Canadians and americans

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around 2003, at my shrink's office.

Nah, we're just a warlike people, we like to go to foreign countries and kill people, that doesn't say anything about how much we trust the people in charge. Just look at our laws vs yours, we don't trust our government with our health, our guns, our speech, our economy, really much at all save the military, and even then we're getting skeptical.

I'll give you a personal example. Both my girlfriend and I work in restaurants, and when the health department rolls in, she really thinks they're there to keep people safe and that their regulations are based on common sense and science, where as I've researched the science behind some of their demands (e.g. wearing gloves or cooking temperatures) and realized that they're overly conservative at best to flat out wrong, and consider them to be yet another power hungry bureaucracy trying to justify a headcount and a budget. I've seen the same attitude from a lot of Canadians when it comes to authority, really anyone from the commonwealth countries really.

Fair enough. I'm a fellow cynic, so I don't tend to just agree with everything gov't does here.

I think Americans make way too much of a deal about politics, religion, and political correctness.

Every year in December a tree is selected right here in Nova Scotia to be sent all the way to Boston for their tree-lighting festival. It's way of saying thank you to the people from Boston helping the survivors of the Halifax Explosion that killed at least 2000 people and injure 9000 more just before Christmas a long time ago. (which, as I heard one person on TV say, would have several movies by now based on it if it happened in the states). Anyway, a few years ago the people in Boston called it a "holiday tree". The farmer who donated the tree said he would have rather thrown it in the wood chipper than not call it a Christmas tree. I don't blame him.

On the other hand I think it's really dumb that people are flipping out over the "holiday" Starbucks cups being just plain red this year. Maybe if it was Tim Horton's cups I'd feel differently.

I've observed since childhood [having lived near the Canadian border in a state with a fair number of Canadian nationals in it, visiting or residing] that Canadians in general are much less uptight about stuff than typical amuuricans.

there are no real major differences between our 2 countries just little one like your more right wing and we are more left (on average) like when obama was originally elected people down there thought he was way to far left wing but to us if we had a PM like that we would say they are way to right wing (gives scale to the difference).

the other largest differences are grammatical spelling and pronunciation like:
its colour not color
this --> Z is a zed not a zee
and its not a knit cap or a beanie its a tuque (Canadian term)

and yes i can tell the Americans when they come in to the store i work at apart from the canadians cause they seem alot more up tight (vancouver island so get lots of people from the states)

PS we apologize way to much and for that im sorry

Last edited by donaar on 29 Nov 2015, 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Au Contraire!

The Treaty of Paris of September 3, 1783, negotiated between the United States and Great Britain, ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence. The United States Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784. British Parliament ratification occurred on April 9, 1784, and the ratified versions were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784.

A ratified treaty is law.

I read this morning that American police are horrible to people with mental illness or disabilities. So they're not just brutalizing black people. Even though most people with mental illness are not any more violent than "normal" people, American police treat them as if they are, even if they've committed no crimes, and may even kill them. I read that you should avoid calling the police if a loved one is having a psychotic episode, unless you want to see them DEAD.

That. Makes. Me. FURIOUS. They might as well still be burning people with epilepsy at the stake!

Well, the police have never treated me that way, even when everyone else must have thought I was a raving lunatic. So yet another reason I'm glad I wasn't born in the States. Although I did hear not long ago some debate over the use of tasers in Canada because they actually killed some people and the connection was that they had schizophrenia.

as an American, I can't totally suppress the thought in the back of my head, that America is backing into a piecemeal regime of culling the unfit via extrajudicial executions/malignantly neglectful incarceration.

After watching the video of those Toronto cops executing Sammy Yatim, I don't think that Canadian law enforcement officers are something you should be proud of. If Sammy Yatim is an example of how Canadian cops treat the mentally ill, then I don't see much difference between them and American cops.

All cops are just the same. They are the world's biggest gang of thugs. They are all just gutless cowards who would rather kill a mentally ill person, then take even a small chance that that person might possibly hurt them. Basically they just get paid to protect themselves, while providing no useful service to society. But their unions will try to brainwash you into believing that they are necessary.

Honestly, i always considered in a way, Canada to be America's ''little brother''.

Pretty much similar to his sibling, except smaller.

