I was talking last night to Eric about my appalling general ignorance of the political system in Canada [for which he mocked me]. Sure, I know what the parties stand for, and that Stephen Harper is a total douche, but as for the nitty gritty details of the system, not so much. Thoughts:
1. Someone at school said something to the effect of 'a person easily becomes a nationalist by moving to another country' and there may be truth to that. The less people know about Canada here [and that includes almost everyone] the more I want to talk about Canadian politics, actors, movies, shows etc. As differences between Canadians and Americans become more obvious, I feel more fortunate that I am Canadian.
2. Eric pointed this out and I agree. We mock the Americans for being so self-absorbed, ignorant, and how their political system is ridiculous, yet most Canadians are watching presidential debates like it's a sport [including myself]. We watch Colbert and the Daily show religiously and talk non-stop about American issues. Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, but we may be forgetting to talk about our own political system and to watch shows like the Mercer Report, This Hour has 22 Minutes and the like. Admittedly, I don't watch them that often but when I do, I quite enjoy them.
3. I find a lot of people from Ontario never want to travel within Canada. In fact, it's the last place they'd want to explore. I think many people think there are no interesting places outside of Toronto, that it's all a boring wasteland when you venture out too far. Before I traveled around Canada I used to feel the same way - like, who would live in Saskatchewan? *shudder*. But I had the opportunity to go to conferences in Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal and found that these places were alright. I was inspired to go to BC on a trip, then on a crazy roadtrip to Nova Scotia while stopping here and there along the way. My conclusion? Canada is a pretty neat country and I could probably live in a variety of provinces other than Ontario. Although I still have a general disdain for Newfoundland...is that wrong?
4. We have crazies in Canada too. There are creationist museums, people who believe humans hung out with dinosaurs, and political scandals. Let's not forget about the shit in our own backyard that we need to clean up. Not that it's on the same scale as the US but we should be aware of these issues nevertheless.
So, today why don't you check out one of these links:
Learn about Halifax: http://picnicface.com/videos.php?videoID=33
Read Rick Mercer's Blog: http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/11/index.cfm
Watch 'Conservative Life Insurance' video: http://www.cbc.ca/22minutes/
2 comments:
1. It's alright; I've been extolling the virtues of the Great White North down here this week, too. I even explained Rick Mercer's "Talking To Americans" to a native Iowan, who found it hilarious (but admitted that he didn't quite know, straight away, if the joke-setups I was giving him were real or not).
2. Unless your a Parliamentary-procedures wonk (which I sort-of admit to be; check out the fascinating King-Byng Affair on Wikipedia), the American system is just inherently more entertaining -- by design, I would argue.
3. Putes-deluxes.
4. Dude, you know what the US is like. If they have a shit-blizzard going on, we have a tiny little shit-shower in comparison. (Wow, that really sounds unappealing.)
That's so funny you mentioned putes de luxes because I was JUST explaining the term to my friend from Montana. I also told her about talking to Americans. She got a kick out of Canadark.
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