Now, I really, really hate that I have to do this, but every year I’ve been given a whupping. Saying “Canada is a great country” is not a direct translation for “The US stinks”. Being pro-Canada is not being anti-US. Saying “I love the way we do things” does not mean “and therefore, you do it wrong”. This is a whole different country with different laws and culture. We will never be the same and that does not mean that either country dwells in the heart of darkness. Loving where I live is not bashing the US any more than having fireworks and shouting “USA #1” on the 4th of July (which I thoroughly recommend, since I think a country is only as good as the people who love and defend it) constitutes an attack on Canada. Thus ends the pre-emptive strike. Don’t be a hoser.
Every year I take a minute to write a little something about my country on its birthday. I love how international the blog community is, and can’t resist the opportunity to do a little PR for the good thing I think we’ve got going on here. I did “Things to do on Canada Day” and “You know you’re a Canadian Knitter when….” then “Stuff you maybe didn’t know about us” (Clearly I didn’t work hard on that title.) Then last year “Canada A to Z” (and that’s “Zed” not “Zee”).
This year I was at a loss. I felt like I’ve done it all, I took my knitting and a good brew to the backyard, and sitting there in the sunshine knitting, it hit me:
In the fine tradition of Random days on blogs, this is:
Random stuff about Canada
This is a country where if we accidentally elect an arse, our political system allows for a do over. Admittedly this creates other problems (like 1984, when three Prime Ministers held office) but at least there’s a way out of a bad call, leadership wise.
This is a country with access to good beer, and nobody thinks you’re a lush if you drink it at lunch. (Also, if it is hot or if it is a long weekend you can drink it anytime you want. Heat and long weekends are a free pass in the beer department.)
This is a country with something as grand and glorious as CBC Radio. (Three cheers for Vinyl Cafe, As it Happens and DNTO.)
This is a country with a national sense of humour. We are a funny people, and a people that value not taking things too seriously all the time. The best evidence I can offer is that this is a country where a politician running for office appeared bare bummed and leaping into a lake during his campaign and it improved his chances of being elected.
This is a country where the Government (finally) apologized, took responsibility for and began the process of compensation to the Aboriginal People of this land for the shameful way they have been treated. While I can’t help but think that this might belong in the “too little, too late” category, I felt proud to hear the words “The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly. We are sorry.” come out of Stephen Harpers mouth. (It’s one of the only times I’ve enjoyed hearing the man speak.)
This is a country with the worlds longest National Highway. The Trans Canada Highway is 7, 821km long and goes from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John’s, Newfoundland.
This is a country that is home to David Suzuki.
This is a country that generated the genius of The Logdriver’s Waltz, (which still fills me with joy no matter how many times I see it.) not to mention the National Film Board.
This is a country with Universal Health Care, which means that no matter what goes wrong with me or my children, we’ll be cared for by the best person for the job, not the best person we can afford. Sure, it’s a triage system which means that if we’re not very sick we’ll have to wait, while sicker people go first, but the fact that the only thing that can move you to the front of the line is your need, not your money? It just makes me more proud.
This is a country that is ranked the 4th most livable country in the world, has one of the highest life expectancies, low infant mortality, and 48% of Canadian adults have a college or university degree. (That’s the highest of all OECD countries.) We’re ranked 11th on the Global Peace Index, it’s safe here, we’re very tolerant and we eat more Kraft Dinner per capita than any other country in the world. (I can’t explain that last one.)
(Kraft Dinner is the Canadian name for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I don’t know why it’s labelled differently here.)
This is a country that prides itself on being a mosaic, rather than a melting pot.
This is a country that has the second largest oil deposits in the world and provides the US with more of their oil than the Middle East does.
This is a country with an exceptional Charter of Rights and Freedoms. (It helps that it was written in the 80’s. Nice and current.)
This is a country where 77% of the people believe that global climate change is a big problem, where Henry Morgentaler is about to get The Order of Canada, where the flag on Parliament Hill is lowered any day a Canadian Soldier is killed overseas, where 95% believe that our government has a responsibility to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment in other countries, 25% use marijuana at some point in their life, (93% of Canadians support Medical Marijuana use) 78% believe in life somewhere else in the universe, 74% of people consider President Bush a threat to world peace, 54% use alternative medicine along with allopathic medicine, only 8% of us belong to an evangelical Christian church, but 10% believe they have seen a UFO. If Canadians could vote in the next US election, 17% would vote for McCain and 46% for Obama.
This is a country that values “Peace, Order and Good Government.” (This is Canada’s equivalent to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”)
This is a country that knits. A lot. Think huge knitting guilds with hundreds of members.
This is a country that invented peacekeeping.
This is a country:
where you eat a chocolate bar (not a “candy bar”)
where you line up or queue up
where you can buy milk in bags
where almost all tea is served hot, not cold
where you write the date day/month/year.
where you can still do all the hand signals to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink, and you can’t imagine who can’t.
where there is the Queen’s Plate, longest running stakes horse race in the North America.
where when you and you’re kids design hallowe’en costumes, you make sure they can go over a snow suit.
where if a cop gives you a ticket you thank them.
where if the government wastes money it’s a scandal that brings down the government.
where it’s spelled colour, honour, woollen, woolly, centre, theatre, cauldron, axe, catalogue, cheque, grey, favour, glamour, misdemeanour and ardour.
where you can buy two-fours, chesterfields, Mickeys, poutine, screech, serviettes, tuques, pop… and if you have enough money… Tories or Grits.
where Cuba is an awesome vacation spot.
where you feel very sentimental about Casey, Finnegan, Rusty Jerome, Sharon, Lois and Bram.
This is a country that wants you to keep your stick on the ice. (Literally, and metaphorically.)
Happy Canada Day, and how about using the comments for your version?
Canada is a country where…..
(PS. Sorry about this guys, so many of you are leaving such wonderful comments, but I’m closing them. I know that won’t stop the private mail and I can live with that. Really, there’s a few people that I’m just gong to save from themselves. For the record, although I’m probably going to have to type it a hundred more times, Canadians having an opinion about the country with whom they share the worlds largest trade relationship and the worlds largest undefended border is appropriate and necessary. The US is a superpower, and what happens in the government there influences the lives of people around the world. US economy down in a mortgage mess = Canadians out of work. I understand the urge to tell the world to mind their own business…but as long as the US has a hand in everyone’s business, that’s simply not a reasonable request. To quote Spiderman’s Uncle Ben “With great power, comes great responsibility.” How Americans vote influences the world.)
(PPS: Seriously, as per the disclaimer at the top, saying Canadians have a national sense of humour is not a statement about the US. It’s a statement about Canada.)
(PPPS: While we’re correcting things, as for the Pride Day thing? Slag me all you want, but I still think that Human Rights should be extended to all Humans, and that Humanity should be the only criteria. I won’t be calling you names or threatening your livelihood if you disagree though.)
I’d like to visit. My writing partner lives there.
Great sentiment. Everyone should be able to have that much pride in their country. If it weren’t so damn cold in winter I could almost be convinced to join you, if only for the beer.
the water is clean, the people friendly and there is still wilderness to experience.
Was I first? And didn’t write anything profound. Typical *faints*
Happy Canada Day! Bring on the beer!
Thanks for the great post, Stephanie!
I just posted about my dear friends in Vancouver and Sidney, with whom I spent some lovely times in June. I do like Canada quite a lot, and I am grateful for the chance I’ve had to spend time there. My favorite Canadian treat isn’t the beer, it’s the Growers’ Extra Dry Apple hard cider. Beer sampling goes on the list for my next visit.
I especially like it that “74% of people consider President Bush a threat to world peace”. I count the days until January. And I consider it to their credit that Canadians haven’t let the Bush Administration sour them on America and Americans. I love my country, but sometimes it’s really messed up.
canada is a country where the theme song from kids in the hall is a national anthem.
where cbc radio 1 is always SO positive i want to cry.
where you can get beer delivered to your door in the winter (yes!)
where people can criticize and analyze their own role in the colonization of this country!
(and i don’t even really believe in canada as an ideology, but alas. i’m attached).
xo
…being only 4 hours from the border, is a place I really need to visit.
We visited Canada for my first time last August and I fell in love with it. Do you have room for one more? (Poutine is deadly, but yummy; the food is to die for; the architecture a dream; the people…the friendliest ever!)
I will have to visit if not live in some day because after reading your list I appreciate Canada even more. I also really like the letter “u” and wish I was able to legitimately use it more.
Your Canada posts always make me want to emigrate north… Happy Canada Day!!
Canada Rocks! I live in far northern NY, 30 mins from Cornwall – and Canada has always been a great neighbor. I grew up in the 60’s where most of my tv viewing was Mr. Dress up, The Friendly Giant, and other shows on CBOT and CJOH. Our local schools always take field trips to Upper Canada Village, and I can remember several evenings being in awe at the lights on the international bridge over the St. Lawrence! I haven’t visited in a while, but I still think of her as a wonderful neighbor – and have always marveled over the fact that as a ‘foreign country’ we didn’t need passports to enter. (now something similar will be needed for us to return home – go figure!) Happy Canada Day!
“This is a country that wants you to keep your stick on the ice. (Literally, and metaphorically.)”
lovely quote.
I’ve never been to Canada, so can’t really do your meme. I have been to Maine and Minnesota, two border states where the people speak with accents that may be related to proximity to Canada. Maybe, “Canada is a country where ‘Eh?’ figures prominently in a conversation”?
Regarding Obama and evangelicals, you should be aware that Obama wants to increase Bush’s faith-based initiatives and give those groups the right to hire and fire based on religious beliefs. (He’s reaching out to evangelicals to try to steal some of that vote from McCain.)
There are hand signals to Skin-a-ma-rink-a-dink? How did I not know that? I’ve been singing it for years. I think you’re now required to video the hand signals so I can teach them to Ellie.
….where one of their cities (all of which are made of awesome, as far as I can tell) is having its 400th birthday today. Many happy returns, Quebec City!
Canada is a place where i would live if it wasn’t so cold! As is, Toronto is one of my favorite places to visit in the world- reminds me of NYC (only clean and with no crime).
As an aside- your post about the baby sweaters made me cry. We are expecting our first (who we wished for for 2 years before finally concieving) and i don’t know a single person who knits besides me. There is something magical and full of love surrounding handmade items. My grandmother taught me to knit and making things for the baby all by myself have made me miss her even more acutely. Congratulations to your friend on her impending arrival, and i hope she knows how lucky she is to have someone wrap her baby in handmades.
…where if you’re not a knitter (or know one intimately) your hands and feet may actually fall off for lack of warm covering. And I know there are other methods of keeping hands and feet warm, but commercial gloves and thick socks are not even close to being the same.
One of these days I will actually be able to spend time in Canada, more than just driving thru as a short cut from MI to CT. And it will not be in the winter…
Canada is a land where Yarn Harlot lives and makes our days brighter by writing posts like this.
I went to Canada for vacation last year. I got really, truely, inexplicably stupid. It was strange, because most Canadians I know are very smart. And I’m smart! And they were dumb problems that I don’t have any other time. I thought gas was cheap at 1.85 … until I realized it was litres/CAD. I turned right when the GPS said left. I couldn’t distinguish a toll road from not, I couldn’t function driving in KM/H, and couldn’t figure out how far things were from me in kilometers. I couldn’t figure how to make change. I kept thinking the signs were in Spanish… And I don’t have these problems when visiting other countries – so it wasn’t like I didn’t know how metric worked or what to do with colorful money. It was just … Canada.
Although, everyone was super nice (people were giving me maps, letting me in when I was in the wrong lane…) I’m really afraid to go back for fear I’d never find my way home. I’d be some sort of legend, the knitter, roaming the countryside going “Eh? US? Eh?”
Canada is a country where . . .
. . . loonies and toonies are in your pocket.
. . . you can watch football (yes, football! not soccer!) all summer long when there’s no NFL on American television.
. . . you can finally put that high school French class to use reading the labels at the grocery store.
. . . you find vinegar on the tables at the fast food restaurants instead of ketchup.
. . . they put the pit toilet in the phrase “pit stop.” (and they’re few and far between!)
. . . I’d visit again in a heartbeat!
. . . I wish I lived.
I would love to come to Canada. Sounds like a place for me and my little family’s ideals. Plus it doesn’t seem to get very hot and muggy. Ever tried knitting outside in 90F degree heat and 90 % humidity. I don’t recommend that.
BTW – Thank you Stephanie for making this yarn addict – both crochet and knit – and be very pround to be that way!
Happy Canada Day!
The greatest (and wettest) backpacking in some of the coolest peat bogs in the world occurs (Hand knit socks an extra plus in Cape Scott)
Perhaps so many Americans get all wound up over praise for Canada because there are enough of us Americans out there saying “OMG if another Republican becomes president I’m moving to Canada.” And seriously? I want to move to Canada. And I totally remember Sharon, Lois and Bram and the elephant show and all the hand movements to the song 🙂
…where the very nicest tourists come from. I used to be a tour guide for the Grand Ole Opry and just loved to welcome my northern neighbors to the stage of the Ryman Auditorium! I would conclude my informational talk with the invitation to sing “the second most beautiful national anthem in the world”: “Oh, Canada!”
And Montreal, where I spent my honeymoon… heaven!
have I mentioned that I wish I were canadian? husband has applied for two jobs in canada…wish us luck!
I thought July 1st is Canada Day? Why is your post dated June 30th? (my birthday, but otherwise undistinguished)
OK, my answer: Canada is where I’d like to live. And Canada is where there’s Tiger Tail ice cream!
… I think I need to think about moving!
Canada is where my favorite pro-wrestler, Lance Storm was born and lives and teaches wrestling. He might not be the most famous wrestler in the world, but is a great person. If we are going to have a son, his middle name will be Lance.
Canada is a country where the weather is the only thing that keeps me from moving there.
Canada is a country where potato chips come in flavours (when in Rome?) akin to Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans of the Harry Potter novels including (but not limited to) cheddar, ketchup, and lobster.
I don’t live in Canada, but knew a missionary who went to Calgary.
And apparently the Oreos are different there too.
Lovely whisky is made.
Canada is a country where . . the Arrogant Worms come from! They are the best ‘funny’ band ever.
Canada is a country where I could see myself living, happily.
Happy Canada Day….thank you for lots of things…including but not limited to HOCKEY!!!!
Canada is a country where….
…I could wear my knit socks and not look silly most of the year.
…Where the inhabitants seem to have a great sense of humor (homour?).
…Where the coastline inspires awe from it’s natural beauty, not revulsion from the unnatural “beauty” of some overweight, undertan person wearing a thong or a Speedo right in front of you on the beach.
Sure wish I was in Canada enjoying a beer and some al fresco knitting today.
However, I love my country too — with all it’s eccentricities … it’s still home.
Canada is a country with the cheapest Internet access on earth;
Canadian groundhogs are right 30% of the time;
Ottawa is the second coldest national capital in the world (the first is Ulaanbatar, Mongolia);
The Canadian coastline is the longest in the world;
Approximately 89% of Canada’s territory is not habitable, because the weather is too extreme;
The Confederate bridge is the longest bridge in the world.
Happy Canada Day!
…where I need to visit soon in order to meet my boyfriend’s mother and see the town where he grew up. Reading posts like this one helps me prepare for the experience; he’s laughing at my shock about milk in bags as I write.
… is a place where everything is said and done twice – once in English and the other in French. Where no matter how linguistically illiterate you are you can still make Campbell’s Soup and Kraft Dinner reading the French directions (’cause it’s easier than turning it over). Don’t labels look odd when they are only in one language?
… where we measure roasts in pounds and deli meat in grams
… where we speak Celsius and Farenheit
… where we can quote the current CDN$ to US$ exchange rate and convert (with tax) in our heads
… where distance is measured in time. How far way is that store? It’s about twenty minutes. And then convert to rush and non-rush.
I pronounce it tur-bine (not turbin), my postal code has letters and numbers (and that damn space that sometimes doesn’t fit into the box on the on-line form), I pay way too much for gasoline and can’t name any our politicians spouses (and don’t even know if they have them).
I can translate from English(UK) to English(US) to English(CDN) to Franglais.
I am Canadian and I really try to live and let live.
…I can marry who I please, when and where I please. (I chose to marry a man, but if I had wanted to marry a woman, I could have)
…even though I’m not much of a hockey fan, I can hum “The Hockey Song” and always think of HNIC
…I can cottage, and judge my distance there in hours and minutes rather than kilometres or miles (2 hours, 20 minutes, door to door)
…I can be proud of my country, and as you said, not think any less of any one else’s home
…I can reminisce about Mr. Dressup and the Friendly Giant becasue someone mentions Casey, Finnegan, Rusty and Jerome. (I always wanted the Friendly Giant’s rocking chair)
…I am proud to call it my home and native land
could I come for a long visit with an option to not leave??
