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My grandparents didn't attend school in Canada but yes, I was aware of them.
I'm not sure you're completely right about the French language schools since my mom attended one in Ste Anne, Manitoba, which was taught by French Catholic nuns. She went to school through the 60s and 70s. I know that many of the smaller communities around Winnipeg at least, such as La Broquerie, Steinbach, Niverville, Beausejour, and Lorette had French schools during those decades as well and still do to this day.
I can't attest to other areas - just what I know from my mother and relatives that were schooled in French in Manitoba.
According to the Franco-Manitoban Society's website, French schools were banned in Manitoba until 1955, when it was permitted to teach French in grades 4, 5 and 6.
In 1967 they were allowed half-days in French for all grades. The other half of the day was English.
In 1970 a law was passed making French public schools (all day, in the public system) legal again in Manitoba. Of course, this doesn't mean that French schools sprouted up from the ground the following day. It took some time for schools to get planned and built - a decade or two in some regions.
And Manitoba was the western province where French schools were restored and expanded the most quickly in the second half of the 20th century. In Saskatchewan and Alberta things moved even more slowly.
Coming from America to study Law or Political Science like mentioned before so know go ahead and introduce me to the nation that is Canada.
What Canadian based Hockey team are you a fan of since I would get into it get more coverage on thwe news than anything even politics take a second seat esp during the lockout.
So to make it easy you Gary Betteman is bad and you have nothing good to say about him and that is something very Canadian and soon you will boo him if you go to a game up here when we finally do get the labour dispute over with and the lockout ends.
Hello- I am Canada...very pleased to meet you. There- you wanted an introduction, you got one. What else can I say? If I could go back 40 years I would have moved to New York City and been part of the American dream...we don't have dreams in Canada- we are not allowed.
The government here masquerades as progressive but is downright unresponsive to what the people want, at least that has been my experience.
Where I live in the greater toronto area west of toronto, the city has started tearing down a bunch of picturesque older buildings by Lake Ontario and is building several high density condominiums. There is a wooded area with wildlife and a creek running to the lake by my condo complex. They are somehow going to move that creek underground and build condos on that narrow sliver of land. This is in an area that is already incredibly congested, where traffic on two lanes of Lakeshore Rd is stop -and -go for about three hours every rush hour. When it snows the traffic is backed up from about 5 pm to 10 pm with commuters coming from Toronto.
They held a community forum to discuss these plans a couple of years ago. Not one citizen spoke up in support of the plan---everyone was vehemently against it. Nevertheless the local government okayed the plans and now the view of the lake will be blocked, and it will be an unpleasant area of concrete canyons. Even though the waterfront is presumably public property--- or maybe it's not, I don't know the rules in Canada----access will be blocked by the condo properties. They are destroying the waterfront for greedy condo developers and to raise local taxes.
Oh, and another thing, the grocery stores are incredibly dirty compared to stores in the U.S.
Ellement, there is nothing necessarily public about private lands abutting a lake. The waterfront can be owned by people and things can be built on it. You can still access the lake from another access point. This is the same rule in Canada and the U.S., whether on a lake or on an ocean. In most states, the ocean beach is public up to the high water line. Lakes, on the other hand, are usually only public in the actual water itself. Sometimes governments mandate that public easements be created to grant access in exchange for re-zoning, but if there's another access nearby, they won't mandate that.
The grocery stores are probably incredibly dirty because you are probably going to stores like NoFrills or Food Basics. The Zehrs, Sobeys, and Freshco stores in my area are sparkling clean. Only Freshco has reasonable prices - Sobeys and Zehrs are only good for sale items. The Food Basics is not only overpriced on many things, but also dirtier and less organized. NoFrills is a mess with surly employees. Same story in the U.S. and I would imagine every other country in the world - some stores are clean and others are not. I have been to many supermarkets in Toronto and the cleanliness depends on the chain and the location.
You seem to have a huge problem with Canada, and you prefer the U.S., so why don't you just move back to the U.S.? That would solve all your problems, wouldn't it?