Since I finally got around to making a trip down south to 4 different US states, I can say the most glaring difference (besides the Customs being much more difficult and serious on the US side) is that there are flags EVERYWHERE in the USA. I love flags but it was a bit too much. I don't remember seeing a single state flag but the national flag was literally everywhere. In Quebec for example, flags were almost non-existent.

'Rednecks' were much more open on the American side: I saw anti-women, pro-gun, racist and anti-government bumper stickers on trucks and huge confederate flags painted on even bigger trucks even close to the Canadian border. You would NEVER see that in Canada. Americans seemed very friendly and welcoming but seem to be lacking in the intelligence side compared to most parts of Canada. One cashier never even heard of the letter "Zed" and she lived near Canada!

I also found that Canadians and especially those in Quebec and Newfoundland are MUCH more laid back. Probably explains why those two provinces have such low crime rates. I also laughed how I drove from Vermont (where for some reason I had to pay before fueling up) to Quebec where I did not when gas is much cheaper on the American side! Of course, I have to mention again I was in a community that was literally divided by the border. Derby Line Vermont/Stanstead Quebec. On the American side there were armed patrols everywhere (who were clearly bored out of their mind) and the Canadian side was wide open. Both sides of the community were nearly deserted due to the border politics and I can easily see why. The customs guy in Canada just asked about what I had and wished me a great day while the US side interrogated us police style about where we were going, where we worked, when we planned on leaving and searched our vehicle. They were professional but it was an unnerving experience to be treated like a potential criminal and watched like a hawk. There was also a big sign warning that you will be arrested and fined $5000 if you cross the street illegally into the USA. Parts of the USA reminded me of something you would see in North Korea with the huge displays of nationalism. Even though I did not speak the language on the Canadian (Quebec) side I felt much more at home there.

Speaking of Quebec, I also could not get over how friendly people in Quebec were. Every single person spoke nearly perfect English and usually picked up on my weak French seamlessly. Can't wait to return there especially when I heard so many bad things about that province: they bent over backwards to accommodate us! Their government might suck but their residents are so friendly and helpful! When I got back, I commented on how nice northern New Hampshire and Vermont were and it was too bad they were stuck on the wrong side of the border. All in all though there was little difference between the two countries and I enjoyed my visit to the States.

It doesn't surprise me that people didn't know about zed. I was born and lived in Upper Michigan most of my life and didn't hear about it until after I had left the state. Similarly the border patrol was just doing its job. You were another nationality coming into the country and what with all the crap we've had to deal with concerning terrorists it's only natural they'd be cautious. I'm glad you enjoyed Vermont and New Hampshire.

That's exactly my point. They (the US Government, not the field agents) can't seem to see the difference between tourists from a friendly, low crime country and potential terrorists. I know they are just doing their job and it's nothing personal (I WAS treated in a respectful manner) but my point still stands. Does tie in with my observation that Americans seemed woefully ignorant of the 'outside' world.

No offense intended, but I would be far more concerned with criminals already in the USA than coming from Canada. There was a HUGE difference in crime prevention (bars on windows, police presence, security etc) that led me to believe the American side has far more trouble although I never once felt unsafe anywhere I went. Contrast to the Canadian side: I never saw a single police officer or security guard at all in the entire province of Quebec (1 hour east of Montreal to the New Brunswick border)! Just looked it up and three Quebec cities also have the lowest crime rate of any major city in the country and they didn't seem to have any hostile/scared/cautious attitudes whatsoever towards visitors from a high crime city. Either way, my main beef is with politics, not people: ignorant or not, America seemed like a far nicer place than I thought it would be even if I would never want to live there.

No offense taken. The problem is terrorists can come in from any country and the US is in general a high profile target. Unless you find they're packing explosives, illegal weaponry, and/or loads of ammunition you can't really tell the difference between a normal tourist and a terrorist. I don't know how often Canada gets targeted for that kind of nonsense violence but we get hit with it almost every other week these days. It's getting ridiculous and the police and army are rightfully scared for their lives since some of these religious zealots are targeting them directly.

I was so embarrassed when one of our dumber-than-a-box-of-rocks pols seriously proposed that we build a border fence along the Canadian border to keep Canadians out!