..My uncle lives. My stepmom is from india and a little after 911 my uncle moved with his wife (she is from Toronto) and was no longer harassed because of his skin. People won’t not here that he was from India not Iraq.
…Where I heard people do not lock their doors (really?)
….and last but not least I want to move to. = ) I hear it is a much nicer place.
Canada is a country where you can see fantastic fireworks at the International Fireworks Competition in Montreal during the summer! Seriously the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen, and they’re all synchronized to music!
…I never set foot in.
…I have several friends.
…kittens can roam free without the fear of poachers! [Alright, I made that one up. 😀 ]
Canada is a country where I lived for 3 precious years as a college student aka University student at U of New Brunswick. I learned that Thankgiving can be in Oct. spent on the wild island of Grand Manan where I could simultaneously watch eagles and whales. I also learned that the song “This Land is your Land” is just as meaningful when referring to the Artic Circle, Vancouver Island and Newfoundland. I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to travel by train across 4,000 miles of beauty and diversity. That was so long ago -1970’s. Thank you Stephanie for always reminding me of that special place.
… Barenaked Ladies, Rush, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Celine Dion, Mike Myers, William Shatner, Jim Carey, Stomp’n Tom, Anne Murray, and so many, MANY more……
Canada is a country where you get a holiday in August because there wasn’t one before, just ’cause.
Where you can watch Hockey Night in Canada at 8pm on a Saturday night, eating Dill Pickle Potato Chips (or ketchup).
Where 100kph on the 401 is just a suggestion.
Where “American Woman” is not about a girl you don’t want to date.
Thank goodness I can watch Global News on the computer each night! Get the poutine ready, I’ll be there in a month. *L*
Canada is
full of friendly people
where my ski jacket crinkled like a crisp packet because of the cold (-40degC somewhere in the gasfields 90mins drive north of Athabasca in February)
has some fabulous art (certainly at the shows I saw in Edmonton)
somewhere I’d visit again in a heartbeat.
Where I want to live. And where I will run to if Obama is not elected. 🙂
Do you guys need more citizens up there? I could get used to the cold (says the Floridian).
..where Kids in the Hall, best comedy sketch group EV-ER, originated. ‘Nuff said.
If Canadians controlled YouTube, they wouldn’t have pixeled out Bob and Rick’s bums!
…there are fewer people (~34 million) than in California (~36 million).
And that’s just ONE of the reasons I’d like to live in Canada!
Hear hear, and cheers on Canada day, where folks go on holiday…frequently to my home state of Maine, where on parle francais. D’ye think there’s any chance we could be adopted into the Maritime Provinces? We’re really more like you than the flatlanders to the South….
…Rick Mercer, Callum Keith Rennie, and Hawksley Workman live.
… and entire generation learned french from the back of the cereal box.
…Handmaiden, Fleece Artist, Sweet Georgia, Indigo Moon and possibly Koigu (not positive) are made!
I remember Casey and Finnegan (Dr. Dressup, right?) I grew up near Detroit, we got CBC television! But what’s a two-four?
Canada is a the best neighbor a country could hope for.
Canadians are enough alike us US’ers to be liked, and enough different to be interesting.
Happy Canada day.
(canada is home to the oldest retail establishment in the world (Hudson Bay company)…
…my bizarre love for curling makes me a “sports fan” and not a freak.
ps…
When I moved to the US, one of the first things I did was order The Logdriver’s Waltz on DVD.
LOVE IT!!!
….where my ancestors were born. Well, it is part of Maine now, but when they were born it was Canada.
I think 74% (at least) of ALL people think George Bush is a threat to world peace. And alot of other stuff!! At least I can say that I’ve lived through the worst President my country has ever seen!! Happy Canada Day. You forgot one of the best things Canada has given us…the Yarn Harlot!!
I think Savage Chickens captured it beautifully…
http://www.savagechickens.com/blog/2008/07/oh-canada.html
Canada is a country where I would happily live (if not for the ice and cold thing). Canada is a country to which I just may move, if this election goes wrong, too. Canada is a country that just seems better run than my own. And while I am fond of Sam Adams, a Boston beer, I’m sure I would be quite happy with Canadian beer.
… where you can eat buttertarts.
Happy Canada Day, Stephanie. Great celebration!
I’m glad you like Canada, especially since that’s where you live. May I remind you that Bush is not the president of Canada, and that McCain and Obama are running for election in the US, not Canada. If you want to celebrate Canada by celebrating things Canadian, that’s great! But how Canadians would vote in the US elections is irrelevant. I’m sure that if US citizens voted it a Canadian election, the same person probably wouldn’t have won. I mean, would you appreciate reading a blog post about how great the US is because it isn’t like Canada in this way and that way and the other way? You have a lot of good things to say, but you cross the lines in a few others. Consider it not appreciated.
and besides all that…..
Canada’s Really Big!
…and where they have fibre. Mind you, we have fibre down under, too 🙂
Canada is a country where —
My family seriously considered moving when our fellow Americans stunned us by electing GWB a SECOND time, sigh.
[But, Canadians don’t have much use for American lawyers, either!]
Happy Cananda Day. Wish we were there.
Where my mother lost her purse, while we were traveling and camping when I was ten, and two months later, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mailed it to her when someone found it and turned it in–with her money present and everything intact.
….they have the best national anthem ever!! I LOVE going to ball games when we’re playing the Blue Jays because we get to hear “O Canada”. It’s beautiful. Our’s is a bit more difficult to sing, but I LOVE my country. I’m not always crazy about the people who are running things, but I do love my country.
…where I’ve never been, unless you count Victoria B.C., which seemed a little like Disneyland’s Main Street because everything was clean and people were so nice one wondered if they were being paid to be so.
Still, one could get used to a polite, clean, country. As long as there was yarn…
Like I needed any more reasons to want to move north. *sigh*
Sarah, FYI about Obama and the faith-based initiative…his campaign has stated that groups receiving funding “would have to abide by federal hiring laws which reject discrimination based on race, sex, religion and sexual orientation. And the groups could use federal funds only to assist anyone in need, not anyone from a certain background or religion. Nor could federal funds be used to prosletyze or spread religious beliefs.”
Canada is a country where we can live in paradox without demanding finite answers. Quebec is in and out, the queen is on our money but we’re not monarchists, and we are simultaneously rooted in our history and open to diversity.
And, we drive fast.
Admittedly, I have only visited the Niagara Falls area and Toronto, but I adore Canada. (I grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania – just across the lake from Canada.) Your post makes me want to pack my bags and move! 🙂
Happy Canada Day!
Hooray! I’ve been looking forward to your Canada Day post!
Canada is a country where great musicians come from… Bruce Cockburn, Joni Mitchell, Great Big Sea, Stan Rogers…. Yep.
Oh, good, Canada Day is back to July 1st.
Damn you Harlot, now I have Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink stuck in my head. My coworkers are going to think I’ve gone batty.
Canada is a country where I would really like to live if it were not so cold most of the time. (New England is more than cold enough, even with global warming.)
Canada is also a country where any two single adults can get married. More generally, as best I can figure out, it’s a country where it’s considered rude to mind other people’s private business. (I would bet that even Canadian evangelical Christians are more interested in their own relationship with God and humanity than in what people they don’t even know are doing with their bodies.)
I realize that I may be getting close to violating your dictum here about not saying Canada does things better than w… ahem, certain other countries, but I can’t help that.
Thought y’all might enjoy these. I especially like the “I am Canadian” Molson’s ad, and the Stanley Cup bit.
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=1200dbe6-29f0-4404-9e29-7379d420df22
I was all ready to correct you and tell you that the Trans-Canada Highway ends in Tofino, B.C. and not Victoria when I learned this from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Canada_Highway
“Although Highway 4 was commissioned in 1953 and is technically not part of the Trans-Canada Highway system, there is also a sign marking the Pacific terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway at Tofino, British Columbia, where Highway 4 terminates in the west, but it was most likely erected before 1953. Tofino was a strong proponent of a Trans-Canada Highway since the 1920s, when the only roads in the area were gravel, recognizing the need for tourism. The community was bypassed by the official Trans-Canada Highway in the 1950s, when government prioritized the connection of major communities in its budgets, choosing instead to connect Nanaimo with Victoria.”
Oh well, I still think having a picture of me under the sign “end of the Trans-Canada Highway” in Tofino is cool…
Happy Canada Day!
…four of the major cities [Vancouver (4), Toronto (15), Ottawa (19) and Montreal (22)] are in the top 25 World Cities for Quality of Life.
….is where really good t.v. shows are made and then copied badly….(Think Cold Squad vs. Cold Case Files)
….is where Red Green lives! (No one could EVER copy him!!!)
Oh my…this brought me down memory lane and tears to my eyes. I grew up in Detroit….HEY to you, WIND-ZOR!! we travelled to Windsor alllll the time; I grew up knowing and having for friends, lots of Canadians. I’ve always loved the beer (Wanna Canadian? …luv it), thought that all the different peoples in Windsor, getting along together, were so cool. Canada knows how to do it! NOW, I travel there once in awhile with hubby and kids in tow, to eat Dim Sum (like no other..not even in Toronto…sorry, Steph hee hee), and afterward, we immediately head for the grocery store, to spend some hours, so we can travel up and down the aisles, buying good chocolate bars, Real Salt and Vinegar or Dill chips (before they had them in the states), the biscuits, preserves, etc., that I am accustomed to and love. And listening to CKLW from
Windsor is the best! why are all the newspeople so nice when talking with others???? I love this.
And this does not say that I don’t love my country, the U.S. (have traveled all over the world) but I will always love Canada and hope to travel to more parts there in the future…when the last Childchen is gone…soon!
Give the ground a hug for me, eh?
You’ve made me want to go!
I especially like the idea of a do-over, when the chief of state turns out to be a jerk. We in the US could have used that one, some time in the last few years.
Having driven cross-continent on US 10 (Santa Monica to Jacksonville), now I want to do the same thing on Canada 7!
Where it’s still possible to live in small town where no alcohol is sold (sorry Steph!)
where my “Canada” cousins live–we loved visiting the farm in Pain Court every August when growing up. Canada is also where cars pull off the road, and men take off their hats (yep fedora type hats), to show respect for a funeral procession.
You’re a great neighbor Canada!
Canada is a wonderful, beautiful country, with great people. And I’m with 99% of the Canadian thoughts/ideals you mention. I, too, can hardly wait until our election (go Obama!), and particularly the Inaugaration (i.e., on your way out, don’t let the door hit you on your arse).
You, Harlot, are an inspiration and a lot of fun. I have passed your url along to a newbee knitter with high praise for it and you.
Happy Birthday, Canada.
I’m from the US and I envy you. I used to be proud, now I’m scared.
Oh, and they’re called Kraft Dinners because “if I had a million dollars/we wouldn’t have to eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese” doesn’t scan.
Love it! Wish I was Canadian. I was one of those untold thousands US citizens who checked out the Canadian immigration site when Skippy Bush was elected yet again and no one I know voted for him.
… that tugs at my soul calling me home. One day. One day … but for now my life is here in California.
Stephanie, thank you for your opening paragraph. I’ve been saying today how much I wish the animosity between the nations when it comes to who is “best” would go away. Both countries have their strong points, and their weak points – but I have Very Good Friends in both. 🙂
i haven’t yet thought of my tagline to add to your list, but i want to thank you for reminding me/us of what i/we love, honour and cherish about our home and native land! merci!
Canada is a country where I hope to live someday.
..you can get Old Dutch ketchup potato chips. Enough said.
… where freedom is valued. Happy Canada day from a Canuck in Oz.
Canada is a country where….. I want to live. Someday soon, i hope. *sigh* love everything about it, especially the things you mentioned above. and the toonies. so fun to know I can buy a pitcher of beer with a pocketful of change.
A place i visited and found it IS a mosaic, not a melting pot. I felt I was in the world, not a shoebox with mirrors on the inside. I loved the mosaic – on both coasts and in the middle.
…where it has never seemed to be a far away land. I grew up in Detroit, watching CBC Channel 9 Windsor, going over the Bridge to Windsor for the Freedom Festival and fireworks, and still listen to mainly Canadian radio.
( I still miss Mr. Dressup and the Friendly Giant)
where the air is cool and dry and clean–
where money sure is heavy in your pocket!–
where it snows! YAY! (I know you’re not a fan but I AM!)–
where Rush and Great Big Sea come from–
where people are respectful and not so uptight–
where the greatest sport/pastime in the world is played, and watched, and generally worshiped–
Happy Canada Day! (from south of the border)
where, if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes.
where mosquitoes are highly evolved and carnivorous.
where your neighbours will shovel your sidewalk or dig out your car after the latest snow storm blows through and you don’t even need to ask.
where there was general panic when the CBC decided to stop playing the “Hockey Night in Canada” theme because of royalty fees and the CTV moved in and took it away before the CBC could change its mind.
where Stuart McLean, Max Braithwaite, Pierre Berton and his mother Laura Berton, L. M. Montgomery, and Margaret Atwood write so eloquently about life in Canada historically and currently (and usually with great humour). Seriously, if you haven’t yet read “The Vinyl Cafe” series, “The Night We Stole the Mountie’s Car”, “I Married the Klondike”, “Anne of Green Gables”, and “The Journals of Susanna Moodie”, what are you waiting for?
where Richardson’s Ground Squirrels are known as gophers.
where the Northern Lights can be spectacular!
where I will always want to live. It is home and I love it.
…a woman can walk down the street alone and be safe.
Damnit I have forgotten the hand gestures to skinnymarinkidinc (sp?), I have lost a part of my Canadiana.
Happy Canada Day! HOO-RAY!
Canada is a country that we are glad is close by. (in case of those unavailable-but-desperately-needed do-overs in the U.S. government, or just ‘cuz they are nice folks.)
4:05
Hoser.
…. is a place where you can count on impromptu street parades & parties no matter who wins those international soccer games. Thanks for another wonderful Canada day post!
Not that I don’t love the POGG clause, but isn’t the Canadian equivalent “life, liberty, and security of the person”? Which I ADORE—talk about a wonderful thing to have enshrined in one’s Constitution. “Pursuit of happiness,” yeah, OK, but security of the person is something that guarantees real rights.
A lovely post as always. I’m certainly glad to be celebrating (most of) Canada Day in Canada for the first time, and it sure won’t be the last.
Cuba! I’d love to go to Cuba without first trying to figure out how to sneak in and if it was worth possibly getting caught.
Happy Canada Day!
I keep thinking about my great-grandfather who emigrated to Canada from Scotland around the turn of the century to be a preacher. If he hadn’t been wounded in WWI (he was one of the Ladies From Hell) and sent to Texas to recover, I would have been Canadian, is it too late?
Canada is a country where I wish I lived…rather than the US, where I’m sometimes ashamed to be living. Trust me, I’ve looked into moving.
Happy Canada Day!! nothing bad to say; Canada seems like a truly amazing country. I would, in your shoes, definitely be proud to call myself a Canadian! Or in my shoes, should I be able to convince my wife to move……
Canada is a country that broadcasts ALL the events in the Olympics, not just the ones where the Americans are expected to win. Gotta love that! I have friends come up to visit us in WA during the Olympics just to catch the wonderful CBC coverage.
Steph, I love Canada and just returned from a lovely road trip up Vancouver Island beginning in Victoria to Quadra Island and back, Sidney to Anacortes, WA. I regularly go to knitting retreats on Salt Spring Island BC and to one last Oct on Quadra Island. Your comments confirm what I have always felt about my Canadian friends and neighbors.
Happy Canada Day
… where I want to visit. Also, where Anne of Green Gables takes place, which I am reading for the first time.
…where they make the best beer in the world – tasty, tasty, Kokanee. And the finest candy, Smarties (and you know which ones I always eat last.)
Happy Birthday, Canada. I miss you every day!
Having lived most of my 49 years in Michigan, I have grown to love Canada.
Canada is a perfect place for a visit. It is similar enough so you don’t feel “out of place”, but different enough to hold wonders and surprises.
Canada is….
~a place where you can see a zamboni driving down the street in the middle of summer.
~a place that has ketchup potato chips and you get asked if you want gravy on your fries.
~a place where it’s not unusual to see a guy in a kilt(maybe even playing bagpipes).
~a place where your change will probably be all coins
~a place that getting gas requires that dreaded double conversion – CAD to USD and liters to gallons! Don’t do it – gas is expensive and the exchange rate is lousy. Just get gas and pretend you don’t know or care what it costs.
~a place that introduced me to a favorite snack more than 20 years ago – salt & vinegar chips and Canada Dry ginger ale (and Tim Horton donuts).
~a place where you may have a hard time finding a hotel room if you visit during dragon boat races.
~a place with my favorite knitting blogger.
~a place with my favorite vacation spot, Stratford Ontario. A little town with world class theater, you won’t find better in New York or London. I can’t wait for my vacation in September, since I now live in South Carolina it takes both a plane ride and a drive across a bridge! I can’t wait!
