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There are vast areas of good in the United States. These are where almost all Canadians who move there end up - and never come back from.
I was once puzzled by this, given all the negative publicity about the U.S. in Canada, but the truth is that all my life in Canada I have seen a small but steady stream of people move to the U.S., and few ever return to Canada (even if most still profess a strong loyalty to their home country). The stream has never really let up, even during the GW Bush years, the crack/cocaine/crime epidemic, etc., and though I am too young to remember, it probably didn't let up during previous eras of turmoil (like Vietnam, urban race riots, etc.) in the U.S. either.
I guess that's why there's a limit to how relevant personal experience is because most of the people I know who have moved to the States have moved back to Canada.
^^
that isnt so bad, theres nothing worse than scrambling to the LCBO at 4:50pm on a Sunday to get drinks (they close at 5 on Sunday's), there is no other option
At least you can buy booze on Sunday, here in our lovely state of Georgia, there are no alcohol sales on Sunday, with the exception of served beverages at restaurants (or bars that do a certain percentage of food sales) after 12:30 pm on Sundays.
So, if you haven't stocked up by Sat night for the Sunday football games, you're just s**t outta luck....LOL.
If I knew how to get dual citizenship, I would. Loved Vancouver and Quebec on my last visit. sigh.
That said, why would Canadians want more population as your country seems to be doing well?
moc (member of community) in US of A
Well, Ontario and Quebec seem to be populated, and most of the country lives there. Ontario has 13.5 million people and Quebec has 8 million out of a country of 33 million... In BC they have policy in place to keep the province from becoming too populated, mainly the land development restrictions and zoning policies that increase housing prices to some of the highest in North America.
The prairies region though is underpopulated. We are talking about provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan that seem to have a perma-boom because of the lack of manpower. Manitoba as well is doing very decently these days. The provinces are utterly empty outside of the few cities they have. We have few people and long distances...
Not saying that Canada should attempt to fill those empty spaces up, just that there is room here for millions more people.
At least you can buy booze on Sunday, here in our lovely state of Georgia, there are no alcohol sales on Sunday, with the exception of served beverages at restaurants (or bars that do a certain percentage of food sales) after 12:30 pm on Sundays.
So, if you haven't stocked up by Sat night for the Sunday football games, you're just s**t outta luck....LOL.
In Alberta anyone can open up a liquor store or invest in one. (Disclosure: I am invested in a liquor store chain) There is no limit on stores... They can only sell alcohol and stock "bar" items such as glasses, ice, Pepsi, etc. though. The stores are allowed to be open from 10am-2am 7 days a week (Christmas Day excepted for some reason) In rural areas regular stores are allowed to sell alcohol and no restrictions on the other merchandise, even gas station in rural areas in Alberta can sell hard liquor.
One thing Alberta and most of Canada (except BC and Ontario) also have is VLTs (video poker) in many bars and restaurants.
The liquor laws are as diverse between provinces as they are between states in Australia or the USA.
^^
that isnt so bad, theres nothing worse than scrambling to the LCBO at 4:50pm on a Sunday to get drinks (they close at 5 on Sunday's), there is no other option
Yep, one thing that piises me right off about Ontario...get with the times people!
If I knew how to get dual citizenship, I would. Loved Vancouver and Quebec on my last visit. sigh.
That said, why would Canadians want more population as your country seems to be doing well?
moc (member of community) in US of A
Help out our southern brethren? You guys could stand to lose about 20 million, and we wouldn't need to immigrate anyone else from any other country. Problem solved!
Why is Canada so thinly populated? I'm American, btw. If you look at a map of Canada's population density and black out all of the populated regions with your hand, what you have is still a recognizable area (over 80% of the country) that is recognizable. 90% of the people live in a Chile-like region over the northern U.S. border. I know the answer to this is: "it's the freezing cold weather, stupid". But one thing that stands out at me is the State of Alaska, with it's almost 700,000 people, verses Yukon's 34,000. Indeed, Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut have combined population of only 107,249 people.
I remember travelling as a youth to the Pacific Northwest and when I got to Seattle looked at a map and was amazed that from Seattle alone, I was north of not only every major American east coast city all the way to Maine, but also EVERY major Canadian eastern metropolis - Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, even St. John's, Newfoundland, all south of the 49th parallel. And when I got to Vancouver, even more amazed that it dawned on me that not only was I in Canada's major Pacific southwestern port, but also the most northerly west coast metropolis as well. A pretty good set of statistics.
I was pondering this recently. I was wondering, and I want to emphasize I am not advocating this, I like the idea of an independent and sovereign Canada. I like diversity, but I was wondering. But I was wondering, if the U.S. and Canada were to merge into one country, or WHAT IF, there had never been division, what would have happened? How would population centers have differed or differ?
Right now, it seems like the only province to have cities and metropolises to venture into the north, and even at that only in the center of the province mostly, is Alberta with Calgary and Edmonton. Edmonton is the same latitude as Moscow and the British Midlands. The Fort McMurray region seems to be the furthest north "metropolis" in the provinces if you exclude Whitehorse and Yellowknife in the northern territories.
Theoretically speaking, if the U.S. and Canada were to merge into one country, would the population, especially of the north, grow? Why is the population of Yukon's largest city Whitehorse, so low - 20,000+ compared to Fairbanks at 35,000 and Anchorage at a whopping 300,000 metro population? Would the population of the Yukon and places like northern British Columbia increase? Why isn't a city like Prince Rupert a much bigger metro area being a northern Pacific port and railhead?
There are vast swathes at unpopulated areas on northern Ontario and Quebec at relatively low latitudes, some of them such as Timmins, Ontario, south of the 49th parallel (!), the U.S.-Canada western boundary. The only major northerly settlement of Quebec is in the area of the James Bay project.
Under a united North America, would these areas experience population growth. Would an interstate freeway system be extended into Canada. Currently it seems the major U.S.-style system is along the Windsor-Quebec City corridor. In effect, despite the road, it seems Canada is still very much a nation divided by the Canadian shield, as many Canadians do road travel across the country via U.S. interstates (!) to save time.
United a unified North America, would I-5 be expanded to Alaska? Would I-95 go up to Halifax? Would a full freeway network be expanded across Canada? And the north?
What cities would suffer under the arrangement? Would Buffalo, New York become a mere suburb of Toronto, would all of its televisions stations and sporting goods move north? What about Seattle vs. Vancouver. Would Vancouver overtake Seattle as the major port and metropolis of the Northwest?
Thoughts?
Someone may have addressed this as I have not read through every page yet. There's more to a climate than just latitude itself. Alaska is surrounded by a lot of water. This keeps the climate relatively mild, often noticeably so than areas of similar latitudes that are land-locked. In fact, Bismark ND is colder than Anchorage in winter despite being much farther south. The interior parts of Canada are well away from the moderating effects of any ocean. They are also wide open to the arctic air which sweeps back and fourth over the pole between Canada and Siberia. Even in the US our largest population centers are near the coast. In the northern hemisphere, the western parts of continents are generally quite a bit milder in winter than the central and eastern parts. Only in certain coastal locations are there large population centers in the central and eastern regions.
I guess that's why there's a limit to how relevant personal experience is because most of the people I know who have moved to the States have moved back to Canada.
Yup, count me in... just moved back to Canada after being in the US for nine years. Happy to be back, too, although we did enjoy some things about being in the US.
Last edited by TObound; 01-28-2011 at 10:21 AM..
Reason: clarification
Yep, one thing that piises me right off about Ontario...get with the times people!
The Beer Store in Ontario is a goofy concept with weird locations and business hours as well... That is, if you can find one.
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Canada, a Fine Country
