Canada Day

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by airborne_ranger, Jul 11, 2003.

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  1. HAPPY Canada Day! (it was on July First, but no one seems to think it was worth mentioning! ;) ).

    And St-Jean Baptiste day was the most important day for quebeckers, 24th June!

    OTOH, Quebec is linked to ze feelthy french, no? :D
     
  2. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    I usually celebrate the 4th of July with my cousins in Staten Island, New York. Canada is now grappling with SARS, Mad Cow and an incompetent federal government. As for Quebec, the province can take the next flight to Haiti (and no one here will miss it).
     
  3. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    The generic names created by the rootless traditionless Liberals are ridiculous.

    I grew up with Dominion Day now Canada Day.
    I grew up with Trans Canada Airlines now Air Canada.
    I grew up with the Dominion Bureau of Statistics now Statistics Canada.
    I grew up with the Royal Canadian Air Force now Air Command of the Canadian Armed Forces.
    Our army saluted palms forward, now they salute Yankee style.
    I could come up with 1,000 more examples.

    France has Bastille Day, Britain has Guy Faukes (sp?) Day, Canada has Canada Day. Have we no history or tradition?

    I have yet to meet a truly heart-felt patriotic Canadian?
     
  4. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    Hi Dennis: Yeah, right. I lived in Canada during the repatriation of the Constitution debates in '81 or '82. None of the Canadians I knew (mostly students at Wilfrid Laurier University or the affiliated Lutheran seminary) cared a rat's rear about what was going on. I also found that almost no one knew or cared anything about Canadian history, and when I mentioned that I had studied Canadian history as an undergrad in the US, the nearly universal response was "what would you do that for?" Then they would rattle on with apocryphal stories of Americans crossing to Windsor or Sarnia in July, looking for snow.

    I'd say nobody's that stupid, but then there's the Wonder Boy of Shawinigan.
     
  5. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    My grandfather worked as a tailor for many years in a clothing shop in Rochester, New York. Later, he moved to Canada because
    he was offered a better position with more money. He used to tell me (when I was a rebellious teenager) that Canada represented "A Loose Association of Diverse Interests". I would have to agree with Dennis. True patriotic Canadians are rare.
     
  6. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: Canada Day

    Less "fun" since Guiliani. Used to be tubes firing off air-burst fireworks right on street corners. Buildings shook and eardrums shattered and dogs hid in closets. :)
     
  7. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    With the evolution of federal powers, I guess things parallel the United States.

    The Canadian constitution was set up with reasonably clear division of power recognizing the diversity of regions. The supreme court has, however, allowed the federal government to freely intrude into provincial jurisdiction.

    Canada could easily be divided into 4 countries which are totally distinct economically and socially.

    The federal government, as federal governments are wont to do, has determined that strong central authority is what is needed, as the regions cry for more autonomy.

    What still ticks me off is that the federal government seized through, apparently illegal, taxation close to $100 billion of oil revenue from Alberta in the 1980s. The supreme court, however, was of the opinion that gutting the economy of Alberta for over 10 years was good government and therefore exempt from constitutional guarantees. Bitter - hell yes!
     
  8. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Canadian history:

    Came the French.
    Came the British.
    They left.
     
  9. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    Or to put things into perspective:
    Atlantic Provinces - conservative in nature, traditionally Canadian
    Quebec - France's armpit
    Ontario - They act like Americans only they fear Ottawa and the Comedy Show of Jean Chretien and Ernie Eves.
    Prairie Province (Especially Alberta) - "pissed off" at the federal government. They wish they were part of Montana and North Dakota.
    Western Provinces - Independent and nearly self-governing. Jean Chretien who??
     
  10. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    To Dennis' question: Yes, but it's riel confusing.
     
  11. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    In the officer's mess of the Fort Garry Horse, a Winnipeg militia regiment, we toasted our old enemy Louis Riel often.
     

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