Happy Canada Day!
Canada is a country where I would love to be.
Happy Canada Day!
canada is a place where kids like me who grew up in detroit can go for hockey night in canada (thank god the cbc’s signal found my mom’s tv antennae) and legal drinking when you’re still underage at home. (sorry mom).
and timbits. lots and lots of timbits.
happy birthday canada!
I’m thinking I need to move………….
Canada is where: I am legally married! Thank you Canada 🙂
Can I move in with you? Really! I will even polish your knitting needles, make sure the beer never runs out, and learn all the words to every Canadian song written! Seriously, I only wish I could be that proud of my country these days.
Happy Canada Day from a disillusioned Texan.
Happy Canada Day!!!
The 2009 World Science Fiction Convention will be held in Montreal.
. . . moose have the right of way. (Most sensible, of course.)
“National Film Board” reminds me of dragging the kids to see “O Canada”, the film in the Canada pavilion at Epcot (my preteen for once didn’t mind because she thinks Canada is awesome), and hearing the amazing voice of Stan Rogers (miss him!) while seeing Canadian lands and waters all around. Made by the National Film Board.
I know & love the “Logdriver’s Waltz” (birling! I know one of the former youth birling champions of the US! plus live in a town that grew out of the lumber boom of the turn of the last century) but had never SEEN the Logdriver’s Waltz — thanks!
I know all the handmotions for “Skinnymarinkadinkadink” too! Love it!
Canada is a country that doesn’t think twice about the leadership abilities of women or minorities. Kim Campbell, Jeanne Sauvé, Adrienne Clarkson, Michaelle Jean, Beverley McLachlin. Just a small sampling of half the evidence. Blame Canada indeed.
Canada is like the 2nd largest country for land mass but something like the fith largest population.
I also know all the handmotions to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink. My youngest sister had a HUGE Sharon, Lois and Bram crush.
Canada is wonderful.
Loved the post! I am sorry that it obviously required such a long preamble for us addle minded USers. Speaking well of something or someone never detracts from someone else. Oh Canada!
Ever since my brothers were draft eligible for the Viet Nam War, I have always appreciated Canada. I was 11 years old when I told someone that if my brothers were drafted I would drive them to Canada, if I could. At that time, I thought that it meant that I would never see them again.
Kraft Dinners are Kraft Mac & Cheese! That Barenaked Ladies song makes so much more sense now. 🙂
A wonderful post!
Canada is the greatest place to live, and I’m lucky to be able to raise my family here.
You Canadians have every right to be proud of so very much. Lovely post.
And Elaine–congratulations on your marriage!
(It’s only tangentially related to Canada, but Dan Savage’s book, “The Commitment” about trying to decide if he and his boyfriend should go to Canada to get married. It has a really touching part about Canada in it. Made me want to be a Canadian. Again.)
Happy Canada Day!
….you can call Canada Day, “Dominion Day” here in the Village of Elora and not get laughed off your tree branch. Hey, we even do pancake breakfast with the Fire Department, Soap Box Derby races, an “in for all” parade, Ducky over the Dam Races, and free hot dogs in the park.
I love Canada.
In college (uni to you), while working on my theatre minor, we were told that theater = the building and theatre = the art form.
I like the delineation, and I’m sticking with it. Of course, I also think of gray and grey as two different colors, so my POV may be skewed.
Heavy sigh…..Only going to celebrate Canada, eh? 74% believe Bush is the greatest threat…how does that celebrate Canada? If I trash talked your PM as part of my homage to the US? Yeah, you’d call me a hoser….
That being said, Happy Canada day Steph! I’ll raise a beer in your(& Canada’s) honour on the 4th 😮 )
You’ve just cleared up a great mystery for me. The only words that my spellcheck dings me on are the ones you listed as spelled differently in Canada. Obviously, though born in New Jersey, I am a Canadian at heart.
… apparently, many US citizens should live because they believe in the same things as you. Damn. How am I going to convince my husband that it’s not “too” cold in Canada?
… where my husband proposed to me on a 2 weeks long camping trip and we have been happily married for 14 years.
Seriously? Milk in bags? Wonders never cease.
Happy Canada Day from a neighbor to the south…I would never confuse your national pride with a put down for the US. And just for the record, I think that you have some things, like national health care, really, really right. And the beer thing, too. Anyway, enjoy!
Canada is a country where:
* I’d like to visit from coast to coast
* some of my favorite employees were born and raised
* the nicest people seem to come from (I swear, everyone I’ve ever met from Canada has been REAL)
* my favorite comedians and actors were born and raised
Don’t get me wrong, I think my country is pretty darned cool (current leadership excepted… ahem…) but I have yet to visit and really think my life is lacking because of that. Freaky, huh?
Happy Birthday, Canada.
Awesome! I’m from New Zealand and that list sounds like all the best we have + what we wish we had, will totally visit Canada when I’m feeling homesick. As an aside, how tolerant of extra vowels (i.e. normal spelling) are people in the US? That may be a problem for me in my new job….
…i get homesick for even tho i’m not a citizen.
…i can get whatever i want on my burger at harvey’s.
…one of the best celtic bands EVER to come from toronto, enter the haggis!
…one of the coolest teen shows is filmed, DEGRASSI (i’m 34 and i still remember the shock of spike getting knocked up in the 8th grade).
…my hubby’s aunt is a lutheran minister, now serving in nova scotia. before that she was in saskatchewan.
…where i rode my first subway (montreal). the wheels on the train hummed.
…people can drive semis over ice roads (yay ice road truckers!)
boy, i really need to get that passport now. i’m really getting homesick.
Canada is a country that spawns the funniest damn people on the planet. Nowhere else could boast the likes of SCTV, the Kids in the Hall, many of the funniest people on SNL, Phil Hartman, David Steinberg, Jim Carrey, and the list goes on and on…and then there’s music: the land that gave us Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, The Guess Who, the New Pornographers, the Arcade Fire, Bob Wiseman, and so on? Happy Canada Day indeed. We love you guys.
I read somewhere (don’t know if this is true) that Kraft Mac & Cheese is called Kraft Dinner in Canada because Canada’s labelling laws are stricter than those in the US and there is not enough actual cheese in the product for it’s name to contain the word. Well, it makes sense to me, at any rate 😉
Happy Canada Day! I’ll be able to remember it now- my son, the firstborn, is 16 today:-)
Moved to Laval, Canada (just outside Montreal) when I was three and, indeed, went Trick or Treating in the snow drifts with a snow suit under my clown costume. Now I’m in Massachusetts, although half my family is still in Montreal. Another thing to be proud of: Canada was the first to legalize same sex marriage on this continent. I’m pleased to say that Massachusetts was the 2nd.
… is where I tear up a bit singing the anthem at the Canada Day citizenship ceremony at Queen’s Park (the capital buildings of the province of Ontario).
I also thought it seemed pretty typical that the provincial minister of citizenship’s speech basically said that Canada’s not perfect, but we’re doing our best. Most countries would just say they are perfect even if it is not true!
Canada is…
…where I’m moving next month…
yay!
I love that you love Canada. When I hear people talking about how much they love the US, I’m all, “Really? Even after all the bad things we’ve done?” It would be awesome to live in a place you love.
Hooray for Canada from a Kiwi.
Canada is a Country that I WILL NEVER move out of. I feel so safe living here, and I love that we have a year maternity leave, great health care (in Quebec anyhow, I dont know about the other provinces), and aren’t at war with anyone!
Canada is a country where people use the metric system and don’t expect everyone to speak English. Very sensible.
Canada has the kick-ass side of Niagara Falls.
Canada has the Bay of Fundy, home to the world’s highest tides – 13 meters (trying to be metric here 🙂 or more in places. It’s fascinating to spend an afternoon watching the water recede. There’s also a phenomenon called a tidal bore, which is a wave that goes upriver with the incoming tide. Who knew such stuff existed? I didn’t until a couple years ago. We’ll be back.
Almost everything you wrote about Canada is true in Australia. Our countries are amazingly similar. (We just have a warmer winter.)
Canada is a place where you :
…. never have to decide between doctor bills and groceries ( or yarn! ).
…. can leave a 500$ camera in the stroller by accident – and still find it there an hour later.
…. can lose a brand new cell phone in a ballpit and when you call, the person who picks it up is HAPPY to be able to return it to you!
…. can watch your dog running away for days.
…. shovel your driveway, the walk, and possibly the back lane!
I had no idea that Sharon, Lois, and Bram are Canadian. I used to watch that show with my baby brother every day. Good times. I am so heading over to YouTube to watch some Elephant Show clips!
So *that’s* where “hoser” came from!
We (at my university) spell it theatre.
Happy Canada Day to all!
My newest little second cousin lives! How I wish I could go cuddle the most adorable one-week-old in Canada!
I know (of) Sharon, Lois & Bram! and all the hand movements to Skin-a-ma-rinkee-dinkee-do!
Canada is a place where:
…most of my in-laws live. I was required to learn how to make Nanaimo Bars when I married my husband. 😉
…you can get Coffee Crisps by the case! Yum!
Happy Canada Day!
The more homogenous the world becomes the more boring it becomes. It is depressing to travel to China and see a Starbucks in Kentucky Fried Chicken next to an ancient Chinese temple in Shanghai. It is appalling to travel to Europe and instead of being able to eat the local cuisine all you see are American-style fast food restaurants. We should celebrate our differences and enjoy them! Great post, if I didn’t hate the cold I’d move to Canada tomorrow!
Canada is a country where…
…we took our honeymoon (without hesitation or deliberation about destination – it was “Where should we go?” “Canada?” “Yes.”) so that we could visit the Maritimes, the birthplace of hockey, see the Bay of Fundy and enjoy poutine (which we make at home as a treat now). (We accidentally timed it so that we arrived on Thanksgiving… oops.)
…we can’t wait to return.
…my mother’s ancestors lived.
…knitting isn’t seen as strange and returning to the same yarn store twice in three days while on your honeymoon isn’t seen as odd by the shopkeeper (or she was too polite to let on).
…hard cider is almost as prevalent as beer and you don’t get strange looks for asking after it at restaurants. (Or at least it was in Nova Scotia.)
Happy Canada Day Stephanie! I miss my beloved Canada, my second home, but keep it close through you!
I made several trips to Canada when I was living in upstate NY, but I was closer to the border and free & single. It was so clean and the air smelled sweeter and the people were so nice.
Hopefully I’ll make it back there one day.
I’ve always said that I wished I lived in Canada. Sadly I seem to have to usable skills…maybe before I go back to school I should just see what’s needed up there!
I LOVE my Canadian friends and always love visiting.
Happy Birthday Canada! It was my home away from home as I grew up on the US side of the St Lawrence River. My husband and I had out offical date on a drive to the Ottawa airport. I have only happy memories of my times in your wonderful country and I look for to creating more with my family!
…where musicians can get government grants to help them record great tunes!
…where they don’t bleep out all four-letter words on television (yet another reason I love “The Hour”)
It sounds great. I’d be there now myself, but my Canadian mum was forced to give up her citizenship in 1943 when she married my Dad. When I looked into getting my own citizenship, I was told “in that year, she gave it up voluntarily.” She’s dead and cannot tell them herself what she told me. NOT!
I’ve enjoyed every one of your things-about-Canada lists. I like learning something interesting about another country. Thanks.
…you can drink legally at 19!
That’s why we went and got passports in college…Windsor was only a 3 hour drive. 🙂
Stephanie
Never,never apologize for having pride in your home country. It sounds like Canada is an excellent place to live (aside from the bitter cold weather) and believe me, you folks up north have a lot going for you that we don’t here in the U.S. (Universal Health Care, low crime rate, high percentage of educated citizens to name a few) After our last president, I wish we could have gotten a do-over. I think George W. Bush is a nut and I will be happy to see him leave office. The presidential election is in November of this year, but his term will not expire until January 2009. Please keep your fingers crossed for us down south in the United States!
Canada is a country where most of my favorite television shows are filmed (X-Files, Smallville, Supernatural, STARGATE).
Canada is a country that produces some of my favorite actors, including David Hewlett and Paul Gross.
Canada is a country that brings us awesome knitting authors and yarns, and I’m very glad they are mostly a peaceful, beer drinking, poutine eating country as I live on a state that borders the beautimous Pacific province.
Thank you Canada!
where the future citizens of the 51st state live and prosper.
heh, heh, heh
sn
So *that’s* where “hoser” came from!
We (at my university) spell it theatre as a profession, theater as a building (unless it’s part of the proper name).
Happy Canada Day to all!
when I was a child in VT, I had the benefit of watching the Irish Rovers on CBC and where I would be honoured to live someday!
… I will someday live!
Canada is a country where:
–You don’t have to drive an hour to see the stars twinkling in the night sky;
–You don’t have to drive two hours to enjoy nature’s beauty without accompanying car horns or airplane engines;
–People sensibly invested in mass transit;
–There is a variety of fine beers to enjoy;
–The YarnHarlot lives *bows in worship*; and
–Yarn-thieving rat b******* squirrels provide hours of entertainment.
Happy Canada Day! Raise a pint for us.
….. a place of peace and inspiration. Summers are lovely and winters cold and lovely. Where I would more than happily pack my bags off to if it weren’t for that whole winter thing.
only 74%?! I’m a Californian and I think even the most hard-core Republicans behind the Orange Curtain would think that the Shrub has been a threat to world peace.
Crap – I think I want to live in Canada. You guys are so LOGICAL. (If McCain gets elected, I may have to, for my own sanity ;-)). If global warming continues on pace, I’ll definitely move. I LOVE winter, so Canada is right up my alley. And I so want to go to Cuba. Sheesh. Happy Canada Day!!
Happy Canada Day, dear Harlot! Yours is a country which I admire very much and where I wish I could live some day. (Is there are term for people who secretly wish they were Canadian?)
Ok, next I want to see a video of all the motions to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink! I’ve never seen them. Yes, American… with toddlers. lol!
I have always enjoyed your posts, but I do take offense at the post about George Bush and the production of oil. He is our president and no matter what kind of job he has done he deserves respect because of the office he holds. As for the oil… I think there shoulf be some more research on the facts.
Wanda
Because I am a Canadian, I am very well respected anywhere I travel in Europe.
Canada is a country where . . .
. . . I did the second best thing in my entire life. I attended the Winter Olympics in 1988 in Calgary, Alberta.
. . . drivers stop in the middle of the block to let you cross the street.
. . . a bus driver going from Nakiska to downtown Calgary will let you off at Canada Olympic Park (even though he isn’t supposed to) because you have tickets to another event there.
. . . it used to be the best thing I did until I married my husband in ’99 : )
Happy Canada Day! I’m a little envious that Canada has David Suzuki, Leonard Cohen, The Friendly Giant and televised curling, but thank goodness that you’re willing to share! 🙂
Wow, you make me want to move up there right away! All I have to do is make my husband more comfortable with cold weather.
My best friend in high school was Canadian, so I knew that Canada was terrific, but you write so eloquently. Thank you for sharing.
That was lovely. Thank you.
Canada is a country that sounds a lot like Norway,only it is even better to live here (according to your statistic) 😛
Where:
We have:
-Timbits
-Extra Large Double Doubles (oh yeah, baby. Oh yeah)
-Smarties
-KD and Weiners (although I wish this would disappear sometimes. That s*** will kill you)
-Poutine (will also kill you but at least it isn’t accessible for husbands to feed to small children while Mommy is away)
Also:
-Rick Mercer
-Kids in the Hall
-The Hour
-Degrassi
-Corner Gas
Also:
-I only lock my door at night
-Anybody will be happy to agree to disagree
-Mounties let you take a pic with them
-My neigbours DO shovel my snow sometimes
-We have palm trees and tundra in the same country
-Inukshuks
-Beautiful, stunning Inuit artwork
-You can drive for hours literally, with the only evidence that you are not the first person who was ever there being the road and the fact that the mosquitoes recognize you as a food source
-We have trees you can drive a car through
-We have a province with mountains AND prairies, right next to each other. Also, what used to be the biggest mall in the world… but still has the biggest parking lot in the world. Oh, yeah!
-Tommy Douglas (I had a baby and he was FREE!)
-Louis Riel
-Niagra Falls, Parliament, and some interesting prime ministers. Like “Monseur Je ne Parlez Pas Anglais or French but I can Beat Up Robbers Guy”
-400 years! Congrats!
-One Bilingual Province, with a Magnetic Hill and Reversing Falls
-Anne of Green Gables, and a province where the speed limit is slow because if you were speeding you couldn’t stop in time for the other side
-People who eat salt cod and hot dogs in cans.
-Beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada’s Ocean Playground, Home of the Bluenose,Joel Plaskett Emergency, and the highest tides in the world.
Canada is a place where…
Kids like Emily Yeung and Daniel Cook can (deservedly) become the centers of the universe, and adults of all ages and backgrounds are happy to sit with them and let them be the boss!
