Does English Speaking Canada have more in common culturally to the US or commwealth countries like (Aus, NZ or UK)? (living, license plates)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
considering most Anglo-Canadians base their culture on American culture and most live within 4 hours of the US border I would say they're pretty much like Americans.
Isn't that just geography, and the large neighbour effect, though? The whole Canada-US dynamic is eerily similar in a lot of ways to the NZ-Australia relationship. Kiwis even like to distance or distinguish themselves from Australia, as Canadians do from the US. In some ways its almost like two pairs of siblings, that are almost like collective twins. The smaller siblings are focussed a lot more social programs and welfare, while the larger siblings take a more active role in global affairs; both larger siblings have pretty noisey and full-on political scenes compared to the smaller twins, but are quite OK with that.......the smaller two like to view their history as lacking some of the darker sides they see in their older brothers, both of whom seem more at ease in acknowledge the incongruities, paradoxes, darker moments and ambiguities of their pasts...
New Zealand is tiny, whereas Canada is actually larger than the US.
considering most Anglo-Canadians base their culture on American culture and most live within 4 hours of the US border I would say they're pretty much like Americans.
Mexico is also very close to the US, but Tijuana doesn't really look like California.
They mostly watch the same TV, drive the same big cars, play hockey, have many of the same mannerisms, eat mostly the same food as Americans, dress the same and unless you're North American, you probably can't tell the accents apart. OTH, they spend a lot of energy on trying not be like Americans and still recognize the British crown.
Case in point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mapleguy
In the past hundred years, Canada has had to struggle to maintain it's individual identity and resist the power of the huge elephant that lives next door.
The day to day influence of the US comes in many forms. Some are minor, such as the spelling of some words, while others are massive such as the wall to wall TV and internet avalanche that we get 24/7.
In order to maintain our own music and publishing sectors, Canada introduced a series of "Canadian content " rules about how much of our radio music content had to be by Canadian musicians . Magazines had to contain a majority of articles written by Canadians. TV productions had to have a majority percentage of Canadian actors, and behind the camera people. The result in the 1970's was the emergence of a number of musicians, song writers, authors and TV performers who would have otherwise been smothered by the US monster.
Today, we watch the political and social upheavals in the place next door, with a mixture of amusement and fear. The US is becoming a threat and a worry to us in Canada. We think of individual Americans as good people ( many of us have family members who are Americans ) but their Government now is a thing to be feared. What used to be a hidden form of anti immigrant bias is now emerging as an official policy at the US border. Recent examples of outright bigotry by US border officers against Canadian citizens , who are "not white and have a muslin name " are the tip of the iceberg, I think.
America under Trump is going to be a real test of our patience and diplomatic determination to stand up to their idiotic policies. The first example is the recent influx of "undocumented travellers " who are crossing into Canada from the US. The US Government is making a lot of noise about "deporting all illegals" . Canada is doing the right thing.....accepting and sheltering them. Walking though last weeks blizzard in Manitoba, with temps of minus 30 C and winds of 60 kph, shows just how desperate they are to get here. OR to flee the US.
Canada has no choice about who our neighbour is. We do have a choice about how we relate to them.
Nice cut and past by the way, now actually write a cogent and concise reply.
Maple Guy.
The point is that many Canadians spend an inordinate amount of time trying to ensure that Canada is not like the US. Your post epitomizes that point. I thought it was abundantly clear, but perhaps it wasn't.
Canadian content laws? I learn something new every day!
Isn't that just geography, and the large neighbour effect, though? The whole Canada-US dynamic is eerily similar in a lot of ways to the NZ-Australia relationship. Kiwis even like to distance or distinguish themselves from Australia, as Canadians do from the US. In some ways its almost like two pairs of siblings, that are almost like collective twins. The smaller siblings are focussed a lot more social programs and welfare, while the larger siblings take a more active role in global affairs; both larger siblings have pretty noisey and full-on political scenes compared to the smaller twins, but are quite OK with that.......the smaller two like to view their history as lacking some of the darker sides they see in their older brothers, both of whom seem more at ease in acknowledge the incongruities, paradoxes, darker moments and ambiguities of their pasts...
I think NZ history does lack some of the darker sides of Australian history, and that NZ also is just as much as ease with it's past as Australia.
Canada has never felt threatened or that it needed to resist any of the commonwealth nations. That should tell you who Canada has more in common with. Regardless of what languages are spoken.