I choose to live with the inferior aspects of Canada because the superior aspects outweigh them for me. Yes, the retail in Canada leaves a lot to be desired, the salaries are lower for many occupations, standards are lower for customer service, taxes are higher, the weather is often colder, and the car insurance is expensive in Ontario.
Canada is also a lot safer, people are less judgmental and more liberal even in smaller towns. The government is way less corrupt and we don't have mass incarceration. The "expectant mother or mothers with small children" parking spots are respected unlike in the U.S. where every fat woman will park in them. People are more respectful and you're less likely to observe antisocial behavior in public. The kids at my son's school are pretty well behaved and, as a result, are given way more freedom than in the U.S. where the schools are operated like prisons on lock-down.
Ellement, there is nothing necessarily public about private lands abutting a lake. The waterfront can be owned by people and things can be built on it. You can still access the lake from another access point. This is the same rule in Canada and the U.S., whether on a lake or on an ocean. In most states, the ocean beach is public up to the high water line. Lakes, on the other hand, are usually only public in the actual water itself. Sometimes governments mandate that public easements be created to grant access in exchange for re-zoning, but if there's another access nearby, they won't mandate that.
The grocery stores are probably incredibly dirty because you are probably going to stores like NoFrills or Food Basics. The Zehrs, Sobeys, and Freshco stores in my area are sparkling clean. Only Freshco has reasonable prices - Sobeys and Zehrs are only good for sale items. The Food Basics is not only overpriced on many things, but also dirtier and less organized. NoFrills is a mess with surly employees. Same story in the U.S. and I would imagine every other country in the world - some stores are clean and others are not. I have been to many supermarkets in Toronto and the cleanliness depends on the chain and the location.
You seem to have a huge problem with Canada, and you prefer the U.S., so why don't you just move back to the U.S.? That would solve all your problems, wouldn't it?
I choose to live with the inferior aspects of Canada because the superior aspects outweigh them for me. Yes, the retail in Canada leaves a lot to be desired, the salaries are lower for many occupations, standards are lower for customer service, taxes are higher, the weather is often colder, and the car insurance is expensive in Ontario.
Canada is also a lot safer, people are less judgmental and more liberal even in smaller towns. The government is way less corrupt and we don't have mass incarceration. The "expectant mother or mothers with small children" parking spots are respected unlike in the U.S. where every fat woman will park in them. People are more respectful and you're less likely to observe antisocial behavior in public. The kids at my son's school are pretty well behaved and, as a result, are given way more freedom than in the U.S. where the schools are operated like prisons on lock-down.
Why is it so often that when I raise a perfectly legitimate issue on the Canada forums, someone responds "why don't you just move?" It doesn't give much evidence of Canadians being "less judgmental". Me moving to the U.S. isn't going to change the waterfront being ruined or the fact that the local government totally ignored the wishes of residents.
If you're trying to make a case that Canadians are so tolerant, maybe you should try to be more tolerant of viewpoints that differ from yours
How do you ruin a waterfront that already sucks? And why would the government forbid someone from developing land that they own, that is zoned for such?
I'm not a Canadian. I was born and raised in the U.S. and have only lived in Canada for a few months now. I really think you should move back if you hate it so much, this is my honest suggestion. I am not trying to tell you what to do or judge you.
How do you ruin a waterfront that already sucks? And why would the government forbid someone from developing land that they own, that is zoned for such?
I don't know who owns the land, probably many different people since much of it is private homes.I know from someone who attended the community meeting, that residents of this area did not want this development to take place. This neighborhood is incredibly congested. The other day it took one of my friends 45 minutes to drive ~ 2 miles down Lakeshore Rd. I was walking the same route, and I beat him to the destination. Yet all they do is build more high-rises. Rich developers always win over mere citizens. It's a failure of urban planning and a corrupt government.
Last edited by ellemint; 12-15-2012 at 04:55 AM..
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It doesn't give much evidence of Canadians being "less judgmental". Me moving to the U.S. isn't going to change the waterfront being ruined or the fact that the local government totally ignored the wishes of residents.