Where Gordon Lightfoot comes from. (I say that every year, and every year, I am ignored. Alas, Gordon, you are a love that speaks to me alone!)
Education is apparently important to the government, but absolute conformity is not high on their list. I love that about your country!
That is made better by our beloved Harlot and the angel on her shoulder that insists she speak her mind (in a self-deprecating, respectful, brilliant, funny way.)
Thanks for the post, Steph! It always makes me wish I lived in Toronto–ESPECIALLY in July!
Sharon, Lois & Bram are Canadian?! Who knew?! Apparently a lot of my TV came from Canada in Detroit and I never knew it 😉
…we announced our engagement to my husband’s parents…
…where we were welcomed and cared for in the days following 9/11 when we were in Halifax and wondering if we would be able to get home…
…Where the Atlantic is like a warm pond in September off of Cape Breton…
…where my husband is from…
…where I hope to have my summer home when I’m well enough off to have one…
…where I would raise kids if I wanted any…
Happy Canada Day! I spent many Friday nights being entertained by The Red Green Show. “Just remember if the women dont find you handsome they should at least find you handy!” And “I’m a man but, I can change, if I have to. I guess” Finally, my favourite, “If all else fails play dead”
Where we all know what it feels like when your nostrils freeze together.
…I’ve spent 3 happy years and am hoping to stay and which has, despite the fact I have no car, given me a $100 cheque for climate action change- thanks for the pretty new bike Canada & happy b’day!
…where I would fit right in.
I wish I were a citizen.
I am a Canadian-Wanna-Be.
OMG, Casey and Finnigan…I think I just had a flashback.
Canada is a country where…
…you stand on cars and freeze. (Okay, it’s not my own joke. I found it on kissthisguy.com. But I thought it was neat of them to put it up today. All together now: “O Canada/we stand on cars and freeze…”)
Seriously. Canada is a country where:
…you can just walk into a corner shop or supermarket and buy a Nestle Coffee Crisp bar. (In the U.S. you can usually find them in ONE store per state. This necessitates planning and hoarding, which is fun when you’re doing it with yarn, but not as much fun when you just want a little Coffee Crisp bar action.)
…everybody knows who Stephen Leacock is.
…some of my very favorite knitters live, including (but not limited to) Rabbitch, Lee Ann, Jodi Green and the keeper of this excellent page, whose company I feel privileged to enjoy every day of the year.
Happy Canada Day! There is so much that is admirable about your country. I especially love the national health care, that is just common sense to take care of everyone’s health for the good of society.
Please escuse this Obama supporter but an earlier comment from a Sarah stated some falsehoods about Obama and faith-based groups. This is a direct quote from ABC news to set things straight.
“He (Obama) stressed that recipients of government funds in the program would be prohibited from discrimination on religious grounds in hiring and from proselytizing with public funds, and the money could only be directed to nonreligious programs.
“I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea,” Obama said.
I am sincerely sorry to post anything political on dear Stephanie’s site but I wouldn’t want any Canadians or anyone else thinking Obama had lost his good common sense!
Again, Happy Canada Day!
Canada is where we have the Yarn Harlot!!
I love everything you’ve said. I wish I had the imagination to express my love for our countrythe way you just did. Good on ya Steph. You made us Proud.
My grandfather was born, yet I’ve never been to visit….
Je suis fier de vivre !
On a more serious noteI have to mention Gay MARRIAGE, not civil unions, MARRIAGE. This is a country that loves it’s people regardles.
…where bus drivers are kind to tourists and tell them where to get off (the bus) and where to pick up the connection – and what the bus number is.
…where passengers exiting the bus say “Thank you” to the driver.
…where you can buy insulin over the counter at a pharmacy in Victoria when you drop your bottle on the floor of the cruise ship bathroom…
Canada sounds great & I hope to visit there sometime. With respect, I do feel that much of your pride – and the commenters’ – is stated in terms of superiority over the U.S. (in spite of the initial disclaimer). Personally, I think that Canada is able to have many of its wonderful qualities precisely because it shares such a connection with the U.S. Antagonistic countries and organizations that think twice before engaging the U.S. do the same for Canada – greatly out of fear/respect for the U.S. Your own remarks about the Canadian system of being able to easily remove leaders demonstrates one aspect of why it would be difficult for it to have a legitimate “World Power” status. Many may feel that a “World Power” isn’t needed or that the idea is outdated – and yet they are quick to call on the U.S. in times of crisis around the world. So many commenters are quick to deride Bush and your own remarks seem to share that tone. While there may have been errors made, and sadly, we’ve had to learn a new way to fight wars, I personally respect the man and feel safer than I did after the terrorist attacks – the cavalier tone of many reveals that while they may not care for Bush, they also aren’t reeling in the same fear we all felt after the attacks. I’m glad to live in a country that pursues and has the means for “good government” but details “the pursuit of happiness” as an intrinsic right of man. Again, I think that Canada sounds wonderful and I won’t feel that I’ve seen and done all I want to see & do until I’ve been there. However, Canada’s greatness would be better stated if it weren’t in terms of so-called weaknesses of the U.S.
Canada is a country where George Bush isn’t in charge. (That makes me envious.)
Happy Canada Day!!! How do you buy milk in a bag?
I can’t finish that sentence, but I can tell you that you taught me more about Canada in this one post than I ever knew.
Canada is a place that understands several Maine-isms apparently unfamiliar to other US states (fiddleheads, *real* blueberries, dropped egg on toast, tomOrrow). Sorry about that time Maine declared war on you guys… we’re friends now! 🙂
ps I bet there are some people on here who would be happy to send some knitted love to Logan’s little one
Happy Birthday, Canada!
I’m a lifelong proud American, but lately I’m not so proud of my government. Here’s hoping there will be more to celebrate on our birthday next year.
Oh, and as for why it’s called “Kraft Dinner” in Canada? The Kraft folks wanted to make sure you could identify it as a food item. Without the name, it would be hard to tell. 😉
I can’t let my husband read this! He’ll want to move back! 🙂
Canada is a place where … you have a reasonable hope of finding pancake syrup, jam and the like with NO high fructose corn syrup! Yippee!! Just my latest eureka from our last trip … happily, we’re just across the water from the west end of the Trans Canada Highway. Another good thing is Disk Drive on CBC radio with Jorgen Goth.
Happy Canada Day!!!
Bruce Cockburn lives, where the most beautiful places to canoe are ….Killarney and Algonquin, CBC broadcasts from, so that I can watch Rick Mercer Red Green and TVO across the lake in NY and most important…when we traveled there right after 9/11, everybody we talked to said “I am so sorry” and meant it. Thank you, it’s comforting to know you’re all up there.
A question for the Canadians! I live in California, and last summer I visited Auyuittuq National Park. How many of you have been there? (It is awesome.)
happy Canada Day,
As for 47 % of all adults having a degree, no wonder, we have doctors working as laborers, teachers selling stuff, shall I continue?
. . . you have one of the greatest cultural institutions in the world, the Stratford Festival. I have seen several plays each year since about 1980, and have been thrilled, moved, amused, and generally enthralled every time. We started taking the kids when they were old enough to sit still and be at least somewhat interested (about age 8 or 9), and they have both become theater buffs like their parents.
Stratford also has some wonderful restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts, making it the complete cultural experience.
Now, however, I am about to move from Michigan to California to be closer to said children and grandchild, and I am afraid I’ll never get back to Stratford. I can’t begin to tell you how much I will miss it–it has become part of me.
Canada is a country where some really awesome entertainment has been born: Due South; Men with Brooms; Traders. And without Canada, Nickelodeon would have tanked, since it got most of its early programming from the CBC. Canada is also the home of my current inappropriate-for-a-lesbian-mancrush Callum Keith Rennie. Rawr.
…where nice people live in harmony.
I wish we were as civilised as “youse guys” (a philly expression)…we STILL have not apologised to native americans, let alone african-americans. we cannot get a “do over” if we f*ck-up an election. our healthcare system is for the rich only, as is housing, cars, food, and gasoline.
yet I love my city, home of the declaration of independence and the constitution. even though we have a very high murder rate due to guns; another area where canadians are sane and we are fools.
and yes, I AM VOTING FOR OBAMA.
thank you for teaching me about my neighbor to the north; and have a happy birthday! raise a beer for me!
Your country makes good sense!
Congratulations to all Canadians, for living in a country that’s as logic as 01/07/2008 😀
GREAT post! I am a naturalized American citizen…born in Newfoundland…just call me a Goofy Newfie.
When I was a teenager, I went to Canada for ten days to visit family. I’ll never forget when my mom drove to a farm and bought white cheese in bags. I don’t know what the proper name for them is, but they looked like big cheese curds. Delicious! I can still remember how good they were. We ate them straight out of the bags.
And going to one of my aunt’s houses (my mom was one of 17 children) and eating the same cheese with gravy and French fries…a little weird but do-able.
Yes…I have fond memories of that trip and am proud to say that I was born there.
Canada is a country where there is excellent, excellent fishing!!!! Buckthorn Lake rocks.
Yay for The Red Green Show! Even though he is Canadian, much of his humor translates very well to northern MN and WI. O Canada!
Canada is a country where……….
…Ice roads and truckers really do exist, even if we don’t get to see the show up in Yellowknife
…where the skies are so clear, that not only do we see auroras, stars galore, shooting stars and comets, but also satellites crossing the night skies
…where we took my 90 year old father to see the Niagara Falls and the Snowbirds flew over (no special day either)
…people accept that a letter sent by Canada Post to a neighbouring town may take 6 months to arrive
…Where the kids can walk to and from school safely (for the most part)
…Where the kids can walk to school at -40 in hoodies and jeans and not freeze to death!!!!although it is a little stupid
…where parents feel justified about nagging about the above point even though they know it wont make a blinking bit of difference
…Where we emigrated and feel proud to say we are Canadian and belong here
…where we love this country so much that we had to share it with three teenagers, who we adopted from Brazil in 2005 – and they love it too despite 8 months of winter
…where the community rallies round to support all members of the family when teenagers start exhibitting behaviours that you would prefer they didn’t
…where people still reassure you when you think everything is going to Hell in a hand basket
…where you can drop round at a friends house without phoning to ask if it’s convenient
…there are far too many good things to write about……and lets not forget the one and only Rex Murphy
Just love it here!!!!
Janet MF way Up North
To quote Five Iron Frenzy…
“Welcome to Canada, it’s the Maple Leaf State.
Canada, oh Canada it’s great!
The people are nice and they speak French too.
If you don’t like it, man, you sniff glue.
The Great White North, their kilts are plaid,
Hosers take off, it’s not half bad.
I want to be where yaks can run free,
Where Royal Mounties can arrest me.
Let’s go to Canada, let’s leave today,
Canada, oh, Canada, I Sil Vous Plait.
They’ve got trees, and mooses, and sled dogs,
Lots of lumber, and lumberjacks, and logs!
We all think it’s kind of a drag,
That you have to go there to get milk in a bag.
They say “eh?” instead of “what?” or “duh?”
That’s the mighty power of Canada.
I want to be where lemmings run into the sea,
Where the marmosets can attack me.
Let’s go to Canada, let’s leave today,
Canada, oh, Canada, I Sil Vous Plait.
Let’s go to Canada, let’s leave today,
Canada, oh, Canada, I Sil Vous Plait.
Please, please, explain to me,
How this all has come to be,
We forgot to mention something here.
Did we say that William Shatner is a native citizen?
And Slurpees made from venison, That’s deer.
Let’s go to Canada, let’s leave today,
Canada, oh, Canada, I Sil Vous Plait.”
…my first child was born. Where my stepchildren live, and where I spent the first five years of my marriage.
Canada is a country I hope to divide half my time in when I retire! I miss it lots!
From a dual Australian/Canadian citizen ;).
Kraft’s macaroni and cheese products carry different names in more than one country. (They also can’t be guaranteed identical. The UK’s Cheesey Pasta(sic) is… um… well… when I lived over there, I used to import, and that’s how I discovered that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese had finally just started using the cheese powder from the Canadian product within the past ten years.)
Stock up on the original powder/formula if you’re committed to the stuff, BTW. The new stuff is nice, but it’s not Kraft Dinner.
Canada sounds so sane. I especially like the idea of political do-overs. I thought we had a similar process, impeachment, but apparently that is only for presidents who have zipper issues.
Canada rocks!!! Happy Birthday Home!!!!
Canada is a country where we’ve spent wonderful vacations: Vancouver this year, Nova Scotia last year, Montreal the year before that, Banff the year before *that*, and yes, St. John’s the year before *that*. We love being travelers in Canada!!
Canada is a country where YOU live, so therefor it must be awesome.
It is a country that offered sanctuary to our sons when our own country lost it’s mind and morals and was sending them into Vietnam to pursue another of our imperialistic corporate goals.
Canada, the gentle giant.
Canada is a country I’d dearly love to spend more time in, from border to border, sea to sea, most definitely.
YAY Sharon Lois and Bram! I adored listening to their tapes in the car. And we watched the videos until the tape wore out. I wanted to get tapes for my kids, but I can’t find them anywhere! It makes me sad and nostalgic
Wait, there are countries where beer at lunchtime is wrong? O_O
In Australia, you can get away with beer at breakfast time. I think it may be the factor that makes it the 3rd most liveable country.
…. and Rusty the Rooster is half in the bag!
So much of that applies to NZ as well which probably explains why, when we lived in the US for a year a long long time ago, and visited Canada very briefly we felt like we were home. Quite an amazing feeling. If I had to choose somewhere other than NZ to live (Heaven forbid!) Canada would be high up on the list.
Lovely post 🙂
First, how can you not love a post that manages to use the word ‘hoser’ in the opening? eh?
Canada is also a good neighbor (even without a fence, however stoopid the one to our/US southern border is). Canada is also the birthplace of many fine yarns.
…where we say sorry when someone bumps into us…
Oh. I was having a good day til you mentioned the poutine. How I miss poutine. We used to vacation at the Deerhurst (until the US Dollar tanked) and lordy, they made a good poutine. Used to be able to get them in upstate NY, but not down in Philly. Maybe I need to start a poutine shop?
Canada is a country where a really awesome knitter and writer named Stephanie lives!!!
Ever since Franklin’s visit, I’ve been running around saying I want to move to Toronto. Dude. You’ve got it going on. Happy Canada Day.
You can ride from one side of the country to the other without having to change trains.
…I’d love to live some day. If only I could pick up my house and move it with me…
…where I think I’d like to live. And it produced such rock awesomeness as Rush, Triumph, and my personal buds from the 80s, AnA Black. (And Celine and Shania, but who’s counting?) Happy Canada Day!
Canada is….
where George W. Bush is NOT president
Canada is a country where… i LOVE to visit. A country that is a great neighbor. A country whose people are relaxed and happy – in spite of the short summers. A country that has my nearest IKEA and Whole Foods. Yay Canada !!!
Is the place where I was born and will the place where I die even though I will likely die a 2-6 day drive away from the place I was born. What a great post. Thanks.
Now, to go find a beer….
Happy Canada Day! Thanks for “The Log Driver’s Waltz”, but what in the world is Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink? Yes, Bush IS a menace. We vacationed in Toronto for a week last summer. I STILL miss Tim Horton donuts! Sadly, I don’t think I could survive the snow in winter!
Canada is a country where David & I agree we could live quite happily. Especially now that we´re legally married there. I have to say, though, that it was amusing to see a degree of flag-waving last weekend in NS that we more typically associate with our own countrymen. I´d say that y´all have better reasons to wave those flags, though.
Canada is wonderful and i approve of it in all ways but one. An import that i do not thank Canada for- Pamela Anderson. Will you take her back now please?
Skin-a-whahhuh??
I was with you until I got to that one…what is that?
Happy Birthday Canada. I’m American, but I also know all the had motions to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink. My children and I loved Sharon, Lois and Bram. And back when we were first married and living in New Jersey a trip home to Massena wasn’t complete without a trip to Cornwall for some Brador beer. Yum.
I would love to move to Canada-it’s a fun foreign country, yet so close to home.I’d only be moving 7 miles or so. Just have to get across the St. Lawrence River.
Sharon, Lois and Bram!! Now you’re talking my language! Skin-a-ma-rink was my kid’s mantra! I’m from the US, but we went as far as going to see them in concert here in the states.
“I love you in the morning, and in the afternoon..”
…you can hand your socks-in-progress to a busker on Parliament Hill for a photo-op and someone in the audience screams out: “hey you’re a knitter, Woohoo!”
And, in the ‘how things are spelled’ category, we have FIBRE, not fiber. 🙂
Canada is very similar to England, we also say thank you to the bus driver, cheque is spelt the right way, and my your sky is soooooo HUGE. When I visited your beautiful country I went to Toronto and upstate to Midland shrine. it was so ancient and very nice.
