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What makes living in Canada Great?

  • 1. It's Canada… Duh!

    Votes: 12 31.6%
  • 2. It's in North American and NOT the good ole US of A… Duh!

    Votes: 12 31.6%
  • 3. Hockey is one of our national sports.

    Votes: 7 18.4%
  • 4. We enjoy one of the greatest standards of living in the world.

    Votes: 17 44.7%
  • 5. Per capita we have/have had some of the best comedians in the world.

    Votes: 6 15.8%
  • 6. Per capita we have/have had some of the best singers/musicians in the world.

    Votes: 9 23.7%
  • 7. Having winter 5 months of the year rules….

    Votes: 4 10.5%
  • 8. Having a Monarch is cool.

    Votes: 5 13.2%
  • 9. I was born here/ I chose to live here.

    Votes: 11 28.9%
  • 10. None/All of the above and more... If you choose this option please elaborate….

    Votes: 7 18.4%

What makes living in Canada Great?

5K views 78 replies 25 participants last post by  Dr.G. 
#1 ·
So... How the frick do you post a new poll... I have done it before and suddenly I can't get it to work.

Mods/Mr. Mayor please delete this thread once I get an answer. I didn't mean to post this as a thread without the poll, but in trying to get it to work this thread was generated in error and I have no way of deleting it.
 
#2 · (Edited)
As one who chose Canada, and chose to stay here, I feel it is the sense of freedom with responsibility I feel here. While I am proud to have been born and raised in America, I am a proud Canadian as well. I don't take Canada for granted, and try to give back as much or more than I have received from this great country. Where Canada is right, I try to keep it on this correct path, and where I feel Canada is wrong, I also work to try and put it on a correct path.
 
#8 ·
On a new thread, you click the button at the bottom under manage attachments.

Or on an existing thread you made, click the "Add poll to this thread" under thread tools.

The error message you posted is usually when you're trying to submit a thread with no text in it... There's a minimum character limit of about 3-5 characters. (Can't remember exact amount off hand)

It's possible you were trying to start a poll with nothing in the thread at all. You need a few words in the actual thread part before you get to the poll option.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
I need to reset the poll option way beyond 10 options for this poll. ;)

Despite its flaws, I love our healthcare system.

I love our cultural mosaic model as opposed to trying to be a melting pot.

Love the physical country... the geography and our resources.

I love our French Canadian history and having Quebec a part of Canada

I love Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemuix, Sidney Crosby and dozens of the the finest althetes in the world.

I love George St. Pierre

I love Rush, Blue Rodeo, Bare Naked Ladies, Sarah, Our Lady Peace, and so many more artists.

I love our growing soccer culture. (Just awarded 2015 women's world cup! Our U-17 team just qualified for World Cup... first time in years. Soon, 3 professional teams with renovated, soccer specific stadiums and their growing youth academies. Reformed soccer governing body)

I love or political and religious freedoms.

Could go on and on.

Great poll!
 
#14 · (Edited)
Not quite sure what is up with that either.... maybe because it is a multiple choice poll?... not sure, maybe the Mayor can enlighten us on that ?

As for your comment about Canada, that is the very thing that drew the Group of Seven into the wilds of Canada to paint it. Despite our many modern conveniences, once you get out of the cities and towns this country is still a very untamed wilderness. I experienced that "rawness" that you referred to first hand tree planting along the Northern Shore of Lake Superior. When the weather kicks up and a massive thunderstorm envelopes you and you are all alone with nothing but a bag of trees and a planting spade you feel very, very small indeed. Truly a sublime moment in the true meaning of the word.
 
#19 ·
Not at all fond of having 9 months of Almost Winter/Winter/Still Winter.

Number one for me has to be the health care system. Any one that has dealt with US health Insurance and or Medicare, knows that privatized health insurance, benefits no one except Health Insurance Companies and the Bean Counters.
 
#21 ·
Thank you, Sonal. That was a nice thing to say about Canadians. Paix, mon amie.
 
#29 ·
I believe Canada is great because it is located basically in the top quarter of the world (if north is on top and south is bottom). A potential cold and harsh climate requires people to rely on one another.

Trade Unions (not to derail this thread) and the socialist model taken from a Christian church model has worked well for Canada.

Canadian Christians that believed in Social Gospel rather than fundamental Christianity. The development of the Co-operative movement in Canada has served the country well also.
 
#34 ·
The derailment occurred in ascribing the socialist model to Christianity. Christian co-operation assumes free will, while the Canadian socialist models, inasmuch as it is practiced, does not allow for it. So I agree that co-operation may be a positive aspect of Canada, but I do not agree with the reasoning tacked onto it.
 
#35 ·
The derailment occurred in ascribing the socialist model to Christianity. Christian co-operation assumes free will, while the Canadian socialist models, inasmuch as it is practiced, does not allow for it. So I agree that co-operation may be a positive aspect of Canada, but I do not agree with the reasoning tacked onto it.
These are valid points, but not as a proof of a derailment. The point in your argument is that you do not agree with why he likes living in Canada - not the same as causing a thread to go off-track.
 
#39 ·
Ok just to get the thread back on the rails...

One of the things that makes living in Canada Great is that by far and large our history has been evolutionary, not revolutionary... It makes for a completely different mind set... We tend to "work out" our differences as opposed to fighting them out.

