We on the right seem to spend a lot of time bashing Canada. How about, just for a change, we talk about some of the things we like about living here? Here’s my short list:
- Newfie culture and music (Great Big Sea rocks!)
- Our geography
- The freedoms we enjoy (which are still considerable)
- Canadian photography (Yusef Karsh was a Canucklehead!)
- Living on the prairies
- Stompin’ Tom
What do you folks like about Canada?
. . .
/crickets
I don’t like anything about Canada. Canada’s a government. A corrupt, dirty, worthless and evil government that no one needs and no one in his right mind would tolerate, let alone want.
Of course, it happens to be exploiting and oppressing a lot of lovely people in a lot of nice places.
Doug & ebt –
Give your heads a bloody shake. Living in bitterness like that is simply pathetic. You can hate the politics of the nation without hating the nation – if you’re blind to that, I have nothing but pity for you.
Fishing, hunting,sports , Canadians (non liberano$$$$)Our Pre-trudeaupian history,
Our Potential!
I was right there with you Sean until you got to Stompin’ Tom!
EBT:
A little harsh, especially since “Canada” is more than our worthless, corrupt parlimentarian, eastern biased, closed-minded-liberal political system and the purely symbolic, demasculated RCMP.
Hockey, lacrosse, coyotes howling in the early am, crunching snow, Red Green, being able to see Manitoba from southern Alberta, and being able to occasionally go to Mexico to see how the REALLY poor live and make me appreciate my little square of dirt. That’s my small part of Canada.
Andrew, every citizen of every country (like every parent to their own child)thinks their country is the best looking.
Generous sponsorship programs.
“I was right there with you Sean until you got to Stompin’ Tom!”
Stompin’ Tom rules! Here’s more for my list… Pierre Burton and Gordon Sinclair. And Wayne and Schuster. And Mr. Dressup.
Hockey
Montreal
Kit’s Beach
Nanaimo bars
Moose
Sufficient freedoms so that people can post on a blog that they hate Canada and especially hate its government.
Being on the right or the left (like me) there is a great deal to bemoan, but our glass really is half full. We have the luxury of lamenting unrealized potential in freedom, rather than fully realized tyranny.
Oh……. and I like hockey too!
This might be a rare opinion here, but politics aside I like having Quebec in Canada. I like the sense of visiting a different country and lifestyle without having to pack a passport, and while still being able to access the familiar with relative ease.
wide open spaces, loons and freedom
1. Ottawa sunsets in spring and fall.
2. Tim Horton iced cappucinos in summer.
3. Bicycling along the Queen Elizabeth bike path.
4. The Comic Book Shoppe.
5. Lunch at Johnny Farina’s.
6. Milano’s pizza.
7. Sundays at the National Gallery.
8. The Great Canadian Superstore.
9. Pigale’s.
10. Dunn’s smoked meat sandwiches.
11. The rooms of the Delta Chelsea in Toronto.
12. CNAnime Toronto.
13. Granville Island in spring.
14. The Lower Deck in Halifax on a Friday night.
15. The cigar lounge at Casino Nova Scotia.
16. Poutine with white cheese curds.
Wide open spaces, Banff, Newfie accents,
Ginger Beef and Ceasars (the drink not the salad)!!!
Go FLAMES GO!!!
I’m looking at that list and it’s still mostly western. Bummer … NOT.
I like Phantom Observer’s list, though I’ve never liked the Lower Deck. And I am guessing you are not from Quebec given that you’ve specified “poutine with white cheese curds”. Is there another kind? It’s like saying you like sex, with intercourse.
But good list.
1. The sound of the Saint John River as it freezes
2. Fairmont sesame-seed bagels fresh out of the oven
3. Quebec musicians Daniel Belanger and Isabel Boulay
4. NB pine trees
5. PEI potatoes
6. Basin Head Beach (PEI)
7. Gros Morne National Park NF
8. Victoria BC
9. Sask wheat fields
10.Albertans who vote
Senator Colin Kenny (Liberal), Chair, Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.
One Canadian who knows his subject, cares, and is willing to criticize the Government.
The Committee’s latest report:
“September 2005: WOUNDED – Canada�s Military and the Legacy of Neglect: Our Disappearing Options for Defending the Nation Abroad and at Home”
http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/defe-e/rep-e/repintsep05-e.htm
Mark
Ottawa
1.hiking in the Canadian Rockies
2.hockey
3.Alexander Keith’s India Pale Ale
4.Bowser and Blue
5.Grand Prix weekend in Montreal
6.hockey
7.a Cape Breton ceilidh
8.the Canadian military
9.the Calgary Stampede
10.HOCKEY!!