I wanna go again but i’ll have to knit like fury for the next 4 years.
Do you get guinness??? You should try it draught. Ice cold straight from the fridge, yum,we get it in every offy shop. Another thing we have here that you have is cold winters. Today was had a helleva summer storm, the heavens just chucked it down, we are in for a hot spell like 32C next week, just like you all. happy Canada day for yesterday. Ooops just turned tuesday.
…where the canoeing is better than anyplace else in the world;
…where no one seems either horribly rich or horribly poor;
…where the cuisine is– well I’m not sure there is any, but it’s cheerfully presented;
…where people actually spell out name right.
And if it weren’t for the weather, I’d really want to live there…. but global warming will probably fix that.
Canada Rocks! I had to learn that the question “Is there any dinner?” does not mean “get out from behind the spinning wheel and make me dinner”, it means is there a plan or do we call out?
The other one I’ve just learned is “do I have pants for the morning?” does not mean; you’ve been more attached to the spinning wheel than taking care of my needs even though I’m a grown person, it means I will do my own laundry and yours if you haven’t had a chance. WOW after 27 years of marriage and 50 years of living there is still more to learn.
….home of my two favorite Canadians, Stephanie, and Michael Buble’…..WOW! Wendy
– Canada is a country where a mangled attempt at French is greeted with an genuine attempt to understand you and, if that fails, a beer.
– Canada is the country where I saw my first rock concert (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Hard Promises Tour, 1979).
– Canada is a country where curling is on television on Saturday night in a hotel bar and there’s a crowd watching.
Canada is where Smarties are yummy coated chocolate candies and not gross powdery fruit flavored crap.
Happy Canada Day to all those who are from where I feel I could fit right in! Saying that though, i love home. 😉 Michigan is ALMOST Canada in places, right?
Canada is a country where . . . the people are friendly, funny, and most often have a sense of decency. Where the government isn’t about world-domination. Where people are still shocked and amazed when horrible things happen. Where there is no cause to mourn the death of its political heritage.
And lastly, Canada is a country where I would live in a heartbeat, if I didn’t have such dear family members here.
. . . I was born (but, unfortunately, never lived). 🙂
Although I was naturalized as a U.S. Citizen when I was 9, I do wish that I could reclaim my Canadian roots and have dual citizenship. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s possible given the circumstances of how I came into the U.S. as a baby, the adoption process, and the lack of anyone who can remember my sperm donor’s name (or birth father, if you must, but he really was neither since he left my birth mother before I was born).
Anyway, I’m proud to be Canadian (sort of). 🙂
Canada is… home.
I am proud to say that I have met Casey and Finnegan. They visited my son’s preschool about 15 years ago. The parents were more thrilled than the kids!
Where, on my first trip out of the country (the US), my dad engaged a stranger in conversation at the gas station just so my brother and I could hear a Canadian say “aye.”
Canada is a place where ………… my best friend wants to move to. She has holidayed once and from her photos and your post I can see why, and we both love Australia, our home.
Canada is…
a country in which I’ve had one of my nicest vacations ever and where I wish I’d been born.
I love your Canada Day posts.
is cauldron not spelled that way in the US?
I think one of my favorite ways to describe Canada to non-Canadians is telling them what the border guards/customs officers tell Canadians who come back into the country:
“Welcome home.”
Canada is a country where you’re almost certain of finding warmth, hospitality and generosity at every corner. I’m proud to call it home.
(And thank you for posting the Logdriver’s Waltz – hadn’t heard that in years!)
Canada is a country that my fiance and I are considering moving too. His company has a branch in Montreal and I think we’d both enjoy living there. Now to go study French…….
Where you can listen to Hockey Night In Canada in English, French, Mandarin, and Punjabi (as I learned today on the wonderful CBC Radio) The play by play sounds every bit as exciting in Punjabi as it does in English.
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Birthday Canada, you’re a good neighbor.
Janet from Minnesota, USA
thank you canada for sidney crosby! 🙂
Hey, ShannyMac, I’ve been in love with Gordon Lightfoot since I was 12. Saw him in concert 7 times (so far)! He’s what made me want to move to Canada–of course I see now there’s so much more! (But he’s still my first love…sigh…)
…where I would love to live.
…where we almost emigrated to.
…I plan to go if they ever bring back the draft.
🙂
Well, our Christmas is about 80 degrees warmer, and we don’t do Halloween, and our PM tries too hard to be an American instead of an Aussie, but apart from that, SNAP… you would LOVE it here. Canada sounds just like us Ü
Oh, and Highway 1 here in Australia is over 24,000km long.
… everyone is very, very nice! Oh, and the national guard will come get you with helicopters if you are lost in the forest, even if you are on an island.
… where I want to live. Its not that much further north and I like snow, for the most part.
The whole, “74% of people consider President Bush a threat to world peace”. Made me laugh, a lot. That combined with the fact he looks like a monkey to me was just too much.
Its sad you have to do the “disclaimer” thing…
Canada is one great progressive country! Almost sounds like it’s full of unarmed Californians with health care! 🙂 Hopefully the next election will move all of America in that direction.
Canada is my home and I love it. Even if Wendy’s now owns Timmys.
Happy Canada Day, land that I love!
happy canada day! it’s a great country for sure.. and i’m totally not just saying that 🙂 you forgot that you can drink that beer at 19! as a girl who grew up in detroit, 19 was a big milestone. go canada!
i almost got to Canada in May. my friend and i were on our way to western New York, and we forgot to take the left turn at Syracuse. the VIP and i plan to visit on purpose soon. and i also love As It Happens, and miss not being able to hear it now that i’ve moved from Utah to Pennsylvania.
ummm… can we have more info about the milk in bags? i know it wasn’t meant to be the single most fascinating remark in the whole blog post but my mind is stuck in a place of total wonder and confusion and i’m having trouble climbing back out.
Happy Birthday Canada!
Canada is a place where you can still find true wilderness. You can drink the water in most places running over the ground. You can drink the amazing whiskeys we produce (the Forty Creek I am using to toast your Birthday Canada, is just amazing). You can live in the Arctic and see clear around the Earth from there! You can watch the sun cut circles in the sky and never set! You can learn true harmony with the land by living with and studying the ways of Inuit. You can go canoeing on the same lake for a life time and not learn each and every nook and cranny. And there a millions and bazillions of lakes. And oh my it is a land of mosquitos and black flies. Yes. So it is a land of a few hardy dimpled and red blotched people who venture out onto the land. We are honest. We are kind. We are generous. I like being Canadian. There is no place I’d rather live. Cheers to you Canada. And of course, it is a land that nurtures creative talent like Stephanie’s. Cheers!
where I don’t lock my doors at night or when I go to the grocery store and when the thought occurs that I probably should, my next thought is, ‘but who is there to be afraid of?’
I LOVE The Logdrivers Waltz. I heard it once as a kid (likely on Sesame Street) and it’s been locked away in my wee brain ever since.
I miss Rusty and Jerome too.
This USA-er also loves Sharon, Lois & Bram – tho I will have to listen to them with my grandson now!
Canada is… the best place in the world to hear fun, witty, loving, and crazy knicknames!
What a great country! I have a special place in my heart for my own USA – even tho I hate the concept of nationalism, there it is – still, Canada is a shining light in my heart. Thanks, Steph et al, for sharing the joy!
Canada is a country where …… they know how to cure decent bacon! I have been in America for 7 years and have yet to find bacon that is more meat than fat! My friends who lived in Canada for a couple of years and almost froze to death but had the time of their lives say that you have good bacon up there – I really need to visit!
Happy Canada Day!
is where a gold record is 50,000 sold (not 500,000).
where *good* musicians sometimes win Junos.
but, unfortunately, where one might need a winter coat in June…
…where I would like to live 🙂
I keep threatening to move there every time the US presidential election doesn’t go the way I’d like it to. You’ve only further convinced me of all the fantastic reasons to live there (except the poutine – noone can convince me that is a good idea.)
Happy Canada Day! Any country which produced David Suzuki, Sally Melville, peacekeeping AND THE YARN HARLOT is a great country. No question.
BTW, there is room for more than one great country on this planet (I’m a proud American, but I honor greatness all around).
Canada is a country where … I’m proud to say I’m from.
As a citizen of the USA, I loved being in Canada on Canada Day. On PEI, no less. Love your national anthem. Your Rocky Mtns. Your Pacific NW. Your bilingual French-English Quebec. Your wild atlantic coast. Love “As it Happens” and only wish our NPR was half as cool as that show.
Happy national day to you.
Canada is where I saw my first anti-George W. Bush graffitti in a porta-john at Edith Cavell Glacier! We LOVE Canada!
. . . I really, really need to move to. Like, right now.
Canada is the Friendly Giant, Hockey Night in Canada, the country where I got my master’s degree (I’m from the states), coffee “whitener”, the Trudeaus, Swiss Chalet,great comedy on XM radio, bags of milk, and the Tunnel Barbeque in Windsor, eh?
Canada is…
the country with the most graphically beautiful flag in the entire world. I want to live there just for the Maple Leaf!
My grandfather’s parents hailed. They where from Quebec and spoke fluent French-Canadian, and I responded in turn. God do I miss them. And their crochet. 😉
canada is the country i wish the usa would grow up to be.
Oh yes, the apology was wonderful. It came hot on the heels of the Australian apology to its Indigenous population. I was listening to the report on the news that morning getting the same chills I did when our apology happened in February. Yay for Canada. I know Canadians here and they are very, very fine people.
…close enough for me to visit and obviously I don’t do it often enough – had I known all of that stuff I might have moved there long ago!
Canada is a country where you can see Coyotes running wild in Stanley Park. (true story)
Canada is a country where Rick Mercer does all of his shenanigans and gets away with it on national tv. (he’s so funny)
Canada is a country where they have the best tv station ever! (cbc rocks man, where else can you watch Dr. Who, the Olympics, the RMR, and Harry Potter?)
Canada is a country where my Mom is from.
Happy Canada Day!!!
…. I want to live! Do you HAVE to speak french to live there? or does it just help?
Canada sounds awesome.
Canada is a country where the government puts on a new tax and then sends you the money to pay it.
Your post reminded me of that song from “Billy Bishop Goes to War” – “It may not be heaven, but heaven knows we try …”
…there are probably actually more bald eagles than in the US, based on what we saw on our Alaska cruise with stops in Canada, 75% of the population has the good sense not to use marijuana, and the citizenry is generally pretty tolerant of the goofy behavior of their neighbors to the south, and allow us to visit from time to time.
Canada is a country where many of my favorite artists of all time were produced: Rush, Loreena McKennitt, Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse cartoon strip)…some gal who writes knitting humor, of all things…the list goes on and on.
I’m amazed how often I’m reading a blurb on a new favorite band or artist or person and it says, “…born in Canada…”
Bless Canada for being itself, and producing so many funny and brilliant people.
Cananda was where I was stuck way out on a rocky beach in Nova Scotia and the tide was threatening the car and a bunch of lumberjacks (they’re ‘OK’) came along and LIFTED the little car over the high tide line of rocks and saved me……
…they birth talented folks like Margaret Atwood, Bryan Adams, and the Harlot.
Canada is where a great deal of people in the United States seem to think I live and couldn’t figure out why I got to vote in the Presidential Primaries…to set things aright, I live in Montana. *l* This doesn’t say much for our education system. *sigh*
Canada is a country where the paramedic who visited our hotel when my travel buddy lost her mind (briefly) looked like a cute version of Elvis (P.)and all the paramedics were kind. Their visit cost us nothing.
Canada is a country where even the diciest of inner-city neighbourhoods are clean.
Canada is a country where I have seen motorists bounce their cars off each other, shrug, and go on their way. It has, I fear, left me with frightening ideas about how Canadian drivers learn to operate motor vehicles.
Canada is the country where my husband is from (and where my children will have citizenship, once said husband finds our marriage license).
My in-laws drove down from Saint Catharines this weekend (they live in Chilliwack, though – epic voyage to visit far-flug family. next stop, maritimes). We live approximately 3 hours from the border in upstate NY. When they returned, they called and said – “it’s so different being back. almost like being in another country.” I laughed and laughed – usually it’s the Americans saying things like that.
I love that place names are less common in Canada than in the US. Sure, there are duplicates, but generally when I speak of family hometowns to Canadians, they know of which Chilliwack and Saint Catharines I speak.
NPR was going on and on about a “big celebration in Canada this week” I kept expecting them to talk about Canada Day, since it’s today. But no, it was the 400 year anniversary of Quebec City (also a lovely occasion, but it was surprising that Canada Day was NEVER mentioned, not once).
Wow…is it wrong that I now want to move to Canada? Of course, if we invade Iran like scuttlebutt says, we may be, because I’ll be damned if I let hubby get drafted to fight ANOTHER meaningless war with a little girl at home and a baby on the way. Got any room for my family and stash? I’ll share my fiber with ya!
I love the Vinyl Cafe! I also love that it now has a podcast that is posted weekly, because I would never have experienced it otherwise, since I live in Maryland, USA. If anyone has not listened to it before, I suggest you give it a try.
hoser…………****snort
Happy Canada Day, Stephanie. I do miss CBC (both radio and tv).
I subscribe to the podcast of Vinyl Cafe…still use the “ou” spellings…still think “zed” even though I say “zee”….and Looooove “The Logdriver’s Waltz”. Thanks for pointing out the video on YouTube.
…they’ve got it right, and we,(the USA) ought to follow their lead.
I’d really like to be. It is home for me, but I don’t live there anymore – I live in Michigan and go to Windsor whenever I can. Yes, I know all the gestures to skin-a-rink…and I know how to spell colour and theatre. Let us also not forget that Great Big Sea is Canadian. : )
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your canada posts. I know very little about canada except what I’ve gleamed from you and Michael Moore’s movie “Canadian Bacon”. Actually, here’s a question. In Canadian Bacon, they mention that canada never had slavery, is that accurate? B/C if it is, that is another something to definitely be proud of! =^)’
HAPPY CANADA DAY!! WOOHOO!!!
Canada is the country i was lucky enough to be born and raised in and i am forever thankful for that . Canada is a counry where “”The true north strong and free”” means when you live way up “north”” and go ice fishing with friends that they are “true” friends to stick by you while you belly ache about not being “”strong “‘enough to stay outside for another second to fish and they tell you are “”free”” to go home and they don’t think any the less of you . Canadians eh ? Who can beat that with a stick? Happy Canada Day
…the knitters are lovely, the scenery is often gorgeous, and having an open mind is not akin to being a potential terrorist!
While I don’t think that saying what you love about your country is the same as bashing another country, the same is not true when you compare it to another country. Most of the things you love about Canada are wonderful; however, bringing up people and issues of the United States in your comparisons is bashing and unappreciated. Shockingly, there are many people who do love the United States just the way it is, president and all.
(And even when I personally do not care for a policy or elected official, I think it is rude and detremental to the country to talk about it with people from other countries, particularly when it is presented as though everyone feels that way. Personally, I adore Bush, and would vote for him again today.)
I love the United States because it is not Canada.
Canada is a country where….
… I’m pretty sure I was meant to be a citizen. ^_^ Not that I don’t like the US (well, at least most times — but I think that’s true wherever you live). I just… have more in common with Canada on a socio-political level and with the vision of What the State is For and that kind of thing. Oh, I also like the cold and I habitually use “briticisms” ’cause that’s the way I was taught to spell things — in Nevada, of all places.
Canada is a country where…
… snow and roses routinely co-exist. I love that more than I can explain.
Such a nice disclaimer at the beginning, and yet the almost required jab at Bush — “Canadians are kind and gentle and another good point about us is that we all hate George Bush.” Why the disclaimer at all, I have to wonder?
Happy Canada Day. I feel your pride and share it. You forgot Raffi, I loved him and so did my child. Have a wonderful day.
Hmmm. 17% for McCain and 46% for Obama–I hope the USA does as well in November!!
And to several of your other commenters: I understand having respect for the presidency, but it’s been awfully difficult lately to have any positive feelings toward its current occupant.
Go Canada!!
My dad lives!!! He lives in St Catherines, Ontario. What a beautiful and friendly country!!! Happy Canada Day =)
I was Born!!! Edson, Alberta, Canada. I no longer live there, but I claim it enthusiastically!!
we love spending our summers sailing the waters of the Inland Passage. lovely place. good people. We love it like it’s our own. Happy Canada Day
– where our paper money is not only different colours but also has braille on it
– where maternity leave is upto ONE YEAR, and can be shared by both parents
– where I can walk out of the hospital with my new baby after a week long stay in the NICU and not pay a penny (but worry about whether or not I’ll have a dr when my current one retires…)
It’s not a perfect country, but it’s perfect for me!
Happy Canada Day!
