Non-Canadians, what do you really think of Canada?

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A lot of Toronto's older building went up in the 70s thus that industrial architecture feel. With that said a zillion condos have gone up since 2000 so glass building architecture is prevalent in the city IMHO.
The glass buildings that kind of look like Minecraft trees were what I had in mind when I said it was an ugly city.
 
A collection of mostly Caucasian people who are neither American or European. Mostly nice people with unique customs and traditions. All I see in my mind is snow, a moose, a native, white people, and maple syrup.

That is Canada to me.
 
Tim Hortons is utter garbage since they stopped selling nanaimo bars and stopped baking on-site.

The inferiority complex is really weird, and a decent amount of younger Canadians seem to have a thinly-veiled contempt for the U.S. and for people from there (or not-so-thinly-veiled, as with the guys who were yelling at me while I was stopped at a traffic light).

Older people in particular seem to try hard to seem polite and nice but don't do a very good job of it. Drivers are bizarre and rude and erratic (and I live in New York and think Boston and D.C. are perfectly fine places to drive).

Police are unsettlingly friendly. They smile so much that it makes me feel like I'm in The Twilight Zone. (One time a cop rolled down his window to ask if he could merge in front of me in traffic (I was stopped at a light); another time after I had slid off of a highway on a snowy, windy day a cop just brushed snow and dead grass off the front of my car—in the US I would have expected a ticket or something.)

Poutine and chip wagons are, of course, amazing. I really like the more pedestrian and cyclist friendly roads, sidewalks, and overall culture as compared to the U.S.

I'm really concerned about Canada's economy and falling dollar.
 
I don't know much about Canada, to be honest. But from I can tell, the people seem laid back and easy going. And there's a ton of really funny people that come from there (Norm MacDonald, John Candy, Mike Meyers to name but a few), so I imagine Canadiens to have a great sense of humor.
Also, I imagine the majority of them smoke weed.
 
I haven't met anyone from Canada personally, but I live in Maine and by god does it get cold in winter. I don't envy you guys, I am so sorry for your winter climate.
 
As a Brit that moved to Canada in 2000 I love this place.

The winters fucking suck for the most part though, although recently it has been mild by comparison. The people are friendly and at least where I live, there's next to no crime. I used to live downtown Toronto and loved the atmosphere there, but now i'm more rural. I don't regret the move at all.
 
I love it. I have a lot of relatives from there and used to visit my great aunt in the mid nineties. The only weird thing was while I traveled through northern BC and Alberta that I saw multiple small indusgrial towns that straight up had signs that warned women and children to not go there.

When i got older I asked a Canadian friend what was up with that and he had also saw them as a kid in eighties. Our guess was that it was a warning to stay away from the towns because the men working there hadn't seen women in while.
 
Police are unsettlingly friendly. They smile so much that it makes me feel like I'm in The Twilight Zone. (One time a cop rolled down his window to ask if he could merge in front of me in traffic (I was stopped at a light); another time after I had slid off of a highway on a snowy, windy day a cop just brushed snow and dead grass off the front of my car—in the US I would have expected a ticket or something

Everything else you said, fair enough. But this one's a bit unfair, no? It's like you're used to cops being dicks that it's wrong for them to be courteous to other people. I've always had good interactions with cops here in Vancouver and I never felt the least bit unsettled
 
Canada's online repudiation is false to me because in Mexico their mining companies take out all the our resources and only leave us with contaminated rivers, deforestation and poverty. They do not follow environment laws, bribe our already corrupt administration just for a quick-buck, kick out locals from their lands and there has even been cases of using hitman to shut down community leaders. Do what you do best and apologize.
I'm only half serious.
 
Everything else you said, fair enough. But this one's a bit unfair, no? It's like you're used to cops being dicks that it's wrong for them to be courteous to other people. I've always had good interactions with cops here in Vancouver and I never felt the least bit unsettled

I didn't mean for that to come across as a criticism. It's good that the police don't treat everyone like a criminal, but it's also pretty weird for me.
 
Never been to Canada but my impression from people who've visited are:

Beautiful nature
Awesome food
Incredibly safe and peaceful

Ugly architecture and fashion
Bad weather
Kind of boring
 
Never been to Canada but my impression from people who've visited are:

Ugly architecture and fashion
Bad weather
Kind of boring

1) This is already changing in my small hometown of Winnipeg
2) That's why shitty people don't come here ;p
3) Boring people, are boring. It not at the level of America of course in terms of personalities and events, but you can always find something to do.
 
hey GAF, questions regarding Canada:

Charlottetown will almost certainly be cheaper than London.

