Tell me what Canada is like

[Flubber]

How is Canada as a place to live ??

Diverse. I love my country since there is something there for everyone. I have lived in Newfoundland, Halifax and now in Calgary and have been in every province at least once. Where you go depends on what you want

eastern four provinces

-- generally milder weather with more rain, a little worse economically. Cities are smaller and there are bunches of small towns. people are reputed as friendlier, crime is less and housing costs are rock-bottom in most places. There is wide variation in the region as lifestyle in Halifax is more metroplitan and fast paced than rural areas ( and even then is slower paced than most areas)

Quebec

a French flavor and a wonderful vibrant city in Montreal-- economy has been so-so but lots to do


Ontario

probably the closest similarities to the US cities just across the border-- more fast paced than elsewhere in Canada


Manitoba -Saskatchewan

The area I know least well-- Economies are ok, terrain is largely prairie flatlands, real cold in winter

Alberta (my new home)

Beautiful mountains in a place with a still growing economy. House prices are higher than most places but still less than Vancouver and Toronto-- very business-friendly attitude with low taxation.

BC

good climate-- it rains as much as the east coast but the temps are much warmer. Higher taxation , more pro-union . . . this side of the mountains is equally gorgeous. A lot of asian immigration into the area make Vancouver in particular fairly multicultural

North

largely empty apart from natives and some specific-industry towns- Some high paying work but costs are high as well. Good place to work for a while to build up some cash as there is little to do


These comments are largely about how the provinces relate to one another since for example, Alberta is not low-tax when compared with many US states while BC would not be high-tax when compared with some of the social welfare states in Europe.

Overall the country is just so darn big.

Oh and asher, nice shot-- do you live up on coach hill ??

[klesh]

I have been to canada 2 times. Once to Montreal and once to Ottowa. Both were nice cities. I was going to mention that McGill looked like a nice school. The girl I went to visit there sure looked nice!

One thing that struck me about Montreal that was different than where I live (Boston area, Massachusetts) was the contrast between city and country. You would drive for hours on these endless streets of plains and such and then BAM, out of nowhere there is Montreal. One could easily find a spot to take a picture of cows with the skyline of Montreal not too far off. Here, we have towns for miles and miles in between the country and the cities. In other words, there didnt seem to be a big sprawling suburbia that we have here.

-FMK.

[Chris Wilkinson]

Both Vancouver and Toronto are the best cities I've ever been to...I'd love to leave there (especially for Vancouvers fireworks festival on the beach ). I didn't like Montreal though, seemed a bit dirty (as in grafitti etc., but I was also staying next to the red light district...)

[- Groucho -]

Originally posted by Asher

Ermm...sorry, but that's quite frankly bull****.
Outside of Calgary it's full of "rednecks"

Read before you react. I said Alberta is the redneck capital of Canada. I didn't say Calgary was. Now, if you want to dispute my actual statement, point out the province that has more rednecks per capita than Alberta and I will gladly concede the point. Until then, my uncles, aunts, cousins and their friends in Calgary, Shepherd, Sylvan Lake, Red Deer, Drumheller and Lethbridge who all cheerfully call themselves rednecks, can still work themselves into a lather over the "Lougheed Liberals", slavishly vote for Klein and are convinced that they are in the Albertan majority will remain my main impression of the Albertan vox populi.

And a redneck isn't necessarily an uneducated hick. I've got friends at some of Calgary's largest law firms who think of themselves as rednecks. Hell, five of my Dad's brothers were proud of their farmer tans and their right wing, small town, gun toting, social conservative values and every one of them had some sort of higher education (whether from SAIT or UofC).

You can argue if you like, but next time I'm at the Oilmen's Club I think I'll find more people that agree with me than you.

[Kassiopeia]

What is Canada like?
Ecthelion, you'll save in trip fares if you'll just come to Finland, another bilingual country where you can freeze your butt off.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Echinda
Now, if you want to dispute my actual statement, point out the province that has more rednecks per capita than Alberta and I will gladly concede the point.

Depends how you define redneck.
Saskatchewan has many more rednecks per capital, except they're socialist.

Until then, my uncles, aunts, cousins and their friends in Calgary, Shepherd, Sylvan Lake, Red Deer, Drumheller and Lethbridge who all cheerfully call themselves rednecks, can still work themselves into a lather over the "Lougheed Liberals", slavishly vote for Klein and are convinced that they are in the Albertan majority will remain my main impression of the Albertan vox populi.

Surely since your family has hicks in it the province is full of them.
Every city you mentioned there except for Calgary are essentially farming communities anyway.

And a redneck isn't necessarily an uneducated hick. I've got friends at some of Calgary's largest law firms who think of themselves as rednecks. Hell, five of my Dad's brothers were proud of their farmer tans and their right wing, small town, gun toting, social conservative values and every one of them had some sort of higher education (whether from SAIT or UofC).

You've got a really interesting definition of redneck then. Please share it with me.

You can argue if you like, but next time I'm at the Oilmen's Club I think I'll find more people that agree with me than you.

Oilmen's Club?

Just don't talk about it based on hearsay, it's not in your best interest. I think we have conflicting definitions of redneck, too.

[Imran Siddiqui]

You've got a really interesting definition of redneck then. Please share it with me.

Actually his definition of redneck is the more accepted one.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Actually his definition of redneck is the more accepted one.

He hasn't even shared it yet.
I haven't stated mine yet either. I never said they were uneducated hicks.

