a sweden girl and i came to canada for vacation to canada’s wonderland for a week ,cuz in sweden they don’t have much fun and beautiful places like canada does..
byee !!
Hi there,
And there was me thinking Canada was merely ‘that country above America’, it seems now that it may be of more interest than previous thought. I’ll certainly visit one of these days, although it’s not quite down the road for me. We have a Japanese/Canadian working for us, he’s gradually adjusting to our sense of humour!
A facinating and truly enlightening read, thank you. (apart from the knitting related info).
All the very best,
Chris Aylward
Kent, United Kingdom (TN12)
Major Kenith P. Stewart. He was my first teacher, in my first class, on my first day at a American military academy – teaching American History to a Canuck.
Rough-as-guts he was. He was a second lieutenant during the Normandy invasion. Fought through Europe and attained a unique perspective on human character.
The class consisted of 25 Americans and myself- the only Canuck on campus. My new roomate, a New Yorker, asked him what he thought about the Canucks. He responded we were crazy because we played four downs in the snow- went ice fishing and drank far too much beer.
Major Stewart was sharp as a tack. He noticed the class was relishing his response and then saw myself.
Without a moments hesitation- he then described how Canadians thwarted the three pronged attack from the U.S. during the war of 1812. He then explained how the Canucks burned the White House and “kicked our ass”. How explained he had fought alongside the crazy Canucks in Europe.
It was then and there when I started to feel comfortable.
I wanted to say something positive about our neighbours to the south and how we all are capable of small mercies.
Bless his crusty battle-hardened heart.
Old post, yes, but I had to comment…
I’m obviously a terrible American. If given half a chance, I would *so* move to Canada. And become a citizen. Abso-freakin-loutely. It’s the best!!
5. “Attend all you good countrymen, my name is Billy Green/And I will tell of things I did when I was just nineteen/I helped defeat the Yank invader, there can be no doubt/Yet lately men forget the name of Billy Green, the Scout.”
(I love Stan Rogers. One of many brilliant Canadian musicians. Including, but not limited to, Great Big Sea, Joni Mitchell and Bruce Cockburn.)
12. my sister put a lot of effort into trying to split a toonie. It took quite a bit of boiling and several people with pliers to accomplish. She thinks Canada rocks, too
15. “The call came from London, for the last July drive/”To the trenches with the regiment, prepare yourselves to die”/The roll call next morning, just a handful survived./Enlist ye Newfoundlanders and come follow me”
Yeah…