# General > General >  Maple soup

## rich

A Canadian is someone who can make love in a canoe without capsizing.

My friend Canuck does not think much of that defintion but we are both agreed that there seems to be a certain amount of curiosity in the Org about Canada and about the connections between the north of Scotland and your neighbour to the west.

For the next few weeks - if you can stand it! - we are standing ready to answer your questions about Canada.

We have no pretensions to omniscience and are probably just as likely to put our foot in it as are you Brits when asked probing questions about the Westminster government.

So there will not be a test!

But it might be fun.

Here's the prospectus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zjoO170XFI

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## TBH

Why do they call Canadians, Hose-heads?

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## Tristan

I believe it was coined in a movie that was made by some of the Comedians from "The Second City".  Many top Comedians/actors came out of there - especially in the 80s.

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## wifie

Hmm thought this was gonna be a minging recipe!  Love maple syrup but thought in soup?  Nah!  OK I will ask "Second City"?

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## Errogie

O.K. then so what does moose taste like and do they spend all their lives in lonely bogs trying to avoid hunters and motor vehicles or are they really party animals?

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## golach

> I believe it was coined in a movie that was made by some of the Comedians from "The Second City".  Many top Comedians/actors came out of there - especially in the 80s.


Tristan, 
Like this? Interesting

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=doQC1l...eature=related

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## wifie

PS Rich - Canuck might be too much of a lady to like yer definition but I like it!  :Wink:   ::

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## Tristan

> Tristan, 
> Like this? Interesting
> 
> http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=doQC1l...eature=related


It was an improv. group that changed all the time.  Some singing, some acting but very funny.  At the time when Second City was formed Toronto was the second city to Montreal and Chicago was the second city to New York.  It eventually became a TV show in Canada and as I said some popular comedian/actors graced the screens for years.

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## Tristan

> O.K. then so what does moose taste like and do they spend all their lives in lonely bogs trying to avoid hunters and motor vehicles or are they really party animals?


It has been a long time since I had moose so I can't comment.  There is the old urban myth (although Ms T says she knows someone who it happened to) where a moose comes down on the road during rutting season.  The annoyed driver honks his horn to scare the moose off.  The moose hears the horn and thinks it is another moose competing for a mate.  After the battle the moose walked away....not much left of the car.

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## wifie

So moose is tough then?  ::   ::

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## golach

> It was an improv. group that changed all the time.  Some singing, some acting but very funny.  At the time when Second City was formed Toronto was the second city to Montreal and Chicago was the second city to New York.  It eventually became a TV show in Canada and as I said some popular comedian/actors graced the screens for years.


Similar to our Fringe here in Edinburgh Tristan, many of our Brit so called comedians cut their first teeth in a similar fashion

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## mccaugm

Is French or English more commonly spoken? 

Is the English you speak the same as the way Americans speak it or is it closer to real English?

Do you have a animosity towards the Americans and why?

What would you say to someone who was considering moving to Canada to convince them to do so?

Is the wildlife as amazing as we are led to believe?

Can't think of anything else I would like to know

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## Tristan

> Similar to our Fringe here in Edinburgh Tristan, many of our Brit so called comedians cut their first teeth in a similar fashion


Same free spirit way of working.  I guess the main difference is/was The Second City was open year round and they later ran a comedy/improv school.

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## Tristan

> Is French or English more commonly spoken? 
> 
> Is the English you speak the same as the way Americans speak it or is it closer to real English?
> 
> Do you have a animosity towards the Americans and why?
> 
> What would you say to someone who was considering moving to Canada to convince them to do so?
> 
> Is the wildlife as amazing as we are led to believe?
> ...


It is a very multicultural county.

Although their are two official languages English is the dominant language.  French is mostly spoken in Quebec.  The east coast has the largest Gaelic population outside of Scotland.  The Parries have a large Ukrainian speaking population.

The English is Canadian...grin.   Spellings are for the most part from the British and the accent is softer than the American one.

Most Canadians love Americans it is America they can't stand - America can be seen as being a bit pushy, big money, big media and Canadians have always fought against that to keep their identity.  

