Why such a difference between Canada and the USA?

[Beaver Tail]

Stumbled on this while looking for other stuff. This pretty much explains it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_and_the_2004_U.S._presidential_election

snip
Since the Second World War, Canada has moved in the direction of Democratic views supporting more social programs, stronger social justice, and a multilateral foreign policy. Canada is largely lacking the base of the Christian Right which provides a significant portion of Bush's support.

Personally, Kerry also had features that were appealing to some Canadians. He plays hockey, speaks French, and is a north-easterner with international experience. Bush is an evangelical, Spanish-speaking Southerner, traits that are less stereotypically Canadian

there was a strong perception in Canada that in regards to trade matters the Bush administration was more concerned with its relationship with Mexico, and while Canada was comparatively ignored.

[skids]

1. They don't get heatstroke.

They don't have the sweltering hot weather necessary to induce a "religious experience."

[no_to_war_economy]

4. they respect and honor hockey much better than USA

[kittenpants]

9. that man is a hero n/t

[getmeouttahere]

12. Amen to that!

I root for Canada in international hockey, because they actually care about the game. Same with soccer, I root for several countries in soccer, because a week after the world cup, we forget about soccer.

[evil eggplant]

21. simple answer

Canada pays the same for gas as the rest of the world. They do not require a mid-east policy based on the need to satisfy an unquenchable thirst for oil.

That's one difference

[Bassic]

33. Have you ever been here in mid-July?

It's hot enough all right....

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Canada did not have the Puritan base the US did, and it is a

Parliamentarian government, which, as it turns out, appears to be more answerable to its people, than a Democratic Republic. How ironic that if we had remained under the thumb of Great Brtain, we might have turned out to be more like Canada....
:rofl::cry: :rofl::cry: :rofl::cry: :rofl: :cry: :rofl:
Our greatest glory may have turned out be the seed of our greatest sadness.

[htuttle]

3. Sun Myung Moon hasn't invested his money there yet

But he will, he will...someday.

[getmeouttahere]

8. Well, Canada's version of Moon is...

Conrad Black. With the exception of Le Soleil, pretty much any newspaper in Canada that contains the word "Sun" is a RW propoganda rag. Am I right, Canada?

[Spazito]

29. Conrad and his nasty wife gave up their Canadian citizenship

when Chretien wouldn't roll over for him and he couldn't bring Chretien down, he now resides in the poodle's country because they gave him a phony knighthood, lol.

Re papers with "Sun" in the title, some are ie Calgary Sun, big time red neck paper, imo, not sure on the others tho.

Conrad doesn't own his 'flagship' paper anymore, the National Post, but it is still very rightwing.

[getmeouttahere]

32. Thanks for the perspective, Spazito...

of course I generalized a bit there...I think I was telling you before that I don't use CANOE anymore because I would just see way too much BushCo propoganda on there. And all the Sun papers are connected to CANOE.

[Spazito]

40. You're very welcome! Re CANOE, there is one paper listed

that I do read and that is the Toronto Sun but only for Eric Margoles' column, it is a must read and is published every Sunday. I do check CANOE on occasion because they sometimes have interesting articles not covered by the television media or the 'mainstream' papers although CANOE does, indeed, lean right, imo.

[getmeouttahere]

41. Thanks for the tip

I'll check it out (Toronto Sun and Eric Margoles, that is)

[Bassic]

34. Not quite. Le Soleil, although somewhat resistant to the trend

belongs to the same company as most Québec newspapers, Gesca, which tends to favor the right (although it's nothing like say the Wall street Journal).

Le Devoir, which is pretty much the only independant major paper in québec, is more balanced. Pretty much the best we have.

The québécor rags are, well, rags, but not so right wing. Just bad, sensationalist journalism.

Can't say about the anglo papers, I don't read them all that much.

* Edited to include company's name

[getmeouttahere]

38. La Presse is Right Wing???

How could that be?

[LibertyorDeath]

5. My 2 cents

Canada = Live & Let Live

America = Live & Let Die

[KittyWampus]

6. they still have a monarchy

[Beaver Tail]

28. monarchy is only represent and symbolic

it has no real power

[liberal N proud]

7. Clean Air

[Telly Savalas]

47. Try again.

http://www.airqualityontario.com/reports/summary.cfm

[CottonBear]

10. I met a nice Canadian man the other day. He really dislikes *.

He told me that Canadians were really offended that * didn't know who the prime minister of Canada was when he was running for election the first time. Furthermore, this Canadian man didn't believe me at first when I told him that * went to both Yale and Harvard. I had to convince him it was true and then he said "his dad must have pulled strings to get junior admitted to Yale." (Ya think?)

