Canadians are just like us except...

Over the last year I have had the opportunity to travel to Canada on business. Well to travel to the GTA (or as the locals call it Greater Toronto Area or as common folk know it simply by, Toronto, Canada). Hey, I will admit, I haven't done much (any) international traveling. Of late years, I have been lucky to take a trip to the beach for a few days! The lasting impression of the people I have met in Toronto is one of "fabulous" and not in the sense of the "Fab 5" on Bravo either.

Canada is a socialistic republic with remnants of monarchy. They pay ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS taxes (14% as a MINIMUM sales tax) so the government can coddle them from cradle to grave; continue to maintain their monarchial relationship with the UK even though they are an independent country now; continuing to use monarchial titles for everything from the military to highways and the UK allowing Canadian citizens the right to vote in UK elections, while electing their own representatives. It is an amalgamation of the US and the UK. "They are just like us, but different!"

Port Credit Harbour, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-10/16/2005 (No swimming between August and October!? WHO in their right mind would swim in an estuary of COLD Lake Ontario AFTER October 31st ANYWAY!?)

Ninety percent of all Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. They receive our radio stations, they watch our TV stations, they speak like us (except for certain pronunciations of long O's (think PRO-gram) in words like PRO-jects, PRO-cessor and a somewhat comical slurring of the word ABOUT to where it sounds more like A-BOAT spoken very quickly with a VERY long O and yes, many Canadians do say, EH? at the end of every sentence. Bob and Doug McKenzie are both exaggerated and muted examples of Canadians, all at the same time!

Yeah, they LOVE their hockey and beer (sometimes it is beer more than hockey and then other times it is hockey more than beer, but ALWAYS beer goes with hockey...no wait, is that hockey ALWAYS goes with beer? I forget.); the world does pass them by at times and they need a "double take" to catch on; they are passive; they are liberal and find our Conservatism hypocritical and funny all at the same time (they REALLY don't get George Bush!); they always seem to have a good self sense of humor like the Brits, where in their eyes, your stock goes up if you can laugh at yourself (think Mike Meyers). Nothing really gets them upset and they don't seem to carry a grudge and they do know how to relax. Something we Americans need to relearn.

I have enjoyed my three visits to the land of the red maple leaf and do find I miss the bemused befuddlement that Canadians display at times. They really are a neat people that I enjoy talking to and being around. They are what the US would more than likely have become had we not broke away from King George all of those years ago.

I just found out today that I may be going again for a day or two on business, something that I thought wouldn't happen since it appeared all of my business in the GTA was completed. But if my frequent flier miles do take me to the land of Molson and toques, I will be happy to go back to the land of kilometers, liters and Celsius (now there is a really interesting tale to be spun on that one!).

Lake Ontario Waterfront of Toronto-10/16/2005

I will be saying more about my Canuck friends, experiences and thoughts in future posts.