Canada is a country where fast food restaurants (Tim Horton’s) serve the food on REAL dishes and the coffee in REAL mugs. Cool china mugs made in England . Two weeks ago I scored one filled with coffee as a souvenir for less than $5 US from the Tim Hortons in Fernie, B.C. (At least I think that’s how much I paid!) Lovely town in the absolutely beautiful Rockies. I think national pride should be encouraged along with appreciation for and tolerance of the differences of other countries–all other countries, including the US.
Am I still the only one here who has visited Auyuittuq National Park? Or Iqaluit?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
O Canada! You will probably never read this far, but I must tell you, this is one of the most enjoyable posts ever. I thoroughly enjoyed the videos and reading about your wonderful country (always want to move there, why don’t we?) I will add to your list: Corner Gas. That show is too funny. I hope you have (had) a wonderful day! (plus, I’m pretty sure the whole world agrees with you about Bush)
Also… LaboUr Day 🙂
Happy Canada Day! If I would’ve known it was Canada Day I wouldn’t have been so mad about the Canadian quarter that a cashier snuck in with my change… It’s probably worth a hair more than a U.S. quarter anyway! Thanks for being such a great ‘Neighbor of the North’. Literally, I’m a Minnesotan!
… I think I’d like to move! Universal healthcare and presidential do-overs have pretty well convinced me!
you always have such fabulous statistics. do you have a main source you look to for those?
Canada is where my mom and all of her family are from and Native Americans are called First Nation. Aanii to Wikwemikong and Manitoulin Island!
Yep – we rock. I like all those things too! I even named one of my kids after a Mr. Dressup character!
… I want to live
…. is a place where the Stratford festival is held. Many fond memories of going to see theater in the round, and watch Maggie Smith in “Taming of the Shrew”.
…. is a place where ornamental gardening is a Civic institution.
Have a great Canada day.
In case certain posters are unaware of the latest US polls, here at home Bush’s approval ratings are in the 20s somewhere. Unless all of my high school math has evaporated, that translates into approximately the same level of DISapproval from his own countrymen as exists in our northern neighbor country. That means Canadians are – just like us in that respect.
I don’t consider the mention of such a statistic in a long list of other statistics to represent the POV of the poster, It’s just a fact. Stephanie didn’t say “I think Bush sucks,” she merely reported a number. Personally, I wasn’t offended.
I’ve thought for a while that Canada sounds like a dandy place. It’s just too cold for jogging in the winter. Happy Canada Day to all Canadians out there!
Canada is a country that is fantastic to have as a neighbor! As an American I can proudly say that I love Canada. Yinz are clearly doing something right up there!
I’m sold on all the benefits (but had to Google Casey Finnegan, etc.). Lovely country, great people, good neighbors. Happy Canada Day.
I just had to comment to make a quick correction – Harper changed the policy on flag lowering. The flag on the Peace Tower is no longer lowered to recognize the death of a Canadian Armed Forces member while serving.
“This is a country that prides itself on being a mosaic, rather than a melting pot.”I just LOVE that quote.
Canada is my backup country. (I was secretly chuffed that my home country came out one ahead of Canada. Hoorah us!) Admittedly, I feel less likely to have to move there, now that John Howard is no longer my leader (ew, ick), but it’s nice to know that you are there. I already spell the right way!
And now that I am a knitter, the weather actually has an upside!
-Hockey Night in Canada is waaaay better than any US hockey broadcast
-Mr. Dress-Up taught us to use our imaginations
-The International Freedom Festival in Windsor and Detroit is a great fireworks display
-and just recently I discovered that some of my great-great grandparents emigrated from Canada.
… all the best sci-fi actors come from! 🙂
…. Where everyone is welcome.
…. Where you can see Buckshot (of Benny and Buckshot fame, any Calgarians of a certain age in the audience will recognize him) at the Calgary Stampede and go up and introduce yourself, and he’ll smile and chat like he knew you, too.
… Home of CKUA, best public radio in the universe.
…. Also home to Wild Rose brewery, makers of the incomperable Wraspberry Ale (don’t mock it till you’ve tried it, people.)
… Where I logged on especially on Canada Day to see what my favourite blogger wrote about our country.
Happy Canada Day!
Happy, Happy Canada Day! I hope you enjoyed it.
WHAT??????
Where you can still do all the hand signals to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink, and you can’t imagine who can’t…
Well can you imagine someone who has absolutely no idea what you are talking about?
Canada is where I had one of the most relaxing vacations of my life, and have been trying to get back ever since. This in spite of some ‘phone call center guy at a Marriott stealing my credit card number and charging all manner of adult entertainment and electronics equipment (totaling over $2500).
… where i had the best whole fried clams in my life in New Brunswick
… where i vacationed in Kejimkujik National Park, quite by accident in the very early 70s, when the campground that had our reservations went belly up
… where i learned about stuffed mittens
… where they televise curling!
… where i would move given the opportunity
Thank you for this Canada Day posting. You are so right about the national sense of humour. For a lot of us it took leaving to realize that it even exists. They don’t call us Crazy Canucks for nothing! Happy Day!
Canada is the country where I would like to live – if I wasn’t already and Australian – because we share a sense of humour, and apology to our native people, we can get hospital treatment on the basis of need, where we take great pleasure in being rude to rich people, where we spell things the same way as Canada does, where our people are both polite, where we can get rid of pointless politicians, where a politician in speedo bathers or having an affair (or as in our current PM – getting drunk and going to a strip club make SURE he gets elected!
I also love Canada – because your 1 dollar coin is called a loonie and your 2 dollar is a toonie – and you have great foo (and pretty damn good cider!) Happy Birthday!
Happy Canada Day! I’m glad Canada can still be proud of who they are and what they stand for. The past 8 years have made me ashamed of the US for the first time in my life, but maybe, with Canada’s example, we can find our way again…
I want to move too. I have not commented before, but this post makes me sad. Here’s why — it is really hard right now for Americans to feel this kind of pride of place. There are so many good people and communities here, but nationally, we’re a big mess!
I always had an unspecific feeling that I liked Canada and its people (especially the Yarn Harlot), but your post today helped to define my feeling – the majority of Canadians think Bush is a threat and the majority of you would vote for Obama instead of McCain – now I understand why I’ve always liked Canada and its people!
To those wondering about the milk in bags –
You go to the store and buy a bag (4L – about a gallon) that contains four 1L bags of milk, in whatever your preference – skim, 1%, 2%, homo (whole ;).
Take the big bag home, stick it in the fridge or freezer, and when you want milk, you take one of the bags and put it in a special milk jug (like this), which holds the bag. Cut off the corner diagonally and pour away!
Personally, I think the bags are a brilliant way to keep the milk fresher when you’re buying a bunch at a time. And the bags are pretty heavy-duty and should be reused 🙂
8:59 Hypocritical Hoser
where…
…I might have to escape to if the next US election goes poorly. (Probably heading to Victoria, as they’ve told me it’s not as cold there. Maybe this is Canadian humoUr.)
…clearly the pride and patriotism is well-deserved.
…my boyfriend’s family comes from. (Well, sort of. I hear he’s… French Canadian.)
Wow, could I have said “bag” any more times? I wish I could edit my comment and clean it up!
I *love* Sharon, Lois, and Bram, and I’m pretty sure I remember all the hand signals to ‘Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink’. I discovered them when my daughter (now 22) was, oh, a year and a half old. She used to sing it and do the hand signals with me … sigh.
I should send my SIL to read your blog! She lives outside Toronto and always complains about Canada! and how there’s no where to shop and on and on…we’ll I’ve been there a few times, and well I kinda like it!
Enjoy your day!
…where I listen to CBC 1 while steering around frost heaves while heading to Haines AK. Happy Canada Day!
I totally forgot, Canada is Stan Rogers!
…when people make rude or obnoxious comments, we generally just raise our eyebrows, purse our lips, take a deep breathe and walk away, rather than start a piss war with a skunk.
…I still miss Casey and Finnegan…mostly Finnegan cuz Casey kinda creeped me out but I longed for a dog just like Finnegan.
…we have a sense of humour about our national pride and identity.
…people in love can marry regardless of sexual orientation.
…I love to live.
…is a country I am proud to have been mistaken for a citizen of. 😎 I had a New Hampshire accent combined with a southern cadence and reflexive politeness. People in Europe insisted I had to be Canadian. It was a nice compliment, actually.
Canada is a place where:
– my mother seriously considered sending my brothers to live during the first Gulf War
Some links to chase…..
milk in a bag: http://home.cogeco.ca/~husky66/Milk/
oil stats: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_energy_data.cfm?fips=CA
Happy Canada Day from a proud New Jerseyan
When I was 17 and fresh out of high school in Massachusetts – and the farthest I had traveled was a weekend trip to Washington, DC – I got a lift to Ottawa and then began taking buses and hitch-hiking the Trans-Can. I spent the early part of the summer on a farm in Alberta, and the late summer living (out of a backpack) in the Canadian Rockies. In early Autumn I continued west to Victoria, before heading south.
So, I saw and loved the Canadian West before I saw (and loved) the US West, and in my mind the line between the two is only as solid as a border line on a map. I love the continuum of topography and landscape and the vast, deep, star-filled sky over the Rockies, the Plains, the Badlands, the Coast – but since they are two “countries,” I love them “both.”
Canada is a country where it was over 90F in May, and that’s normal in for St, Louis springs. Though it wasn’t actuaally so hot this year we are trying to float away instead.
Everything you said is so true of our “Great” country. Most of us living here feel the same way. And those that don’t are more than welcome to leave for where ever it is, they believe is better.
People should think about the greatness of our country more often and not just on “Canada Day”, we are truely blessed to be CANADIAN!
Horay! for the Yarn Harlot!!!!!
If you didn’t call it Kraft Dinner, people might be tempted to eat it for breakfast. And knowing what can be served for breakfast round these parts, dude, you gotta draw the line somewhere.
I did, in fact, have a beer at lunch. India Pale Ale, made on the premises, round the corner from my house. Happy Canada Day 🙂
…that has more dinosaur bones than anywhere else in the world! Come out and visit Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta!
Happy Birthday, Canada!
I guess “eh” is said, and not so much typed, eh?
Funny, so much of that list describes my hometown. Oh wait, Northern New York. Ha. Milk in a bag is good when you aren’t a klutz. Many a lunch had me sprayed with my own milk at some point.
…where you get processed cheese on your Big Mac
(if you choose to eat such a thing, with that yellow plastic stuff that passes for cheese…hence the term “processed”. which it is. overly.)
74% think Bush is a threat to world peace? I’m surprised it’s that low. And dang, but I wish we had that do-over bit. I’d like to think we would have been done with Shrub at least 7 years ago.
– where I am delighted to be heading home after 3 years of living abroad. I cross the border into Ontario in less than 2 days. Timmy’s doughnuts here I come!
…there is a place called Mississauga, where I spent part of my childhood.
I still can’t believe there is a place called, “Mississauga.” Seriously.It’s like Mississippi just weirder, in my opinion at least.
where you don’t have Bush as president/prime minister!
Canada is a country that has the capacity to learn and grow and it has matured immensely in the past 50 years. Canada is also a place you can buy Mackintosh Toffee.
Where the majority of rednecks aren’t violent, uneducated or pro-white.
Well, Stephanie, you have certainly brought out some nasty Bush-haters. It is interesting that your list of statistics includes Canadian opinions on the US president and upcoming election, yet you stop there. Why not tell us Canadian opinion polls of China, Myanmar, Zimbabwe? Your disclaimer is a pretty thin veil.
As for all you Bush haters who threaten to move to Canada? I do hope you are serious. You do not love your country. You won’t stand beside her during times that you do not think are so great or leaders that are not of your choosing? Shame on you. Au revoir!
people seem to be accepting of each other’s differences and see these differences as a positive attribute.
strangers are cordial, pleasant and yes, FRIENDLY with each other.
they have FABULOUS MUSIC! (Barenaked Ladies, Tragically Hip and Great Big Sea!)
Canada is a country where I visit good friends. I’m an American, and i’m proud to say that I spent my Canada Day in Canada! I’m visiting a friend in Victoria. Happy Canada Day, all!!
Yayyy, Canada!!!! If it weren’t for the freezing winters, I’d love to move there. It sounds like a grand place to live.
And Canada gave us Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!
And David Suzuki is a present to the world.
Happy Birthday, Canada.
there is a very talented writer/knitter how always manages to make me smile and feel as if I’ve known her forever. She also lives in a country I love to visit and would be honored to live it.
Happy Canada Day one and all!
Tora in Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Canada is…a place where I would probably never have to explain my absurd happiness at knitting through a degrassi marathon. (Nor would I have to explain what Degrassi is!)
…where I used to live. I spent several years in Montreal during university, and at that time would have stayed had I been able to marry a Canadian….
While Massachusetts and the U.S. certainly have their good points, I have fond memories of the mosaic (rather than melting pot), clean streets, good beer, bilingualism (although the natives didn’t always appreciate it!), general sanity and civility…. When I injured my foot and required crutches, there was no cost to me despite my student status. I still write dates Canadian style, and winter temperatures in Celsius don’t faze me (but I spent summers in the States so still think in Fahrenheit for higher temps!).
Thanks for the memories, Stephanie! Happy Canada Day!
Canada is a country where I will use my passport for the first time. I live in Michigan and have been to Windsor several times. Last month I got a passport, my first ever. My friends and I are going to Toronto in the fall. I’m looking forward to getting my passport stamped at the Canadian border. And to visiting Toronto and hopefully Lettuce Knit.
…it gets cold enough that you can actually wear your knitted woollies. As a Canadian ex-pat living in semi-tropical Australia I’m here to tell you that every winterbound Canadian’s dream of neverending sun and sand gets old pretty quick if you’re a knitter. I long to return home so I can wear my sweaters more than once a year on the coldest day of “winter” (if you can call lows of 9 and highs of 20 winter).
When will the audio version of you latest book be available?
…is a country I only know through the Harlot.
…is a country I really want to visit.
Happy Canada Day!
Canada is a country where citizens are free to disagree with and criticize the government without being (or appearing) unpatriotic. I think that’s something that a lot of non-canadians don’t truly understand the importance of.
Canada is a country that produces many fine wines, including a magical Canadian creation called icewine. Delicious!
WOW! I am so with you on the Log Driver’s Waltz. I rediscovered it a couple of years ago and was actually brought to tears. It’s probably the happiest memory from my childhood. I used to get so excited every time it came on TV. I also miss Casey and Finnegan. And being a Newfoundlander understand wholey about the Screech.
Angela now in Montreal (We met @ Chapters in Kingston)
Happy Canada Day to you & yours! Canada sounds like a lovely place, and I’m very excited to visit (someday).
(And, really? People really gave you a hard time about being proud of your country on its birthday and decided that pride meant you were anti-US? Really? Man. People astound me. Some people can act like real jerk-heads.)
I learned a lot about Canada today! Sorry you have to apologize for saying good things about your country on your own blog 🙁
Great. Now I have the Logdriver’s Waltz stuck in my head and I’m craving kraft dinner. At midnight.
When I saw this: http://www.ytv.com/gamepad/play/games/benjaminbeaver/play.asp
on digyourowngrave.com, I knew it was Canada Day, and I needed to head over here! Happy Canada Day!
Canada is a place where…
… I get fireworks on my birthday 🙂 I get a little sad every year now that my birthday is not an auspicious and fun holiday (I live in California now).
… I hope to live again someday
… you can get some of the craziest potato chips. What I would GIVE for some ketchup or pickle chips!!
… you can find an amazing variety of treats to satisfy any sweet tooth. HELLO maple cream cookies, Fudgee-O’s, Peek Freans… Crunchie, Eat-More, and Coffee Crisp chocolate bars. Not to mention chocolate Smarties… The list of things you can’t find in the United States goes on and on. The one that shocked me the most is when I went looking for peanut butter and there was no Kraft PB with the bear on the label… WHAT!?!
… where (as a typical Canadian) I feel BAD, and I feel SORRY, that despite your disclaimer at the beginning of your post, several people were insulted by your comments and told you so!
I read your post with a lot of pride and more than one tear dropped while I was reading it. I didn’t feel a sense of superiority over the USA, I was too busy remembering all of the wonderful things about Canada that make me feel so priveleged to live where I do. Mr. Dressup? Hockey Night in Canada? Our national anthem? Health care? Gay marriage? We are SO lucky!
In the end, if everyone were to think about it (here’s my peacekeeping Canadian side) whether we are from the USA or Canada, we are all incredibly fortunate to live where we do. While we are not necessarily happy with the politicians who are leading our countries, we are not living in countries where our government is keeping world wide assistance from us or where our personal safety is seriously compromised on a daily basis through no fault of our own. Canada OR the USA… we live in prosperous nations just by the “Grace of God.”
Thanks for the reminders of our wonderful Canadian heritage! And since I ate the last box of Kraft Dinner the other day, I think I’ll go eat some timbits! Cheers!