CBC
Universal Health Care
The Liberal Party of Canada
The Toronto Maple Leafs
NEP
Gun Registry
Oh – I’m so funny.
Seriously though… here’s a couple of things off the top of my head:
Singers that include our geography in their music – lots of country artists do it, Gordon Lightfoot, The Hip, Niel Young, – even Maestro
The CFL – the Grey Cup
American CFL players staying in the community after their playing days are over
Long summer days
Early winter nights with a fire
Labatt Blue
Snow during Christmas
The Senators, Canadiens, Flames, Oilers, and Canucks – and the excitement in the country when the Sens and one of the western teams play in the finals this year
Our humour
Dudley:
Thank you, you have reminded me of the ethnic fabric (uh oh, liberalspeak) of Canada. I like having Quebec in Canada too, and I believe that we western Canucks have very similar feelings of alienation and disenfranchisment with our centrally located gov’t. There is a subtle glue that binds us – the difference is that we don’t have the political sway to get our way.
Quebec is a great part of Canada – and so are the Atlantic provinces with generous, hard working people – not the MSM portrayed victims.
My first post was somewhat geo-centric.
Hmmm..
Crown Royal,
Hockey,
Beautiful and diverse landscapes,
The Clarity Act,
Our proud history,
the (mostly) down-to-earth, hard-working citizens.
1.Hockey
2.Stompin’ Tom
3.Tim Horton’s
4.Our pre-1955 military
5.Fact that German Army was scared ****less of our guys in the Great War and the Deuce.
6. The fact that I dont live there anymore.
Beautiful British Columbia and Kokanee beer
1) Hockey, especially at the Corel Centre
2) Edmonton Folk Festival
3) Driving across any water in Vancouver on a sunny day and looking up at the mountains.
4) When told to “have a nice day” at a checkout, responding, “I’ve made other plans” and getting a giggle in return. (Yes Canadians DO have a sense of humour, they just first assume that you don’t.)
5) Being treated rudely by old Indian ladies while buying curry stuff in Punjabi Town Vancouver.
6) Being treated wonderfully by young Indian ladies at the same stores in Vancouver.
7) 3/99c samoosas in Richmond BC
8) Buying coffee from Artie the Coffee Nazi in Richmond.
9) Rain, fog and sleet in Halifax, mid-winter in Winnipeg.
10) Downtown Ottawa & the canal on a sunny day.
11) The free concerts in Toronto. (Do they still do those?)
12) Steering my car mostly with the handbrake in winter and pulling off a perfect 180 in my driveway.
13) Mark Steyn, David Warren, Andrew Coyne, George Jonas, Robert Fulford.
14) When the first non-chilly weekend after winter hits anywhere except Vancouver, and the atmosphere changes to SUMMER.
15) Mowing the lawn in late January in Vancouver.
16) The first girl I saw on the streets of Regina.
17) Cold Lake Alberta.
18) Getting into the Paddock Club at this year’s GP. (Hallelujah.)
19) Small town Ontario
20) When Canada is declared the best country in the world in which to live by the U.N. (Oh c’mon SDArs, remember the Canadian sense of humour.)
Andrew, you’ve got only pity for me? But I’ve got pity and a cattle prod up the ass for you! Cheap litle prick.
What “nation”? Canada is a government and nothing more.
“Andrew, every citizen of every country (like every parent to their own child)thinks their country is the best looking.”
And so they should!
I’m over here in the UK for the time being.
And I can tell you this: Canada looks pretty good to me.
– Girl watching at City Park beach in Kelowna
– Quail’s Gate and Little Straw wineries in Westbank
– The view from the top of Mission Hill
– Getting drunk in the VIA rail bar car while going through the Rockies (or anytime,really)
– Driving into downtown Calgary
– Tapping a keg at a tractor-pull contest in small-town Saskatchewan, or at a Rider game
– Any view from any of the bridges in Saskatoon
– Mennonite fowl suppers in places like Steinbach, Manitoba
– Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba
– Leaving Toronto
– Strolls along the Rideau Canal
– The silliness and grandeur of Parliament
– Every provincial legislature
– Quebecois and Maritime folk music
– The docks in Halifax, esp. the seafood restaurants
– Halifax bars
– Halifax donairs
– Those really filthy, decadent peeler bars in Montreal
– Quebec City, the most romantic place in North America
– Newfie hospitality and accents
– The sense of humour
– The national Asshole Culture – our tendency to secretly admire gigantic jerks, like Sir John A., Trudeau, Mulroney, Don Cherry, Harold Ballard, Alan Eagleson, etc., etc.
– Freedom, peace, security
My wife
My kids
That we can still worship as we like (for now)
Canadian blogs
Northern lakes
We on the right seem to spend a lot of time bashing Canada. How about, just for a change, we talk about some of the things we like about living here? Here’s my short list:
Newfie culture and music (Great Big Sea rocks!)
