Letters to the Editor
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@Shaun Narine
... That being said, I would never want to live in the US. Every time I cross the border, I can't wait to get back to Canada. The image of the US as violent and backwards is, in many ways, absolutely true. And what passes for political dialogue in the US is horrifying....
Yay. Flamebait. I've gone to the States several times, and I wouldn't call them violent or backward. Just... weird. Offputting, I guess. It's all the little differences, like the gun culture. The first time I saw a billboard just saying "God Bless This Country" freaked me out a little. And seeing the American flag everywhere puts me off, simply because it's not my flag.
But I do have to agree with you about the political dialogue. I can't stand to watch American political shows.
Of course, it may not if the Harper government remains in power much longer....
And of course the Harper-bashing comes in. Given that we're a defacto one-party state, I'm not entirely sure we have the right to bash the US political system.
Well, okay, we still do. :)
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Re: Canada is just the 51st state of the US
Is it any wonder that people all over the world hate Americans when so many have these arrogant attitudes? I ony wish that the US was the 11th province of Canada. We would then have universal health care, good universites with $5,000 per year tuition, paid maternity/paternity leave, sane drug laws, a strong union movement, a more efficient parliamentary government where the head of the largest party can actually get legislation passed without fear of a presidential veto (such as universal health care), and a government that is not perpetually at war to enrich a oligarchical elite. A rich country in which people have to worry about losing their house if their children get sick, while health insurance executives are paid million dollar bonuses to deny claims cannot claim to be a civilized country.
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@anon
What a strange statement! I could be in Canada in an hour, yet I have no desire or reason to go there - yet you seem to to despise America, yet seemingly come here often?
I wonder why?
Canadians like you show very little knowedge of America - often as you benefit from our very presence. You say America is backwards?
I live in Manhattan and often stay in LA - I doubt you have any cities as modern and cosmopolitan as either of those two towns - yet here you hating on my country - if were were African or Latino, you'd be labeled a racist.
But we're only Americans...
Hating America is as foolish as saying we have no "cites as modern and cosmopolitan as" NYC and LA. And I hardly think those are representative of the country as a whole.
However, the Canadian cities of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are wonderfully modern and cosmopolitan, and over a third our population lives in them.
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@Ms.Madox
I'm a Canadian and I'm ashamed of my government. I think that a majority of us agree that Canada was enriched by the inflow of Americans who sought refuge here during the Vietnam war, and the general population supports American war resisters' claims for refugee status. Unfortunately, the Harper administration doesn't feel the same way, and tales of Canadian police knocking on doors on behalf of the U.S. military are not new here. Trust me: if Canada continues to blindly obey the policies of the United States, I plan to give up my citizenship and take residence elsewhere. I'm sick of being ashamed to say that I'm Canadian.
More Harper bashing, bah.
I disagree with the US interference here, especially the ongoing extradition process against Marc Emery for doing something (selling marijuana seeds) in Canada that isn't even illegal here! But saying you'll give up your citizenship and move elsewhere is as whiny as those liberals who said they'll move up to Canada if Bush got re-elected. And it's harder than you think.
I'm not ashamed to say I'm Canadian, and I don't think you should be either, Ms Madox. As a matter of fact, it's our honour to be in the position to do something about the government policies we don't like! Write your MLA expressing support of AWOL US soldiers! Campaign against Steven Harper, decry his various policies you don't agree with! Just don't give up without even trying.
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@tiberius
Just imagine if Canada were the 51st state. You'd never be able to get the Democrats out of the Whitehouse. :)
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supposedly there was a contest in canada
"there are expressions such as "as american as apple pie" and "as american as baseball", come up with an equivalent expression for canada". the response that WON? "As Canadian as possible (under the circumstances)". on a more serious note, Thaeus, i did google davis inlet (the addiction, violence problems with the Innu indians of labrador). it's not so simple as "But I'm willing to bet our reservation system and all the free money coming from the federal government has contributed to the situation we have today. Not that the Indians aren't in part complicit in the matter." it's a problem all over the world. the old culture isn't working in the new economy, yet no one wants to give up their culture and adopt wholesale the "colonizer's". it's a problem in iraq for one. a big problem. do they just become "western"? and where do you think bin laden's following comes from? and that's *modern* compared to indigenous peoples? what do they do? run casinos? (hire people to run them - and go on an *alternative* welfare system? (coupon clipping)). run tourist shows? it's very hard. they don't have a *place* in the modern world. so they get high. and you don't have to be indigenous, it happens here, in our inner cities. canada is a big country. you might think 30 million is *small* but it's not - it's only small compared to the U.S. it's big in terms of the usual. it's area is *big* and it has an army and industry and everything else a modern state has, but it, too, needs to find a *place*. and not just "not U.S." - that's not soul satisfying.