Casey, Finnegan, Rusty, Jerome, Sharon, Lois and Bram!!!! I miss them, lol. I have a friend who has pictures of herself nocking on the door of Caeay and Finnegan’s treehouse and I am so jealous of her! I’m a first time commenter but I couldn’t pass this up, Thank You for this! I learned some things!
Happy Canada Day, Canadians! I’m Canada-adjacent as a native-born Wisconsinite and current Minnesotan- and I’ve got nuthin’ but love for my close neighbors to the North. To add to the Canada-is-awesome extravaganza, I’ll chime in (and I know it’s been said before) with just a few of my favorite Canadians- L.M. Montgomery, Sidney Crosby (The Next One!), Mike Myers, and last, but never least, Gordon Lightfoot! Thank you, Canada!
During our last election in Australia, our now prime minister’s ratings soared after it was leaked that while in America as a diplomat, he attended a strip club.
And Canada – the only place I would consider moving to after living in Australia. Sounds much like home.
Well if I wasn’t planning on moving yet, I am now. Except for that halloween costumes over snow suits thing, that bugs me. Oh and I love it that beer was #2 on your list (even if it was in no particular order). Long live SL&B, and the Elephant.
Yeah, but did you hear they are ditching the ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ song on the CBC? The scandal!!! (Ok, yeah, I know it’s about money but still!)
I know a couple of Canadians who are clamoring for citizenship in this here, your southern neighbor. I’m not really sure why. Seriously, what would it take for you to let me in?
(PS I thought axe and cauldron were always spelled like that.)
Wouldn’t it be great if we could make your wise Canadians (you know who you are) honorary Americans on the first Tues of November (election day)?
The fact that David Suzuki lives there says it all about your beautiful country…
…my husband has promised that we can move if the US overturns Roe v. Wade.
Happy Canada Day.
Clamato juice!! Happy Canada Day!
Karen
That logdriver video made my heart smile – I had all but forgotten about it. It really reminds me of home. Thanks for all of the wonderful links – I’ll be sending them along to some of my friends who are new Canadians. Happy Canada Day!
I love Canada for:
*Lake Louise and Banff
*friendly people
*saying thank you and please all the time
*people who care about the international community
I could go on and on… but it’s a good place.
Canada is a country where … we have beer commercials that show our patriotic side.
Canada is a country where … you can drive all day and still be on an island (my home, Vancouver Island).
(I posted a Canada Day post on my blog, even asked my 8 year old what Canada Day meant. I linked to the beer commercials there.)
….where I call home, even though I don’t currently live there (we’re working on it on getting back!)
So I read most of this post to my DH, and I performed Sharon Lois and Bram with great enthusiasm…and all he could say was “wow”. And I’m not sure it was said in a good way or not. 😀
…where, not only do restaurants have vinegar bottles on the tables, fast-food joints offer vinegar packets for your fries! While spending a couple of years in California, I discovered that Disneyland has vinegar packets at the fish and chips stand. Needless to say, I pocketed a large number so that I could have vinegar on my fries whenever I went to a fast-food joint!
…where it can be every bit as hot and muggy as anywhere in the US, but it can also be cold enough to freeze the parts off of a brass monkey!
…where the dictionaries recognize Eh as a word (sorry EricaLynne, it is not spelled aye). Speaking of which, there is a group of Canadian expats in the Bay area of CA called the Digital Moose Lounge and their motto is “We put the Eh in the USA!”
…is home (but there are many other great places to visit).
I tried to play “O Canada” in the prelude at church as equal time for the American stuff I was playing but then I realized that having one Canadian sister-in-law has not been enough for me to learn more than the first line. I vote for more Canadian outreach.
Although my niece tells me that when I spell my email addy out loud it sound like a Canadian joke.
Canada is a country where our journalists still take themselves seriously, delight in asking the tough questions and bring us stories from all over the world.
*sigh*
I always wanted to be Canadian.
Canada is where my husband was born. He thinks I married him just so I can move there when this place finally drives me over the edge.
It’s funny, I was just looking into moving to Canada yesterday. You should really be working for the National Canadian PR Dept…or not depending on how you feel about foreigners moving to your country…because you do as good, or better since you mentioned knitting, of a job as they do.
The Elephant Show was Canadian? We got it down here in the ‘States on Nickelodeon 🙂 I have skinamarinkeedinkeedink stuck in my head now! We sing it at story time at the library here in Portland and Andy LOVES it. He sings it to his teddy bears 🙂
Feliz Cumpleanos (pretend there’s a tilde over that n), Canada!
Canada is a place where it takes an age to get there and then when you get off the plane it’s like coming home. I could emigrate (yes, I looked, I have skills other than knitting) but it would have to be west coast because I don’t do snow.
I found the word “glacier” to be the one that sorted out which side of the line the foreigners came from (it took a week or so for me to hear any other differences between Canadians and Americans)
Also…
Canada is where I live (in Saskatchewan) and I’ve never seen smog except on tv.
I remember Sharon, Lois, and Bram! But only vaguely. I am 24 now and remember watching it when I was a kid. I am from North Dakota, so a lot of the “Canada is a a place where…” applies a lot to us as well! I’ve always loved Canada and its culture. Given the chance, I would choose to visit Winnipeg or Vancouver over anywhere in the US! Happy Northern Neighbor Day, Steph!
You forgot the great pipe bands.
Canada is the home of one of the best pipe bands in the world (it also includes a few Americans). Thank you Simon Fraser Univerity Pipe Band for going south of the border to perform.
I love Canada. I’m from Port Angeles, WA -right across the straight from Victoria, B.C. and I have been there many times. It is beautiful and it’s so clean. The people are incredibly friendly and, yes, you do have excellent beer. 19-year-olds from this town (at least when I was growing up) have frequently taken the ferry ride from here to there to enjoy your excellent beer. Happy Canada Day- Cheers!
…great music comes from. My favourites are: Joni Mitchell, Ian & Sylvia, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Loreena McKinnett, Bruce Cockburn, but the very best is Gordon Lightfoot (who I’ve seen 13 times). I guess you can tell how old I am! I saw Gordon for the first time in 1970. But even now Canada produces great music. I’ll hear something amazing and ask my daughter who I’m listening to and when I look it up – CANADA! Just how do you do it? Thank you.
I also love the Friendly Giant. I was able to watch him in the late 50s. He was never on regularly where I lived, so I saw him only a dozen times at most, all fuzzy kinescope. I found some video clips online recently and it made me cry. How soft and wonderful and the song… Thank you, Canada!
I’m sorry about George W. We’ll be done with him 20/1/09. Heartening news: someone (Stephen Pinker) thinks we are living in the most peaceful time, Iraq, Darfur, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, notwithstanding. There is hope.
. . . I would like to live. Think they’ll let me in?
“This is a country that prides itself on being a mosaic, rather than a melting pot.” – may be one of the single greatest ideas ever. i nearly wept at that one.
…I fell in love in an Ontario provincial park, ate falafel in the rain, and enjoyed a rocky, fossil-encrusted beach.
…you can get ketchup(sp?) potato chips and soda with real sugar instead of corn syrup.
Canada is a country where……
The CBC co-finances great TV like Doctor Who….
Celebrities and public officals can be gay, out and proud, and it is NOT a scandal….
You can be a vegetarian, and you’re not considered weird or “alternative.”…..
Where the folks have cute little accents, great senses of humor, and are not afraid to poke fun at themselves….
AND…most importantly……
Where the world’s greatest knitting humorist and blogger lives!!
BTW, I much prefer the “mosaic” to the “melting pot” concept. Folks’ differences is what makes things interesting!
…one can get a fabulously painful sugar high by consuming Nanaimo bars and Victoria Cremes in the same afternoon…
the Yarn Harlot calls home…..
Such a wonderful country – I often wish we had ‘reciprocity’ and could live either place.
Canada is….Where is Canada again?
Okay, okay I’ll play… Let’s see, hmmm, Canada is where I have never been even though it is and has always been our neighbor bordering to the North.
Canada is where we like to poke fun of because we know the Canadian people understand humour and because in truth we have no real reason to dislike Canadians
Perhaps some day I’ll journey to this fabled land called “Canada”, where everything is very much the same as here only different.
But alas, I be somewhat of a traditional hobbit and may have to take your word as to all it’s beauty and charms.
Canada sounds like it has a lot in common with Australia.
Except we don’t have much snow, we don’t even get much rain these days.
I particularly like the spelling similarities…. and of course such brilliant musicians are canadian – joni mitchell, kd lang, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen just to name the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
where I finally was forced to use my high school French [On vacation in Quebec]
Where you can get decent bread
Well, I’m a born and bred “American.” And even a born and bred New Yorker, and you know how we can be. And I can easily and often say (and I do often say this), that Canada is a far more civilized and ethical country than the U.S. is. You beat us in many many important ways. Health care anyone? Education? Gay? Unions? Staying out of bullshit wars? (and no that is not one of the seven words the FCC banned from TV, although it certainly seems like it is….)
…we have Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Stan Rogers, Peter Mansbridge, Rex Murphy, the CBC (radio and television), TVO and I could go on and on and on….
Logan, I’d be happy to knit something for the soon to be member of your family.
Wow Canada sounds a lot like Australia only colder, and more knitters 🙂 Happy Canada Day all!
I love your Canada Day posts! Just the other day I was thinking that I haven’t seen one in a while. Your country sounds like a refreshing change, and ya’ll have a definite right to be proud of it. Happy Canada Day!
I ALWAYS look forward to your Canada day comments. They are great comments and now I am the 445th person to write you back!!
Canada is the CBC talking about the Dutch diking system, an Irish poet/priest who passed away recently, a Jewish American woman who lived through a concentration camp by drawing portraits, and finally, the CBC played a very famous organ piece on the steel drums!!! Yay for the CBC- It makes me feel so proud to be from this country.
Anita
… I want to live
Canada is a place where my stepmum and stepsiblings welcomed me as their own family and taught me the value of not being so darn serious all the time.
“where you eat a chocolate bar (not a “candy bar”) ”
You don’t have candy bars in Canada? Only Chocolate bars? Here (in Oregon) we have both. Or do you call all candy bars “chocolate bars” whether they have chocolate in them or not (like how in some countries a “coke” is a soda or any brand or flavour)?
OOh, I’m packing my bags and I’m ready to leave the UK. What a sales pitch.
What are ‘two-fours, chesterfields, Mickeys, poutine, screech, serviettes, tuques, pop and Tories or Grits’?
I grew up watching Canadian television (lived close to the border in WA) and was totally obsessed with Aero bars, Coffee Crisp and Mentos (The Freshmaker!). I still get them every time I visit. I loved what you said about Canada being a mosaic, not a melting pot. I second the need for a video of the Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink hand signals.
… it’s ten degrees in June.
… you can get better sushi than Japan.
… you can ski and surf in the same day.
… you can hear dozen languages just by riding the bus.
… where the beauty of the vast and open prairie skies will take your breath away.
missing home terribly and can’t wait to move back home at the end of this year!
thanks for the lovely post. happy canada day!
Oh please have a beer for me! Happy Birthday Canada! I grew up 30 minutes from the Canadian border where we had to make sure that our Halloween costumes would go over our winter coat or snowsuit too. Your post today is making me nostalgic. Canada is a great country. It’s wonderful to visit, the people are awesome, and you have butter tarts! (We have squeaky cheese curd too, but no butter tarts. It’s so sad!) I’ve spent an awful lot of time in Canada and I just love it. Until very recently, going to Canada was like taking a trip to any other town, except that you stopped after the bridge to tell the customs guy what you were going to do in Canada and when you’d be back. When you went to Canada, you didn’t tell people that you were visiting Canada another country, you told them that you were going over the border, often for a beer run LOL! We always had Canadian change in our pockets and it was spent just like American money unless you were trying to put it in a vending machine. We watched Canadian TV, knew how to do Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink, loved the Friendly Giant, Mr. Dress Up, Sharon Lois and Brahm and the Elephant show, Fred Penner, and knew all the names of the Canadian hockey players. We knew what a hoser is, the appropriate times to say Ay and what it meant. (even if I spelled it wrong LOL!) If we had a North Country teacher, we could spell the word grey, if they were from anywhere else we had our spelling corrected. We all wore tuques, loved SCTV, and ate Kraft Dinner (All the ads we saw for it were Canadian. We had more Canadian TV channels than we did American.) We knew that if you ordered fish and chips that the chips were what everyone else in the US called French fries and that the malt vinegar at the counter was to put on it. We also tended to have a similar accent. The last time I saw you speak in person and heard you say “about” I instantly felt like I was home. People who grew up where I did also tend to say Dude a lot too. I guess it goes with the territory. What always strikes me as funny is that those of us who grew up in the cold northern climes are more similar to Canadians than we are different, and appreciate it. Canada is a great country and a great neighbor and I’m sorry you had to justify this blog before you posted it. Everyone should appreciate where they live and think it’s great. I know I will like my country a whole lot more once Bush is out of office LOL!
Canada is……..
Home to the Yarn Harlot and butter tarts!
Canada is a place where… My parents are currently on a 3 week holiday (from the UK) – and reading your post, I’m even more jealous of them than I was before!
Canada is the land of birth for all four of my grandparents. My maternal grandfather fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge in WWI. Half of my mother’s siblings were born in Canada and I don’t think any of them ever took U.S. Citizenship. My uncle was in the RCAF in WWII, and stayed in Canada afterwards.
I lived in Canada for six years just after I was married (no connection whatsoever to my family; my husband got a job in Ontario). Everything you say is true. I developed a connection and true fondness for Canada when I lived there. I miss milk in bags. I really, really miss Tim Horton’s. I miss the beer.
One thing you missed: In Canada, when you turn on your left turn signal in the car, people behind you make a space for you so that you can merge into the left lane. A Canadian truck driver (moving guy who moved us back to the US) once explained to me that in the U.S., evidently the meaning of the turn signal is “Please pass me on this side.” Crap I hate that!
See now I knew there were a lot of reasons I like Canada so much, not the least of them being the fact that it’s inhabitants are so similar to us Australians
Canada is a country where this Australian felt right at home! (Although I couldn’t get the Gene Pitney song, “On the Trans Canada Highway” out of my head every time I drove, but that’s not Canada’s fault.)
I read you list and went “hear, hear” at every single thing on it. Canadians should be proud of their country and it’s principles.
– Pam
PS: Until your consitution was amended in the ??1970’s, Canada was one of the few countries that needed an act of Parliament from another country in order to change it’s consitution.
Canada is a country where this Australian felt right at home! (Although I couldn’t get the Gene Pitney song, “On the Trans Canada Highway” out of my head every time I drove, but that’s not Canada’s fault.)
I read you list and went “hear, hear” at every single thing on it. Canadians should be proud of their country and it’s principles.
– Pam
PS: Until your consitution was amended in the ??1970’s, Canada was one of the few countries that needed an act of Parliament from another country in order to change it’s consitution.
Canada is a country that is not all cold… Come to BC and visit Victoria and Vancouver, and the Gulf Islands with their Mediterranean climate. Drive to the Okanagan Valley to see tumbleweeds in the desert near Osoyoos and then up to Kelowna for lovely vineyards.
…where “free roots toque with every 2-4 of blue” is an enticing, comprehensible statement.
Thanks for reminding me about some of the reasons I love Canada (from afar).
Kraft Dinner is the Canadian name for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I don’t know why it’s labelled differently here.
It’s because orange powder is not cheese, and it would be wrong to say otherwise.
I like the Logdriver’s Waltz! Another Canadian classic is the Black Fly Song:
http://www.nfb.ca/animation/objanim/en/films/film.php?sort=cc&id=25968
…where you will find the Butchart Gardens; somewhere so beautiful that I can remember it vividly even after 3 decades.
…where my sisters saw snow for the first time. And bears and moose (is the plural of moose moose? or mooses?) and glaciers too.
30 years is definitely too long. And the Lobster crisps are the last straw. I’ve got to come back and visit again.
ps. thanks for Skinnymarinkydinkydink – my daughters sing that – they were taught it here in New Zealand by their South African teacher. It’s clearly gone global!
Canada is a country where…
…I always feel welcome as an American, no matter how silly my country’s government is being at the time.
…the awesome band SLOAN lives. I’ve seen them twice in New York but would looooove to see them in Canada someday!
…my husband and I will be over the Labor/Labour Day weekend. (Toronto. He’s never been, and I’ll be making a return visit.)
…I am reminded of my youth. I lived for years in Duluth, Minn., not too far from Thunder Bay. I do remember milk in bags; I wouldn’t be surprised if you can still buy it in Duluth. There were usually some Canadian coins mixed in with the U.S. coins in my pocket. And to me, it was totally normal to see Ontario and Manitoba license plates on cars.
…I would choose to live if I couldn’t live in the United States for some reason.
..they accepted their 10th province (Newfoundland and Labrador) less than 60 years ago. Very cool!