Our geography
The freedoms we enjoy (which are still considerable)
Canadian photography (Yusef Karsh was a Canucklehead!)
Living on the prairies
Stompin’ Tom
What do you folks like about Canada?
Hockey is back on air
Snow ( skiing )
CBC being off air
Tim Horton’s
Fiberals on the defensive
Hot summers at cottage counrty
Western Libertarian culture
Wrong. We on the right are bashing those on the left who have taken conrol of Canada thanks to a hopelessly archaic political system that gives landslide victories to parties that only carry around 40% of the popular vote.
Bloody good post idea.
Here’s mine.
http://rightthinkingpeople.blogspot.com/2005/09/oh-canada.html
The best thing about Canada is it’s not America….. yet. On that note, how about a short list of reasons to be PROUD Canadians:
1)You’re not offended by the term “HOMO MILK”
2)You understand the phrase “Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped
my poutine on the chesterfield.”
3)You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.
4)You drink Pop, not Soda.
5)You know that a Mickey and 2-4’s mean, “party at the camp, eh!!!”
6)You don’t care about the fuss with Cuba. It’s a cheap place to go for
your holidays (not vacation), with good cigars and no Americans.
7)You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway
8)You drive on a highway, not a freeway
9)You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
10)You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.
11)You cried when you heard that “Mr Dress Up” died.
12)You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.
13)You brag to Americans that: Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion,
William Shatner, Bryan Adams, Alan Thicke, Michael J Fox, Peter Jennings,
Barenaked Ladies, James Cameron, Jason Priestly, Keanu Reeves, Lorne
Greene, Mary Pickford, Arthur Kent, Amanda Marshall, Donald Sutherland,
Our Lady Peace, Glenn Ford, Alanis Morrissette,etc., are Canadians.
14)You know that the C.E.O. of American Airlines is a Canadian!
15)You know what a touque is.
16)You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
17)You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always
pronounced “Zed”
18)Your local newspaper covers the national news on 2 pages, but requires 6
pages for hockey.
19)You know that the four seasons means: winter, still winter,
almost winter, and road work.
20)You know that when it’s 25 degrees outside, it’s a warm day.
21)You understand the Labatt Blue commercials.
22)You know how to pronounce and spell “Saskatchewan”
23)You perk up when you hear the theme song from “Hockey Night in Canada”
24)You are in grade 12, not the 12th grade.
25)”Eh?” is a very important part of your vocabulary, and is more polite
than,”Huh?”
Hockey night in Canada. Don Cherry, west coast, east coast, northern lights, my national anthem when sung in english,I’m truely sorry I cannot think of anything else god I feel like crying.No thats not all some of the people are the best in the world.Ilove question period on CPAC I just laugh and laugh and our ambassador just called the American govt disfunctional.
Wait there is more my childhood growing up on the prairies. When I was a kid you could walk down my main street with my 22 and nobody said boo.We never locked our homes or cars.Playing in the Legion parking lot with the other kids while our parents were in having a wet.The feeling that we were one country not a divided nation . What has happened to my country??? You can’t trust the govt they were the ones that split this country up.
What I like best about Canada is Kate McMillan
Yusef Karsh was awesome.
And newfie is a slur, so you really shouldn’t use the word.
Sean,
I’m Ontario born and bred, educated here and spent most of my life here.
Best three years of my life when I had the most fun, made the most money and experienced true freedom for the first time were spent in Arizona. Phoenix rocks, I wish I was back there.
I have more rights as a FOREIGN VISITOR in Arizona than I do as a full blown natural born citizen of Canada.
If that doesn’t suck I can’t think what would.
The Western CFL playoffs in the early 60s when the semi-final was two games, total points, and the final was best of three.
Mark
Ottawa
1. That I don’t lock house or car doors if I don’t feel like it or remember.
2. That I never worry about what part of town I’m walking around in, at what time, by myself.
3. That I can go where I want, when I want.
4. That I can afford to go where I want, when I want.
5. That I don’t worry about whether my water is safe to drink, or what kind of care I’ll receive in an emergency.
6. That I have a telephone that works, a television that works, and decent, albeit not fast, internet access.
7. Access to good groceries at a reasonable cost.
8. That I can afford a good education if I’m willing to work for it.
I’m sure there’s a lot more. I didn’t attend it, but recently a lot of co-workers attended a seminar on focussing on the 90% of things in your life that are positive. I heard nothing but raves. You can dwell on the 10% crap and become bitter and cynical, or the 90% that’s great and be happy. Your choice.
