Which country do you think Canada shares most with? (insurance, live)

[f1000]

Originally Posted by minibrings

US = Australia
Canada = New Zealand

Canada and NZ both commonwealth, both are fairly liberal (compared to the US and Oz)..
Both have a love/hate relationship with their cousins across the border/across the Tasman



So I vote for New Zealand/Aotearoa as the closest to Canada.

In a way..But Canada still has a population greater than New Zealand's big brother- Australia. Plus it's just a drive to the border- so the link with the US is there, whereas the ocean does disconnect Aus-NZ in a different way. Albeit those 2 countries are more open to each other in terms of citizenship, etc.

When I went to New Zealand it was much more isolated in feel than most of the inhabited parts of Canada.

[Robynator]

I know what you mean - there is somewhat of a similar parallel "big brother little brother" situation between Australia & New Zealand and the USA & Canada, but I think that's where it ends.

Just an aside, I find that there's a certain kinship between Canadians and Australians. They "get" one another. And you wouldn't necessarily think so because Australia shares a lot culturally with England while Canada shares a lot culturally with the USA. However, in my experience, Canadians and Australians just "click".

I think a lot of it has to do with their relationship with the land and climate.

Both Australia and Canada are large continent-sized countries, but they have small populations scattered along the edges (Australia along the coastline, Canada along the southern border), with a large inhospitable hinterland in the middle. Distances between major population centres are huge.

You also have extreme climates in both countries.

Both Australians and Canadians in general have a love for nature and outdoor activities. There's a general carefree spirit amongst the populations as well - Canadians and Australians for the most part are chilled out "live and let live". Both countries, for the most part, are "work to live" environments. If you want "live to work", you can always pursue that further in the UK or the USA. And many Australians and Canadians do just that.

And for decades it's been a rite of passage for Canadians to live in Australia for a year, and Australians to live in Canada for a year. Canadians find Australia exotic and Australians find Canada exotic and they tend to mutally love one another's country. It's really an interesting relationship.

So that's another reason (or two or three) why I initially said Australia.

[Acajack]

[SIZE=3]On a much smaller scale and to a much lesser degree, the Australians are nonetheless the Americans of Oceania. They have several dependencies far from the Aussie mainland, and exert economic, political and cultural (and to some degree military) influence over the entire region. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]In spite of the fact that it has roughly 10 million people less than Canada, Australia is much more assertive (both within and outside its borders) than Canada that’s for sure.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Another thing that Aussies share with Americans is conservatism (although not quite as far to the right as in the U.S.), which is more prevalent in Oz than in Canada, and has even been accompanied of late by a rise in social conservatism with U.S.-style bible thumping in huge suburban megachurches in the big Australian cities. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]

[Robynator]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Another thing that Aussies share with Americans is conservatism (although not quite as far to the right as in the U.S.), which is more prevalent in Oz than in Canada, and has even been accompanied of late by a rise in social conservatism with U.S.-style bible thumping in huge suburban megachurches in the big Australian cities.

A scary notion, indeed!

[kkgg7]

Originally Posted by Robynator

Just an aside, I find that there's a certain kinship between Canadians and Australians. They "get" one another. And you wouldn't necessarily think so because Australia shares a lot culturally with England while Canada shares a lot culturally with the USA. However, in my experience, Canadians and Australians just "click".

Canada doesn't SHARE a lot of culture with the USA, it simply copies whatever the USA is watching/listening/reading (with the exception of Quebec). When we say share, it is a mutual thing, but unfortunately "Candian culture" influence in the USA is nonexisting but the other way around is dominant.

[movingwiththewind]

Originally Posted by kkgg7

So the U.S. is not a good answer for sure as the two countries have too many fundamental differences.

Maybe Australia? France?

US, either you like it or not. Even considering all the differences between the two. Forget Australia and France.

[kkgg7]

Originally Posted by movingwiththewind

US, either you like it or not. Even considering all the differences between the two. Forget Australia and France.

I used to think so too, but not any more.
1) The US is a typical capitalist country, while Canada ... not so much.
2) The US is risk seeker while Canada is extremely risk averse (think about the banks)
3) Religion plays a big role in every aspect of life in the US, while you never hear Harper mention God or Christianity in his speech
4) Most elite US universities are private
5) US doesn't offer universal health insurance
6) The US has its influential pop culture, Canada has close to none of its own
7) The legal systems are quite different
8) East coast lifestyle in the US is very fast, while life pace is either slow or slower across Canada (yes, Toronto is so slow that sometimes I want to push people into the subway car!)
9) The winning candidate becomes US president, while the leader of the winner party becomes Canadian premier
10) the US has a large black population, Canada doesn't.

No, all the similarities between the two countries of vastly different size is very superficial. Deep down, they have very little in common.

[Lundymaphone]

From all my travels/meeting people definitely Australia, although the US and Canada do have more in common culturally. Definitely not France.....

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by f1000

In a way..But Canada still has a population greater than New Zealand's big brother- Australia. Plus it's just a drive to the border- so the link with the US is there, whereas the ocean does disconnect Aus-NZ in a different way. Albeit those 2 countries are more open to each other in terms of citizenship, etc.

When I went to New Zealand it was much more isolated in feel than most of the inhabited parts of Canada.

My point is NZ has a more liberal bend that Oz, w/c is why I said Canada is more akin to NZ than Oz. NZ has same sex civil unions, Oz doesn't. NZ is oftentimes overshadowed by a neighboring country w/ w/c it has many commonalities, much as Canada is at times overshadowed by the US. I have dual US/Oz citizenship. I almost moved to NZ but ended up in Canada before I moved back to the US. So my observations are from living in 3 of the 4 countries and having spent a lot of time in NZ as well.

[movingwiththewind]

Originally Posted by kkgg7

I used to think so too, but not any more.
1) The US is a typical capitalist country, while Canada ... not so much.
2) The US is risk seeker while Canada is extremely risk averse (think about the banks)
3) Religion plays a big role in every aspect of life in the US, while you never hear Harper mention God or Christianity in his speech
4) Most elite US universities are private
5) US doesn't offer universal health insurance
6) The US has its influential pop culture, Canada has close to none of its own
7) The legal systems are quite different
8) East coast lifestyle in the US is very fast, while life pace is either slow or slower across Canada (yes, Toronto is so slow that sometimes I want to push people into the subway car!)
9) The winning candidate becomes US president, while the leader of the winner party becomes Canadian premier
10) the US has a large black population, Canada doesn't.

No, all the similarities between the two countries of vastly different size is very superficial. Deep down, they have very little in common.

I doubt any of the points you made are legitimate. For each of them, I could invent at least 3 showing how the two countries were very similar. But... it looks like you already made your mind. So let it be France than! Everybody else agrees that France is the next thing closest and US is not even in the list?