…Ron Sexsmith is considered hot. I’ll never understand it!
…people cheer at the mention of Kraft Dinner.
…they let in a family of four, including two dedicated knitters, one secret knitter and one who isn’t a knitter at all. Hooray – this is our first year as Canadians and we are psyched! Well, not too psyched, because that wouldn’t be Canadian.
is a country I’d love to visit!
Right out of PT school, I did check into moving to Canada and working there. But it meant going back to college for Organic Chemistry and taking the Canadian boards. The thought of Organic Chemistry killed that idea right quickly.
Also, New Zealand has milk in bags as well. And we put vinegar on our chips. Our tea is hot too, we drink lots of beer anytime, spell colour and honour with a ‘u’ and we are fourth on the Global Peace Index.
We also have lots of sheep. You should visit! (just in case you thought I’d abandoned my campaign for a global bookbookbookbookbookbook tour)
You are totally allowed to love and praise your country. Good for you. It’s beautiful.
Canada is a place where
– you can see naughty bits on TV shows without blur boxes to cover up nipples or hair or penises – and it’s not considered porn.
– it can be -15C in the morning and +15C by mid afternoon on a day in May.
– our local police stations can choose to lower the flags to half staff if a soldier, policeman or fireman is killed, no matter what Parliament Hill decides.
– we can meet our politicians in person without security services – and kids go trick or treating at the Prime Minister’s house.
– we don’t think our Prime Minister’s family is fodder for the gossip hounds.
– a gun in the house is unusual, not a common thing, and all guns (hand guns and rifles) must be registered and locked up.
– Air Farce (a long running CBC show that started on radio) is in its final season and that makes me sad, but I know that the newbies, Alan Park and Jessica Holmes and the others, will go on to make more comedy somewhere.
– beer is sold in The Beer Store (in Ontario) and liquour and wine in the LCBO, and no alcohol is sold in grocery stores except in Quebec.
– Yarn stores in Ontario are open 7-days a week, but closed on statuary holidays like Canada Day.
– cheese is made here – including squeaky cheese curds from St. Albert, just around the corner from my daughter’s house.
FYI, a 2-4 is a case of 24 bottles of beer and 4 litres of milk comes in a bag of three bags. You can buy milk in cartons and plastic jugs, too.
Oh, Canada!
I second Cece…I adore Arrogant Worms. “Forgive us, we’re Canadian….you too can be Canadian if you follow this advice.” By the way: Does Terry’s Taxidermy and Mounted Animal Nature Trail REALLY exist?
Too bad the whole world isn’t Canadian. It’d be a much nicer place.
Happy Canada Day to ALL, Canadian or not.
Kathie, Lisle, Illinois USA
Canada is a country where it’s considered a National Sport to take a shot (Verbal) at the Prime Minister and politicians in general and still be considered a proud Canadian. Hey they even line up to take the abuse-Air Farce, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Mercer report, I think we’re at the point where they’d be considered a poor sport if they didn’t show (How cool is that)
Where my wonderful maternal family came from and where Bala is – a place more special to me growing up than any other. Plus – maple sugar candy RULES.
Its official, I’m moving to Canada. I’ve been threatening my family with it for a long time given the political situation down here. Now I’m convinced. Beer all the time? That’s for me!
I want to live in Canada for all the reason listed in your blog! Happy Day!
I would love to visit there too!! All of that sounds wonderful (and quite refreshing). I can’t imagine that anyone would be upset with you for promoting your own country! That’s a little wacky. Sounds like you have a lot to be proud of and I wish the US gov’t would learn a few things from Canada and maybe LOOSEN UP a bit!! 🙂
Congrats and Happy Canada Day (though I realize I’m a little late chiming in)
More reasons why I love Canada. My grandmother was Canadian; I wonder if I have right of return?
I would love to visit there too!! All of that sounds wonderful (and quite refreshing). I can’t imagine that anyone would be upset with you for promoting your own country! That’s a little wacky. Sounds like you have a lot to be proud of and I wish the US gov’t would learn a few things from Canada and maybe LOOSEN UP a bit!! 🙂
Congrats and Happy Canada Day (though I realize I’m a little late chiming in)
ETA: Uh, who the heck is k? Perhaps typing my entire name would be most helpful!
🙂
Milk bags! These where just brought to my attention yesterday when discussing the new milk packaging that they are experimenting with here in the states. More of a square plastic jug, rather than the tapered topped ones we use now. Well, I still manage to find dairy milk in glass jugs from a local farm… but the milk bag idea really intreaged me!
Canada sounds like a lovely place with lots of wonderful people. There is no place like home. You should be proud of where you are from. And if you are not, perhaps it is time to move.
Canada is a country where the police are not only good looking, spiffy in their uniforms, but polite and true gentlemen.
We were going thru Cananda to Alaska and we were involved in a car accident. January 4th, -63 degrees outside and the Mountie helped unpack our station wagon so we could find the title and would not have to have our car towed to Whitehorse. This was after insisting that “we ladies” go inside where it was warm. That is what I call protect and serve.
Canada is a place where I am jealous of, in particular for their limited evangelical Christian platform.
However, Canada is also a place where they don’t tip waitresses 20%, which is very bad for American waitresses when Canadians visit. At least they’re nice.
where you can get right spun on a twofer on MONDAY NIGHT (it’s hockey night, eh?)
…other nations are invited to visit to learn about how we handle our oil sands and their resources; where some cities have automatic blue box recycling pick-up along with garbage pick-up; where volunteers put on an Olympic Winter Games that made money; where a Newfie (Newfoundlander) who played for Detroit this year got to bring the Stanley Cup for a home-province celebration; where virtually all the US-bound planes landed on Sept. 11, and passengers were taken to people’s homes to stay…
Canada is…my home! Like, I’m canajun, eh?
Canada is a country where… I love to visit and I would like to live… and I feel that I practically do since my inlaws live in Buffalo, NY.
One small complaint… I went to the Canada Day celebration at y’all’s Embassy in DC (I live in Virginia, I can say y’all, it’s the law)… and there were no vegetarian options! Only beef! I told my friend that I KNOW there are vegetarians in Canada because the Harlot is one. I knew that the Harlot would be with me on this… I had plenty of poutine (YUM) but wouldn’t have minded a nice veggie burger to supply some protein. I had to go back to my office and eat a bunch of spinach and lentils. Sad.
But there was beer, a band that sang in French, lots of Canadian flags and a hockey shooting game. Happy. Hurray for Canada!
Canada is a country where I want to move to, based on your fab post – can I get a flight out now please???
And now I’ve got the theme for the elephant show stuck in my head…And I totally remember the actions! Are Sharon, Lois and Bram still alive?
Canda is a country where I can marry my same sex partner and have all the rights straight couples do. Where sexual orientation is recognised as just another variable in life, like being left-handed. And even out gay politians can reach the top rungs of government. Yay!!!!
Canada is a country that never turned its back on my white teenage mother and her 3 black children in the 60’s.
Canada is a country I am so fortunate to live near. Growing up it was great to go to another country, and it only took 2 or 3 hours max. I would never want canada to be the US, the joy is that they are both so unique.
even the cities and subways are amazingly clean! (Especially to this resident of New York City.)
To all of my fellow Americans who were upset by the statistic against Bush, instead of berating Stephanie and other commenters, i.e. acting like a hoser, why not point out what you feel is good about him and what he had done for the U.S. and the world? And in the spirit of Canadian Day, do it politely, and with an apology before hand, just as Stephanie felt she had to do.
Happy Canada Day! I love our Northern neighbors (neighbours?), and appreciate that they have put up with us so patiently all these years.
the Harlot lives! Nuff said. Well, okay, Stratford and Niagra-on-the-Lake – I just love seeing a good play.
Where you can remind an internationally famous knit blogger that she forgot butter tarts on her Canada Day list.
Cheers!
….Canada is a country where, when I e-mailed to find out about your interview on “All Things Considered” (I think it was) on CBC, this is what happened: some time later I got a *TELEPHONE CALL* from a lovely young lady from CBC (!!) callng to say that it’s not the same program as the NPR program, and therefore I wouldn’t be able to hear your interview, but she was sorry and wanted me to know. Now, that was very very cool (and impressed ME, already a devoted Canada-o-phile)
…people are calmer, nicer, and much more helpful than anywhere else in the universe. [Seriously. Just got back from the Canadian Rockies, and I just want to live there, year-round!]
…where you can get All Dressed potato chips. When I was on tour in the US with a show that had quite a few Canadians I would beg them to bring the All Dressed flavor back when they went home. I also dragged my husband out in a blizzard in Montreal this February within an hour of arriving in order to find a bag!
As an ex-pat Aussie living the US I can add that Canada is a fellow Commonwealth country 🙂
Canada is a country where…
…apologies are the norm although there is a fine art to using sorry ranging from true remorse (omg sorry, I totally didn’t mean to make you spill your beer!) to aggressively making a point (I am sorry that my foot was in the way of the pointy end of your umbrella).
Actually I’m off to draft a sincere apology on my blog as soon as I hit post on this.
(and sorry if anyone else already made this comment!)
…i can always go. i live and grew up in Detroit and i have a love affair with Canada. Going to Windsor was always fun.
…getting Tim Hortons is tastier then the American Tim Hortons
…you can get ketchup chips
…a 4 hour drive on the 401 gets me into Toronto, and it is one of my all time favourite cities.
…i can watch channel 9 CBC in windsor for hockey night, the new red green and a different view on the news.
i love me some Canada. and i dont take love for one’s country as a threat to my own. and all of my favourite actors always seem to be Canadian. (nathan fillion, sarah chalke, etc…)
Canada is a place where we respect people – all people – on the basis of whether they’ve earned it, not on their title or office.
Canada is a place where our Public Servants are elected and serve at our pleasure, and they are humble enough to know that accepting their position leaves them fully open to our criticism and monitoring to keep them on the straight and narrow of what the people want and what is right.
Canada is a place where everyone is free to call bullshit when they see it, not conform to peer pressure, supress original thoughts or disagreement, or blindly comply with the herd mentality out of fear or a sense of unearned loyalty.
Canada is a place where we value the exchange of opinion and ideas above all, whether we agree with their content or not.
Canada is a place where I am very, very proud to be from, and I would never dream of emigrating to any other country. It was pure joyful luck to be born here, and I try to remember that it’s a privelege to remain in her safe, beautiful bounty, even on days when my spelling and grammer are shit.
Happy Canada Day!!!
That administratively sees the environment as a priority. Most everyone sees the importance of recycling and the local government makes it easy for them to do so.
Happy Canada Day! I’ve been to Canada in my high school days (broke my knee in Niagra Falls) and loved every bit of it. I even got to stay with a fantastic older couple who served us bacon and was amazed it was ham! I would love to forward this post onto our government and say “Get your head OUT of your ASS and listen to the Yarn Harlot!!!!!!”
And I have to say Don’t forget Doug and Bob MacKenzie- Take off Eh!
My family lives and I miss them, as well as all those random things you listed.
And Canada is the country that Stephanie Pearl-McFee calls home.
Now you really have me wanting to move to Canada, but when I give it a moment of serious thought, the winters are a real deal breaker.
Canada is a country that has the best Fringe Festivals, I LOVE the Montreal Fringe! It’s like camp for grown-up artists.
Canada is a country where it is actually cool to be from a different ethnic background – these days, anyway.
Oh – and by the way, I made my own “cultural mosaic” in celebration of Canada Day. If interested, check out the 1 July post on my blog.
Cheers,
Kristina Brouhaha
Canada is the country you are making me want to move to more and more. I don’t even think the winters would be a deal breaker!
“Loving where I live is not bashing the US any more than having fireworks and shouting “USA #1″ on the 4th of July (which I thoroughly recommend, since I think a country is only as good as the people who love and defend it) constitutes an attack on Canada. Thus ends the pre-emptive strike. Don’t be a hoser.”
And then use a fair amount of the rest of what you wrote to slam the U.S.
You know for me personally I don’t give a rip about what you say and do, but you really knocked my partner for a loop. She thought you were someone special, she looked up to you. Then she finds out one of her real life hero’s has clay feet. Good going!!
How many other people, while they may agree with some of what you posted about Shrub etc… are also hurt for the fact that they admired what you have accomplished and the dreams they accomplish because of reading your words?
Take off hoser.
Gryph
People won’t look at me funny if I say “eh”
I’m a Canadian living in Boston and I love this post!
I miss: Nanaimo bars, butter tarts, Mackintosh Toffee, Hawkins Cheezies, great fruitcake, Schwart’z Smoked Meat Deli in Montreal, Buckley’s Cough Mixture (tastes awful but it works!), Salisbury House and sunsets right down to the horizon in Manitoba (where there are less people living in the whole province than attended the Red Sox World Series parade in Bah-ston)
Canada is a country where…..
you can buy a mattress at the tire store (Canadian Tire)!
Canada is a country that I know my husband misses dearly since he married me and moved to Texas eight months ago. We can’t wait to visit again. I need more clothes from Roots!
Canada is a country where even loud American knitters are welcomed and made to feel at home… And where cuba is a vacation destination not just a detention center.. (oops–you do know we Americans don’t get that, right? PS- Someday i wanna go visit a knitter friend I have there… but I think I’d have to get press credentials or something.. it’s crazy)
Wow! I know every hand gesture to Skin-a-mar-in-kee-dink-e-dink and I’m not Canadian…
Yeah, I’m 48 and have a 23 year old daughter. Had front row seats to the Elephant show, too.
Milk in jugs? Really? Cool.
Canada is a country that I really want to visit again since my one trip involved only Niagara Falls. I have a deep longing to go to Prince Edward Island and pretend to be Anne Shirley. 🙂
All I have to say is that I had no idea that Sharon, Lois, and Bram were Canadian. But I do know the motions to Skin-a-ma-rink-a-dink-a-dink.
Where one puts statements which are potentially controversial in print, one can expect some debate, I should think. Having said that, Stephanie, I’m sorry that people seem to feel the need to correspond in an abusive fashion with you. There is no call for that at all, and one wonders if the same people would behave like that to your face (or “irl” as they call it on line).
Your post was certainly thought-provoking to me, and I’m in agreement for the most part. I will save the more contentious talk for such time as we ever have a beer (make mine a pint of Keiths IPA, please!).
Um…hi! My name’s Abby (and I’m an alcoholic XD), and this is my first time commenting on your blog, even though I’ve been reading it for about 2 yrs (It actually helped me get over some knitting bumps, seeing some older than my 18 yr old self create massive screw-ups). So, in commemoration of popping the proverbial cherry, here are some things that I really like about Canada!
I can go to the end of the dock across the street from my house, yell “HELLO!” as loud as I can, and have a Canadian (or several) yell it right back, no matter the time I do it (I live on the St. Clair River and Lake in Algonac, MI. Stop by for good food and fishing!).
I can swim across the river and pop out on the Canadian bank, and be offered a beer from one of the Canadian picnickers.
The Great Canadian Sense of Humor. I work in the Kohl’s store in Chesterfield MI, and always know when we’re having a sale even if I’ve been out for the last couple of days. I see Canadians come over the river by the ferry load, grinning widely enough to reflect the sun off their teeth. Just a side note, the family that runs the ferry’s makes the most money on these days.
I can poke fun at Canada, to a Canadian, and they won’t be offended by a playful joke (“You guy’s have a Navy!? I though it was just some old guy with a shot gun in a rowboat!”). In fact, they’ll poke back (“Watch it, or we’ll set the polar bears lose on ya!”). Another American will get pissed off at me (“Choo must be anti-merican, choo commie! Why don choo go on urp to Canaidia with te rest o yous pinko commies!”).
Canadian’s are patient and polite. When I ring them up at work and have to do a call back to double check a price, they don’t get offended. When I go to open a Kohl’s Charge for them, they understand that because of how our system is set up, it takes a few moments longer for us to get them processed.
And the last thing that I like about the Canadians and the country…..beer and yarn! My aunt had some of that now discontinued White Buffalo yarn and gave it to me for a present, and I was able to knit a few pairs of socks for my grandpa with it! He never get’s cold feet now!
And beer’s beer. I’m a 20 yr. old college student, what did you expect?
…..is a place with a waaaayyyy too short Harley riding season.
I’ll stay here in the US. (The president really has no power. He can’t do anything without the approval of congress. The “blame” must be shared by all of congess and those who voted for them.)
…Where Mike Myers (another Canadian) interviewed on “the Actors Studio” about his feelings about Canada, said: “If you think of Mexico as Salsa, in Canada we are Celery!”, and laugh about ourselves.
…Where I married 29 years ago, and the country said “Welcome”.
…Where I can count Casey & Finnegan as some of my personal friends.
…Where my children are still first generation Canadians, even though their great-grand parents where born here, talk about mosaik…
I’ve always wanted to be a Canadian and seriously talked about moving there after the last election. I’m getting too old to change citizenships I think.