I like the crunch of snow when it’s thirty below, and that smell in the spring when the first patches of clear ground get heated by the sun.
the arora borealis
In no particular order.
1. Real old time winter (when we truly have one).
Nothing better than a 3 day storm.
2. CFL & Canadian University football…exciting.
3. Polite people.
4. Terry Fox & Ken Taylor…heroes & role models.
5. The wonderful people in the maritimes & on the prairies; lots of family there.
6. Running the dog in the bush on a crisp winter morning.
7. Red Rose Tea…only in Canada eh?
8. The people who helped house & feed stranded airline passengers on Sept.11/ 2001.
9. Our armed forces personnel.
10. CPAC
11. Good muskie fishing. Being on the water in Georgian Bay & area..
12. A great wife & kids.
13. A GOOD , sturdy windshield scraper.
14. My snowblower…I no longer shovel much.
15. The fascinating stories that some of our senior citizens recount.
16. Northern Ontario folks.
17. The useful word ‘eh’, context means everything, and there are many uses for it.
I like the nice Canadians that come down here to live. We affectionately call them “frostbacks”.
I gotta tell you, I’m a Newfoundlander (pronounced “NEW-funlander”) and it tickles me pink that so many people are positive about my province. One thing that delights me about the right here in Canada is that we don’t fall prey to the “divide and conquer” aspect of regionalism that the liberals employ – we all realize that no matter where we are from, we are Canadians. And that we are there for each other. God bless the Canadian right and its ever abundant wisdom.
Shawn, you are right in a way. I for years considered the use of the word “Newfie” to be on par with another N-word. The problem is this: generally, the only time the word is used is in the form of a slur, so it has acquired a very negative connotation via association. That being said, it must also be pointed out that people not from Newfoundland should be careful when they use the word around Newfoundlanders. HOWEVER, there is an even sort of split in the province as to whether or not it should be permanantly construed as a slur. For example, in today’s post it is used affectionately, the way one might say “Aussie” in reference to our great friends down under. So really, it depends. Yes, it CAN be a slur and usually is, but when used as a term of respect and affection it is alright to say it. The only problem with the word is that it is used so often as a slur.
Kudos to you, Shawn, for recognizing that!
“One thing that delights me about the right here in Canada is that we don’t fall prey to the “divide and conquer” aspect of regionalism that the liberals employ”
Dante wins the shortest memory in Canada award.
A couple of people mentioned northern lights. Yeah that too for me.
I Think KevinG is wrong. The Libs divide the country. They know they have the parts that matter. PMPM played Alberta against the east last election and it worked for him. Conservative minded people are a little tired of being called extremists and being pointed to as western bogymen who will destroy the country (anyone remember PMPM saying he wouldn’t let Ralph Klein destroy medicare? Why pick on Alta when Quebec is leading the way in private care?) so eastern politians can win elctions. We feel the counrty we’ve loved and believed in has betrayed us. We don’t divide. We’re simply reacting to the division the Libs have sown. I guess I should’t say ‘we’ because I can only speak for myself.
Ok, what do I like about Canada? Well, first of all, I’m here and de facto on the ground things aren’t too bad for me. But pride risks hubris, which produces disaster. All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing, as someone I’m too lazy to look up right now once said.
The Tragically Hip
Manitoba Socials
Sleman’s
Crown Royal
The Brier & Scott
The wide open prairie, with the rocky shield just an hour or two away, the Rockies within a day’s travels and the tundra to our north.
August Long Weekend
A kick ass national anthem, ready for busting out during gold medal hockey games
“Henderson…out in front…there’s a shot! HE SCORES!…Henderson…has scored for Canada.”
Trailer Park Boys
Gordon Lightfoot – Yes, I’ll say it.
We grew up on Mr. Dressup and he’s still raising Canadian kids in reruns
Folklarama
Dauphin National Ukrainian Festival (if your name ends in -sky or -chuk, it’s like a pilgrimage – and a really good drunk.)
Children can go trick or treating to the home of our leader at 24 Sussex Drive
Following the Brandon Wheat Kings to the “Crushed Can” in Moose Jaw to drink Pilsner and watch the second half of the home-and-away with the Warriors
Canada Day celebrations
Already been mentioned, but the Great National Drunk (Grey Cup Weekend)
Rex Murphy
Tommy Hunter
Salisbury Houses (the best hangover food)
Our history in war
That my small Manitoba Ukrainian hometown of a couple hundred people now contains a “Chilian community” consisting of several families
The Lower Deck in Halifax
That I can decide between perogies & kobassa or spicy stirfry at Canwest Global Park when I’m at a Winnipeg Goldeyes Game
Finally, (because I’ve already gone on too long)
This list is nowhere NEAR complete.