[getmeouttahere]

11. U.S. - Life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness...

Canada's version of that slogan...

peace, order and good government

any questions?

[Minstrel Boy]

20. "Peace, Order and Good Government"

I've always really liked that.


In Canada, the phrase peace, order and good government (in French, paix, d'ordre et de bon gouvernement) is often used to describe the principles upon which that country's confederation took place. Originally used in the Constitution Act, 1867 enacted by the United Kingdom, it defines the principles under which a Canadian Parliament should legislate. It appears in the Section 91 of the Act, which divides legislative powers between the federal and provincial levels of government. In that section the phrase describes the legal grounds upon which the federal government is constitutionally permitted to pass laws that intrude on the legislative purview of the provinces.

Despite its technical purpose, the phrase “peace, order and good government” has become meaningful to Canadians. This tripartite motto is sometimes said to define Canadian values in a way comparable to “liberté, égalité, fraternité” (liberty, equality, fraternity) in France or “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in the United States.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace,_order_and_good_government

[getmeouttahere]

22. Thanks for this, Minstrel Boy....

and a special thanks for the pics of PET! He's one of my heroes!

[Minstrel Boy]

13. Interesting book: "Fire and Ice: The Myth of Converging Values"

For example, some of the fastest growing American trends include acceptance of violence, attraction to crowds, buying on impulse, ecological fatalism, ostentatious consumption, parochialism, and pursuit of intensity and xenophobia. Canadian trends include aversion to complexity, discriminating consumerism, ecological concern, fear of violence, global consciousness, national pride, rejection of order, and spiritual quest.

Adams uses specific cases to demonstrate how far apart the two nations have drifted. In 2002, when respondents in each country were asked if they agreed with the statement: “The father of the family must be master in his own house” 18 percent of Canadians agreed in comparison to 49 per cent of Americans.

Even the most conservative province in Canada, Alberta, where 21 per cent agreed with the statement, scored lower than the most liberal region of the United States, New England, where 29 percent agreed. The difference between Canada's most liberal province, Quebec, and the United States' most conservative region, the Deep South, was 56 percentage points.

Adams concludes that these trends will likely continue to differentiate the two countries and give credence to the common Canadian claim, "we're not American."

http://temagami.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/17102003/connections/c3.html

[getmeouttahere]

24. Great stuff....check this one out, folks...

"The Efficient Society - Why Canada Is As Close to Utopia As It Gets" by Joseph Heath

Heath demonstrates powerfully how the U.S. often sacrifices efficiency for liberty - I think this book gives a lot of ammunition to liberal arguments, even economic ones.

[Yupster]

43. If they'd stop clubbing baby seals

over their heads and skinning them, then maybe I'd use the Utopia word.

I was stunned recently to find out they're still doing that.

I thought that was ended twenty years ago.

[nine23]

14. As a Canadian, I find this all rather simplistic...

I understand it's only a snip, but...firstly, the Kerry stuff is irrelevant. The fact that he "plays hockey, speaks French" blah blah blah was largely naught because last November, compared to Bush, ANYBODY or ANY "THING" - living or dead - looked more promising.

Secondly, RE: Trade. Sounds like a whinging Canuck (and there are many) wrote the entry. The US and Canada have had an incredibly smooth, largely workable trade relationship for over a century. Unless there's a major singular issue in the air (ie. Mad Cow), it's day-by-day "business as usual". There's nothing to talk about that's particularly newsworthy; that's hardly being "ignored". In contrast, the US/Mexico relationship is fraught with complex issues on a daily basis. VERY NEWSWORTHY.

The first paragraph is pretty much "what it is", tho...

[getmeouttahere]

19. I would be offended too...

but there are issues that are festering, such as the Devil's Lake situation, that an admin like BushCo only exacerbates.

[hyphenate]

15. The major difference

between the U.S. and Canada is that Canada would never have taken the shit that our current government has imposed on us over the past 5+ years. It would have run Bush out on a rail a lot sooner.

[kweerwolf]

16. There's a definite correlation between ...

... hot weather climates like the good ol' southern U.S. of A. and religious fanaticism.

Reptilian creatures like fun-D'uh-MENTAL-ists would freeze if they lived in the Great White North.

[Dulcinea]

18. You have a point.

I've lived in Georgia for 16 years, & native Southerners are more afraid of snow & cold than alligators, tornadoes or hurricanes.

[glitch]

17. They didn't create an intelligence system, man it with "ex" nazis

and run propaganda operations on their citizens for 60 years?