[Asher]

There are two definitions of redneck available on dictionary.com. One from the American Heritage Dictionary:

red·neck Pronunciation Key (rdnk)
n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a member of the white rural laboring class, especially in the southern United States.
A white person regarded as having a provincial, conservative, often bigoted attitude.

Certainly not the case for most of Alberta.

And WordNet:

n : a poor white person in the southern US [syn: cracker]

Also not the case in Alberta.

[- Groucho -]

I think I laid out my definition pretty well ("farmer tans and ... right wing, small town, gun toting, social conservative values" who aren't necessarily uneducated hicks). In case it isn't clear, I meant small town values rather than small town residents. What is your definition?

And I'm pretty sure that most people don't think that the social democrat majority in Saskatchewan are "redneck". They're mostly farmers and they tend to value small town virtues, yes, but they are definitely not mostly fiscal or social conservatives. As you say, they're mostly socialists.

As for the hearsay point - I'm basing my statement on actual recent observations of and conversations with Albertans. That is the exact opposite of hearsay.

And yes, the Oilmen's Club is an odd place, but they represent a big part of Alberta's business culture and they are proud rednecks to the core.

Edit: we posted at the same time - I'm not sure appealing to third party definitions does much good here. I was describing Alberta as populated by a lot of people with "farmer tans and ... right wing, small town, gun toting, social conservative values" who aren't necessarily uneducated hicks. If you want to tell Ecthelion something different, go ahead.

[Garth Vader]

Asher you bolded the wrong part of your definition. Try bolding this part
provincial, conservative,

Then maybe you will see how many Albertans can fit the definition.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Echinda
I think I laid out my definition pretty well ("farmer tans and ... right wing, small town, gun toting, social conservative values" who aren't necessarily uneducated hicks). In case it isn't clear, I meant small town values rather than small town residents. What is your definition?

I quoted from the two definitions in dictionaries.
The term redneck is offensive to everyone I know, I'm really surprised your family and friends call themselves redneck.
It's a term that implies intolerant hick: One who doesn't like immigrants, who is a hardlining conservative, thinks homosexuality is a sin, very religious, etc. That's really not the case for just about everybody I know, so I really don't think it's appropriate to all the province the "redneck capital". There are rednecks here, but everyone I know of is in one of those farming communities far away from the major cities.

As for the hearsay point - I'm basing my statement on actual recent observations of and conversations with Albertans. That is the exact opposite of hearsay.

I don't know who you've been talking to, man, but most people in Alberta live in the two major cities (2/3 of our population). And not one person I've met personally from either of the two cities I'd describe as a redneck. And don't paint me as someone who wouldn't know one when I see one, I lived in Northern California for four years as well and moved back here. There aren't rednecks. If you want rednecks, go to Alabama and Georgia.

And yes, the Oilmen's Club is an odd place, but they represent a big part of Alberta's business culture and they are proud rednecks to the core.

I think the problem here is you're thinking "redneck = conservative", and that's about it.
I know about the oil business in Alberta, my dad's an exec with ChevronTexaco Canada. I've been to way too many stupid dinners with oilpatch people, and I don't think I've met one redneck. They're almost all conservative, though.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Garth Vader
Asher you bolded the wrong part of your definition. Try bolding this part
provincial, conservative,

Then maybe you will see how many Albertans can fit the definition.

That's not the point at all. It appears he simply equates rednecks as conservatives. Redneck is an offensive word that has strong connotations with bigotry. That's how everyone I know understands it, and precisely why NO ONE I know would be "proud" to be a redneck.

I'm totally confused as to who he was talking to if he knows so many people that "admit" to being a redneck.

Of course Alberta is the conservative capital of Canada. Everyone knows that. But redneck? No, the rest of Canada gets in a habit of calling us that because we're conservatives. It's not true, or if it is they're using a bastardized definition of the word.

[Dis]

well lately the term redneck is spreading in popularity. many liscence plates in the U.S. have rednek on them. Even where I live in Las Vegas.

I'm sure they aren't proud of their bigotry. The bigotry part of redneck has been reduced. I think redneck today means white trash.

[RedFred]

Originally posted by Snapcase
Doubt it. Vancouver is considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, let alone Canada.

Just quoting Snapcase because I LIKE that quote.

As with every country beware of the sweeping generalizations that many have used above.

BC is not rainy. But Vancouver, the largest city, and many other coastal areas are rainy to very rainy. But other parts of the province are dry to the point of verging on desert, complete with sagebrush, rattlesnakes and tumbleweeds. Other parts are moderate. Victoria is drier than Vancouver and Kelowna is very dry. Take a map of BC and superimpose it on Western Europe to get an idea of the sense of scale of the province and you will understand why virtually every climate from temperate rainforest to artic tundra is represented.

Canada is not universally cold either. Some years Vancouver will get one or two snowfalls that stick for up to a week or two, but many other years Vancouver gets no snow at all. But the North Shore mountains are covered in snow in the winter and Whistler is less than a two hour drive away. But we have a very mild climate compared to Edmonton in Alberta where I did my uni.

The bad news with BC is the economy. Despite losing four times in international courts over softwood lumber duties, the Americans are again sticking it to us with punitive duties on our softwood exports. Some 'free' trade. Forestry is normally the driver of our economy so things are not easy for employment. The dubious leadership shown by the provincial government has been exacerbating the economic problems for about twelve years now. Even if things turn around it will be years before we fully recover.

I have lived in BC, Ontario, Alberta and I have also travelled in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. I have so many favourite spots that I couldn't mention them all. The only place I didn't particularly like was Toronto. There is quite a bit of air pollution there and the hot sticky humid summers were not to my liking.