Vox:
Canada serves two predominant roles in modern American discourse. It is the place where Americans threaten to move when things aren’t going well at home. It is also the butt of endless jokes, generally involving Canada being America’s hat or Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor or Robin Sparkles.
Today is Canada Day, when our northern neighbors celebrate their country’s birth in 1867. And its a good as time as any to thoroughly explore the question: How great, exactly, is Canada? Should we be pining to move there, or mock it viciously?
Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!
The only thing bad about canada that I can see is our shared roots with imperialist england.
For the most part, Canada and Canadians like our roots with “imperialist England”.
Apart from those of French extraction…
As I said, “For the most part…”
My family and I were in Vancouver on Canada Day a few years ago. Great place. Great people. I would argue, however, that you only need three items in a list to prove Canada’s awesomeness:
As a 1/4 Canadian (Newfie, actually), Happy Birthday Canada!!
Newfie? Cool! They are the 2nd best Canadians. 🙂
It’s pretty cool that Canada has created a holiday to celebrate my birthday.
Re:2, Canadians (other than Jim) are just too polite to admit it if they don’t like it in Canuckistan.
Re: 8, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA (sorry, eh? I couldn’t help myself) Please google the records of, say, Vancouver Canucks vs., oh, let’s use someplace warm to make it a worst case… how about the Los Angeles Kings?
Canada has all the mountains and valleys, and vast sweeping vistas, and lakes deep and blue, and skies made out of cracked off diamonds.
And the inhabitants are quite nice too.
Re, #2. Perhaps they didn’t poll enough Winnipeg natives.
“CANADA: The Heritage Minute short about the Halifax Explosion is our most expensive film ever made.”
Then why are you an expat?
Yeah, let’s look at the LA Kings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013–14_Los_Angeles_Kings_season#Roster
“So Bob, do you think anybody who’s born in Canada is Canadian, even if they live and play in LA? So, The Great One, even though he lives in LA, has an American wife and an American daughter is Canadian, eh?”
“Right Doug, but only if they’re good, eh? If they’re, like, born in Canada, but they suck, they’re, like, American.”
“So Bob, that makes all the Canucks American, eh hoser?”
Sorry? What does whether or not I’m an expat have anything to do with what we are discussing?
Just came back from Canada Day in Victoria. Another great time was had and our hats are off to all Canadians. Only three more years until the 150th anniversary. We’ll see you next year.
Glad you enjoyed it! Why Victoria and not other places in BC?
We’ve done Victoria the past three years with three other couples. My wife and I make numerous trips over the course of the year as it’s quicker and more fun for us to come your way then to go to Seattle. We do travel outside Victoria. We’ve zip lined in Sooke, Nell kayaked in the Salt Spring Islands, and of course, we go to Vancouver for NHL games and Whistler to ski. We’re also planning a cross Canada trip from east to west. So how much do you do on our Olympic Peninsula?
Ah! Good to hear. There’s so much to explore in the area, I hate when people just go to Victoria.
I used to travel a lot on the Olympic Peninsula when I lived in the area 12 years ago but none since I’ve been back. Hope to get back into it soon though!
No, but I think where hockey players were born, raised, learned to play and will probably retire matters more than who’s currently paying them the most. Call me foolish for that if you want.
Obviously, Gretzky’s in the US to stay. That doesn’t mean he learned to play there, or that the US has anything to do with why he’s the greatest player ever.
I’m not sure why you’re arguing this. Seems pretty foolish to me.
It’s called a joke, hoser. I’ll never miss an opportunity to tease Shawn about the Canucks, and the rest is just part of the fun. I love Canada and give it all due respect for starting the great game, despite the suckitude of its current teams.
In the immortal words of the late, great Warren Oates; “Lighten up, Francis.”
Jokes are better when they’re funny.