ISPs in both locations will be cable company and phone company. You will have better options in C'town because the cable company has been historically dominant and now the phone company has leap frogged them with much better value/money for their fibre service.

(Bell and Eastlink)

Both have cap-less cheaper plans, and cap-less faster plans when bundled with TV service.

You get less for your money in Ontario.

I don't live in Charlottetown but my employer has an office there. Have looked into internet pricing on east coast and in Ontario in the past few months.

Charlottetown is probably a 3-4 hour drive from Maine.

The people in PEI are friendly but you will always be an outsider (CFA-er: come from away). Can't speak for London.
 
They do not follow environment laws, bribe our already corrupt administration just for a quick-buck, kick out locals from their lands and there has even been cases of using hitman to shut down community leaders. Do what you do best and apologize.
I'm only half serious.

That is really shitty. In Canada the extraction industries are really, really terrible, but not even close to as bad as that.

Anyway, sorry.
 
They're basically Americans that pronounce words wrong and pay 3x more for the same shit.

French Canadians are the lowest tier of person though, every single one I've encountered has been an arrogant piece of shit, to put it lightly.
 
I don't feel strongly about Canada one way or another.
But as a Texan, it must be nice to have someone to talk hockey about. Hockey feels like a secret club here. "You're into hockey?!" we ask each other in hushed tones.

Sometimes, if you dream hard enough, you'll find a small splotch of Stars green amongst the blue, silver, red, burnt orange, maroon, and purple sports memorabilia at the Dick's Sporting Goods.
 
I don't feel strongly about Canada one way or another.
But as a Texan, it must be nice to have someone to talk hockey about. Hockey feels like a secret club here. "You're into hockey?!" we ask each other in hushed tones.

Sometimes, if you dream hard enough, you'll find a small splotch of Stars green amongst the blue, silver, red, burnt orange, maroon, and purple sports memorabilia at the Dick's Sporting Goods.

Hockey is everywhere here haha! Even during the off season. It can get annoying when you don't give a shit about the sport though.

French Canadians are the lowest tier of person though, every single one I've encountered has been an arrogant piece of shit, to put it lightly.

Right. With an attitude like that it's not surprising.
 
i went to the city where that ship exploded once. seemed boring
This is good example of the difference between the US and Canada. Though I haven't visited Halifax, I imagine there's a nice park there with a respectful plaque. If this was in the States, they'd have re-enactments of the explosion and sinking every two hours.

Which I'd probably pay to see
 
Whose board members used to work for the telecom companies (in part).

It's basically a cult at this point.

So was the FCC's Tom Wheeler. That was a shit argument that got put down by Wheeler's administrated of the FCC, and it continues to be one. If someone wants to call a regulatory board a cartel, I hope they can demonstrate it.
 
So was the FCC's Tom Wheeler. That was a shit argument that got put down by Wheeler's administrated of the FCC, and it continues to be one. If someone wants to call a regulatory board a cartel, I hope they can demonstrate it.

Not sure how that is relevant.

You only have to keep an eye on the Canadian telecom system for a year or so to see how fucked up it is.
 
Not sure how that is relevant.

You only have to keep an eye on the Canadian telecom system for a year or so to see how fucked up it is.

It's relevant because anyone actually calling a regulatory board a cartel can't actually demonstrate positions or rulings the board are taking to show that said board are an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition. Saying "well some of them worked for regulated companies" doesn't mean shit.
 
Fun country to play in HOI 4 sucks for Britain territories at the east tho.

Serious answer: I was going to live there after an economical crisis during the early 2000's but gladly my parents changed their minds, seems like a good country I dont know much about it.


But neither do you about mine.
 
It's relevant because anyone actually calling a regulatory board a cartel can't actually demonstrate positions or rulings the board are taking to show that said board are an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition. Saying "well some of them worked for regulated companies" doesn't mean shit.

How about the purchase of Virgin Mobile Canada by Bell, who complained to the CRTC about unfair business practices and undercutting their pricing. The CRTC allowed it's sale for nothing more than whining about it being unfair.

How about the CRTC allowing the purchase of Glentel Wireless to both Bell and Rogers as a joint venture, allowing all sales to be split 50/50 on a purchase of all sales made at those kiosks, cutting down third party competition.

No, nothing wrong with the CRTC at all.
 
1) This is already changing in my small hometown of Winnipeg
2) That's why shitty people don't come here ;p
3) Boring people, are boring. It not at the level of America of course in terms of personalities and events, but you can always find something to do.