I am proud of that fact.
 
#40 ·
A very good and valid point, screature. Paix, mon ami.
 
#45 ·
After 16 years of living in the US, we were very glad to return home. We certainly enjoyed large parts of our sojourn Stateside - we got to live in two lovely states (Oregon and Massachusetts) and made many friends, but when the opportunity to move back presented itself, we were startled by how strong the pull to move became. There is a strange sense of otherness that never completely goes away - particularly when Americans get patriotic. ;)

While I can't say I'm always crazy about the political situation in Canada, I'm very glad that so far we have little of the madness now rampant in the US. The vitriol there is quite startling - even on the local level, where party politics used to be verboten. I was active politically on the local level, and you had to have the hide of a rhinoceros - it was brutal at times. Most of it was directed at the candidates/causes I was working for, but I even got flack for being a Canadian who participated and cared!

So very glad to leave that behind and return to the land of "socialized" medicine as those on the right in the US so love to call it (single-payer is obviously just too non-inflammatory), where my self-employed friends don't have to pay $1200 a month for health insurance with $5000 annual deductibles, and where there are advance green lights (instead of nutjob New England drivers who drive as if there is an advance green, turning left right in front of the oncoming traffic the moment the light turns green) and milk in bags, malt bread, and PEI potatoes! (I really, really, loathe Idaho 'taters...)

It ain't perfect, but it's home - and I can vote. :)
 
#47 ·
I have spent a sizeable portion of my life in both countries. As an American choosing to live in Canada I would say what bothers me most about the US is the tendency of the politicians to wrap themselves in the flag. The bigger the flag(s), the bigger the lies they are spouting. Somehow I find that far more disrespectful than burning the flag outright.
 
#46 ·
I think what makes Canada great is... Maritimers :D !!! Actually, East Coasters... gotta get my Newfoundland Neighbours in there too! Their laid back ways and friendliness are contagious.

It's late, I'm a little punchy, but here's a shout out to the rest of you as well... soooo

Quebec: Old Québec City, the language, poutine, maple syrup, and The Habs (before you Hab haters jump in - ya gotta admit - incredible history and accomplishments)

Ontario: my adopted province, the diversity of people, small towns, The Leafs, The Senators, the 5 Apple Stores within a 40 minutes drive of each other

For the rest, I've gotta go with what I've read/heard as I've never been...

Manitoba: home province of Jonathan Toews (leading my Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup in almost 50 years), The Royal Winnipeg Ballet (oldest in Canada apparently), The Royal Canadian Mint

Saskatchewan: best wheat in the world, farmland to feed the rest of us, provincial motto: "Multis e gentibis vires" (From many peoples, strength)

Alberta: Oil capital of Canada (which helps "fuel" the rest of our industries), The Calgary Stampede, Banff, Jasper - never been, hear both are incredible, The Oilers, The Flames, and oh almost forgot - Dinosaurs

British Columbia: Terry Fox, Pacific Redwoods, an amazing 2010 Olympics, The Beachcombers, and some of the best salmon I've ever eaten, The Canucks (If Chicago Can't win the Stanley Cup this year I hope you do)

The Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut (sorry to put you together, but hey - I put the whole East Coast together): Farley Mowat, The Gold Rush, Polar Bears, The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service (The Bard of The Yukon)

I recently discovered that the name Nunavut means "our land" and I think that this best sums up what makes Canada great. I was born in Charlottetown PEI - "The Cradle of Confederation". When I think of the rest of Canada, it's always as "our Alberta", "our New Brunswick", etc. PEI will always be "my home province", but I like to think that the rest of you look at PEI as "our PEI"... Canada is "ours", Like anything valuable that belongs to us, we should cherish it, look after it, and try to keep it in the best shape we can.

Cheers,

Spudmac
 
#53 ·
I think what makes Canada great is... Maritimers :D !!! Actually, East Coasters... gotta get my Newfoundland Neighbours in there too! Their laid back ways and friendliness are contagious...
Great post spudmac. :clap:

And yes East Coasters are great people from a wonderful part of the country... I say this of course because I am one. :D Albeit a transplanted one now for most of my life, but it is still where my roots and heart is...
 
#50 ·
I like living in a country in which my uncle, aunt, and cousin can be candidates for the Marxist/Leninist party in federal elections, and still lead lives that are relatively free from harassment and danger. (And I can tell you this without risking my own job and security.)
 
#51 ·
I'm grateful that Canada's political system is flexible enough that we were able to throw off the legacy of the Brian Mulroney, years. No bad idea is doomed to permanence here.

Back to our topic.


I agree with Sinc, Canada's geography has shaped the people and the culture.
 
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#54 ·
Despite the difficulties it has created, being a country of two languages helps make Canada great. It means we have to learn to try and get along despite that difference. Obviously not everyone feels this way but as an anglophone who has lived most of my life in Quebec, I appreciate that it is this "duality" that has helped shape me and make me who I am today. It isn't always easy, but I think I am a better person for it.
 
#55 ·
"I think what makes Canada great is... Maritimers !!! Actually, East Coasters... gotta get my Newfoundland Neighbours in there too! Their laid back ways and friendliness are contagious." We here in NL thank you, spudmac. Of course, everything is west of us here in St.John's, so I guess Canadians in the Atlantic Provinces would include us all.

Paix, mon ami.
 
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