Isn't that just geography, and the large neighbour effect, though? The whole Canada-US dynamic is eerily similar in a lot of ways to the NZ-Australia relationship. Kiwis even like to distance or distinguish themselves from Australia, as Canadians do from the US. In some ways its almost like two pairs of siblings, that are almost like collective twins. The smaller siblings are focussed a lot more social programs and welfare, while the larger siblings take a more active role in global affairs; both larger siblings have pretty noisey and full-on political scenes compared to the smaller twins, but are quite OK with that.......the smaller two like to view their history as lacking some of the darker sides they see in their older brothers, both of whom seem more at ease in acknowledge the incongruities, paradoxes, darker moments and ambiguities of their pasts...
I don't see it that way. To speak of siblings (and sibling rivalry) implies that the siblings all grew up in the same household (the crown), were raised by the same parents that the children all loved and respected (the monarchy/government), and were all taught and grew up with the same family values instilled in them by their parents. The children will all grow up to be their own independent individuals and each may go their own way to create families (monarchies/nations) of their own but they still share and pass down basically the same familial connections and values that were passed down to them by their parents and grandparents, etc .
There may be more of a sibling type of relationship like that between Australia and New Zealand (and even between Canada and the other commonwealth nations) but there certainly isn't a relationship like that between Canada and America. America rejected and disowned its family, it doesn't share that familial connection and same family values with any of the commonwealth nations and it doesn't have any siblings. As a matter of fact it wasn't long after America rejected and disowned its family that it set out to invade and make war and commit murder against its disowned family in Canada on at least two separate occasions. Fortunately for Canada, the invader was resisted and repulsed by the family.
Canada and America are not like siblings. They are two separate and different families with their own households, each household having its own values and occupations, both living in the same town (North America) and there has been a good neighbour fence erected between their two properties. For the past 150 years or so they have shared a friendly and tolerant but slightly uneasy truce.
I don't see it that way. To speak of siblings (and sibling rivalry) implies that the siblings all grew up in the same household (the crown), were raised by the same parents that the children all loved and respected (the monarchy/government), and were all taught and grew up with the same family values instilled in them by their parents. The children will all grow up to be their own independent individuals and each may go their own way to create families (monarchies/nations) of their own but they still share and pass down basically the same familial connections and values that were passed down to them by their parents and grandparents, etc .
.
Concepts of 'the crown' were never really all that relevant to the relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The Australian states were all self governing from the mid 1850s, and soon released that the British Empire, at least in their part of the world, was fairly hollow and that their security and prosperity rested on their own collective efforts. That was one of the primary drivers for federation. New Zealand was even given the opportunity to join, but declined.
The Australia-New Zealand dynamic primary arose due to geography; they are and always were the only two largely European and democratic countries in their part of the world, compared to the countries to their north where local populations were at that time ruled over by European powers.
The focus of this thread is Canada, and I feel that Canada's identity is far more overlooked than the others.
I agree that its identity is overlooked more than all the others but it's more than just identity that's overlooked, it's geography too and I don't think it's a conscious and intentional snub on the parts of other people.
I suspect overlooking it is partly a subconscious thing that happens to protect peoples' minds from primal feelings of discomfort and fear. Because everybody knows that Canada gets cold! When most foreigners who aren't really familiar with Canada do think about it they get this unbidden vision from the backs of their minds of a dark and environmentally inhospitable and fearful land perpetually covered in snow and ice all year round and roamed by dangerous wild animals. The very thought of it makes them involuntarily shudder with cold discomfort and a sense of trepidation just like the thought of Siberia or Antarctica makes people shudder without conscious control over the reaction. So people block the discomfort and sense of doom from their minds by not allowing their minds to dwell upon what causes the discomfort. They block it out of their minds and overlook it without consciously realizing that's what they're doing.
Personally I don't mind if Canada and its identity is overlooked by most people. I think it's better for Canada if it maintains a low profile and a hidden element of surprise.
.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When most foreigners who aren't really familiar with Canada do think about it they get this unbidden vision from the backs of their minds of a dark and environmentally inhospitable and fearful land perpetually covered in snow and ice all year round and roamed by dangerous wild animals. The very thought of it makes them involuntarily shudder with cold discomfort and a sense of trepidation just like the thought of Siberia or Antarctica makes people shudder without conscious control over the reaction. So people block the discomfort and sense of doom from their minds by not allowing their minds to dwell upon what causes the discomfort. They block it out of their minds and overlook it without consciously realizing that's what they're doing.