1. I've heard this from young women. Basically they were saying people walked around in frumpy pajamas without doing hair or makeup. And buildings were ugly gray boxes. They were contrasting it with Tokyo though.
2. Some people don't like rediculously cold weather.
3. I don't doubt it. Its obviously one of the best places in the world to live. Just my impression is that there is less of an immediate draw for younger folk.
 
How about the purchase of Virgin Mobile Canada by Bell, who complained to the CRTC about unfair business practices and undercutting their pricing. The CRTC allowed it's sale for nothing more than whining about it being unfair.

And the decision by the CRTC later upheld by the courts with regards to Bell Mobility's attempt to skirt net neutrality through the pricing of its vertically integrated mobile tv nonsense last year?

How about the CRTC allowing the purchase of Glentel Wireless to both Bell and Rogers as a joint venture, allowing all sales to be split 50/50 on a purchase of all sales made at those kiosks, cutting down third party competition.

No, nothing wrong with the CRTC at all.
Given their market power, it concluded that regulation is needed and it will therefore establish a process for setting the wholesale roaming rate. That move should allow the new entrants to more affordably offer national service to their customers and turn them into more effective competitors.
The worst thing that can be said about the CRTC is that they aren't willing to show their teeth as often as they should which was my point (unlike your bullshit strawment of people thinking there's nothing wrong with them)- but that doesn't make them a fucking cartel.
 
And the decision by the CRTC later upheld by the courts with regards to Bell Mobility's attempt to skirt net neutrality through the pricing of its vertically integrated mobile tv nonsense last year?


The worst thing that can be said about the CRTC is that they aren't willing to show their teeth as often as they should which was my point (unlike your bullshit strawment of people thinking there's nothing wrong with them)- but that doesn't make them a fucking cartel.

The CRTC upheld a complaint by its competitors that allowing Bell to give people 5 hours of TV on data without using any from their plan. Again, someone whined and they folded. However, in this case it does breach net neutrality so I'm not complaining. However, it wasn't the CRTC that said it wasn't fair. It was the competition.

Secondly, no, they don't show their teeth at all. The new Wireless Code of Conduct was created by the CRTC due to public pressure, not something they were willing to change until they had to. Something I've heard people try and praise the CRTC for. They didn't care when Rogers bought out a portion of Shaw, they don't care about the incredibly high rates that Bell charge 3rd parties to use their lines for Internet use, and they certainly don't care when Rogers spends a ridiculous amount on new spectrums for their wireless service. Something that newcomers like Wind simply can't afford.

Also, i never called them a cartel.

Edit: I am gonna stop discussing this now though as I just realised it's not really in the spirit of this thread at all. Apologies everyone.
 
Join us.

MapCanada_US_Dist.jpg

Only if they get rid of bagged milk. I would veto such an annexation if they refused. I would also require the weird spelling of words such as "centre" and "rumour" to be outlawed, punishable by a very hefty fine.
 
Only country that is possibly better than the US.

I have been to Canada a few times, both East and West coast. We have more in common with them than they would like to admit. I have touched on this before, but the cultures are very, very similar.

I don't feel strongly about Canada one way or another.
But as a Texan, it must be nice to have someone to talk hockey about. Hockey feels like a secret club here. "You're into hockey?!" we ask each other in hushed tones.

Sometimes, if you dream hard enough, you'll find a small splotch of Stars green amongst the blue, silver, red, burnt orange, maroon, and purple sports memorabilia at the Dick's Sporting Goods.

Try enjoying rugby, or worse, team handball (I bet you never even heard of the latter).
 
I'm american but I have family up in Canada that we visit often and I like Canada, although your amber middle lights are a bit weird and the whole bagging milk thing. But I go up there often especially Toronto because they get a lot of big bands and events that my smaller American city doesn't get. Also I'm a big NHL fan so Canada's love of hockey is a great thing too.

Also I never understood were that stereotypical 'all Canadians are super nice' came from because when driving up in Ontario some of those drivers are worse to deal with than New Yorker drivers. Also the Canadian border crossing is way worse to deal with than the US one, which I could never understand.

I've been to Ontario so much that it literally feels like a 51rst state to me just with different currency.
 
I have been to Canada a few times, both East and West coast. We have more in common with them than they would like to admit. I have touched on this before, but the cultures are very, very similar.



Try enjoying rugby, or worse, team handball (I bet you never even heard of the latter).

I have! Mostly from the Olympics, though.
 
Tim Hortons is overrated tbh even though most people here will give me shit for saying it

The only good thing about the coffee is that it's relatively cheap and there's a Tim's on every corner. Their donuts are shit. The timbits are alright I guess
Holy shit I just had a fucking aneurysm reading this.
 
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