[jbond56]

23. Simple. Canadians vote and regular Canadians count the vote.

So basically they are the process not mere by-standards.

[LondonReign2]

25. A Free Press

n/t

[AX10]

26. I love Canada! John Kerry is a good person and...

Canadians know this.

[JohnnyBoots]

27. Interview with Canadian puck player and a US Football Player

Canadian hockey players when interviewed are for the most part, polite, articulate, team oriented and aware of current events. Most of these guys are not college educated either. An interview with a US college educated NFL football player is usually a series of cliches, focus on the individual, awkward pauses, and the occasional angry outburst. Just strikes me that you can draw a parallel between the two countries just from this.

[getmeouttahere]

31. I've always felt this way about hockey players...

sometimes you can tell the difference between Canadian-born and U.S. born hockey players...think about it, who are the biggest mouths in hockey? Roenick, Tkachuk, Chelios, Hull (born in Canada but grew up in the U.S. because of his father).

Then look at basketball - who is one of the most articulate, polite and aware interviews? Steve Nash, Canadian-born.

[JohnnyBoots]

35. Says a lot about the school systems bewteen the two. Be

nice to J.R., you're just pissed that we stole LeClair and Desjardins from you way back when. Go Flyers! I used to love it when Habs fans used to wear suits to the forum, again shows a difference between the two countries.

[getmeouttahere]

37. Good one, JohnnyBoots...

maybe LeClair, but we got all the juice out of Desjardins, his last significant contributions came during that '93 Cup run...any idea who the Flyers might go after in the Free Agent frenzy?

[JohnnyBoots]

42. I heard

Scotty Stevens is their top priority, but he is getting older than dirt so who knows. I would love to see them bring back Brind'Amour just for his pressenece in the locker room. When does the FA frenzy begin? So glad the NHL is back. My girlfriend is from LeClair's home town in VT (It is great all the bars have Habs and Flyers stuff in them)and her mom used to work with his, so she got me a personalized autographed rookie card from him for X-mas. Priceless, best gift I ever got.

[getmeouttahere]

45. I would much rather see Brind'Amour in Philly...

than Carolina, or maybe he went somewhere else since then, it seems like forever since we had hockey I can't keep track of these things. I think Stevens is at the end of the line...I'm surprised he's been able to stay effective this long, with all the punishment he has to take to do his job. Of course, maybe dishing out elbows to the face doesn't take that much out of you!

I'll look to see when the FA period starts, I'm sure they won't waste too much time getting all that started.

[garybeck]

30. one reason

Canada has hand counted paper ballots.

we have a fake democracy and illegitimate elections.

Kerry won by 3% popular vote.

[Lexingtonian]

36. basically, climate

Taiga-edge societies like Canada's (where I lived for a while, btw) tend generally to suppress religious dogma when it gets nasty enough get in the way of material and communal wellbeing. People are simply too interdependent for it to be dominant for long- and economically that translates to a pragmatic socialism in most facets of public life. The people who resist this suppression in Canada seem to me to be primarily the strong, more recent, immigree ethnic traditionalists- particularists not strongly assimilated to the collective ethic. And Canada is probably, on the whole, more of an immigrant society than the U.S. presently.

[getmeouttahere]

39. Good points...

At my previous employer I traveled to Canada often on business, mostly to Montreal. I was collected at Dorval by a fairly well-to-do CDN businessman driving a rather modest vehicle, I believe a Honda or Toyota of some sort. Anyway, I asked him why you don't see a lot of expensive vehicles traversing the streets of Canada. His perspective was that priorities are different when the most important thing is to heat yourself in the frigid winters - everything else is secondary, or certainly was in the past. That mentality carried through to the present day. When it is vitally important to heat your family in winter, ostentatious material possessions become far less important and you are far less likely to live beyond your means.

[earth mom]

44. Three Things:

1. Canadians are more educated-more is expected of them in primary and secondary school and it shows.

2. Canadians are not materialistic to the degree that Americans are. They are not pushed at an early age to envy the rich or that's it's necessary to aspire to be rich. Being who you are is good enough.

3. Being fed the American Dream for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Corporate bastards have taken over with their constant barage of advertising showing that our lives are not worth living unless they are exciting and simply the best and that we must pursue the "American Dream" no matter what and at all costs.

Ah the American Dream...it sucks. :puke:

[getmeouttahere]

46. I agree with all your points...

Canadians have what we used to have...an expanding middle class.

[leftofthedial]

48. puritans versus crazy Frenchmen