It is a fantastic "new" country.  The cities are clean and safe with lots to offer, better standard of living (most things are much cheaper there), and the scenery is on a much larger scale than in Britain. High on the UN list too. 

The wildlife is amazing.  I remember driving along the Glacier Parkway, between Banff and Jasper and seeing well Glaciers, brown bears, mountain sheep, Elk.  It was amazing.

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## joxville

Does Canada wish to apologise for foisting Celine Dion on us?  :Grin:

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## rich

I can see that this might be more difficult than I had anticipated.
I have never (knowingly) eaten a moose and I manage to blank Celine Dion out of my mind at least most of the time.
I am impressed by the number of Caithnessians who know Second City.
So let's just say that I am working on this...

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## rich

Here you are. Moose Pie!
Other questions I am working on....
http://www.jerrysbaitandtackle.com/R.../Moose/pie.htm

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## rich

On the trail of Hosers.
Here's a definite clue.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6tiF...eature=related

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## Big Jean

How about this for Maple soup . Yes, It does have another vegetable in with it, but that is what makes it so good .


http://www.meditech.com/Cafe/recipes...ternutsoup.htm

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## weedonald

Is French or English more commonly spoken? ...... No

Is the English you speak the same as the way Americans speak it or is it closer to real English?.....no

Do you have a animosity towards the Americans and why?.....no

What would you say to someone who was considering moving to Canada to convince them to do so?....no

Is the wildlife as amazing as we are led to believe?....no

Can't think of anything else I would like to know .....no

Does Canada wish to apologise for foisting Celine Dion on us?....yes

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## Gizmo

> Does Canada wish to apologise for foisting Celine Dion on us?


You may wish to add ballad bothering muppet Bryan Adams to that.

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## Tristan

> On the trail of Hosers.
> Here's a definite clue.....
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6tiF...eature=related


That is the two from Second City who later made the movie and an album.

That segment was from a TV show which involved many other members from the Second City cast.  It came about because they wanted the whole programme to qualify as "Canadian".  The government at the time believed there was too much American content on TV so there was a lot of government money for Canadian shows going around.  That spot helped reach the minimum Canadian content rules and made the whole show "Canadian" and made the actors who played Bob and Doug very famous and very wealthy.

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## Sporran

Personally, I like Celine Dion and Bryan Adams. I enjoy quite a number of Canadian singers, in fact. One of my long time favourites has been Gordon Lightfoot, who sings in the video linked in the first post in this thread. Then there's Anne Murray, Gino Vannelli, Sarah McLachlan, Shania Twain, and  Michael Buble - to name just a few others. We also have Canada to thank for The Band, The Guess Who and Nickelback.  ::

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## Tristan

> Personally, I like Celine Dion and Bryan Adams. I enjoy quite a number of Canadian singers, in fact. One of my long time favourites has been Gordon Lightfoot, who sings in the video linked in the first post in this thread. Then there's Anne Murray, Gino Vannelli, Sarah McLachlan, Shania Twain, and  Michael Buble - to name just a few others. We also have Canada to thank for The Band, The Guess Who and Nickelback.


Don't forget Neil Young, Steppenwolf etc (good link for bands and artists here http://www.canadianbands.com/home.html )...especially considering the size of the population there has been a lot of talent over the years.

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## Rheghead

Didn't the Canadians push commercial trapping onto the indigenous tribes thus enslaving people to money, ensured the destruction of a way of life that had lasted for thousands of years and profited from the wanton killing of animal life? ::

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## hotrod4

> Didn't the Canadians push commercial trapping onto the indigenous tribes thus enslaving people to money, ensured the destruction of a way of life that had lasted for thousands of years and profited from the wanton killing of animal life?


No that was their neighbours!  :Wink:

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## Tristan

The opening of the New World by the British and French governments created a lot of problems for aboriginal people across the world.  I am not sure any government has found an ideal solution but I believe in Canada the aboriginal people have protected lands and the right to self government - Not idea but better than many alternatives.

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## Rheghead

> No that was their neighbours!


I bit yes but Canadians were best at it, their neighbour's speciality was profitting from the mass transportation and killing of human life.

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## elamanya

what about Terry Jacks... Men without hats....Streetnix....

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## canuck

... and The Barenaked Ladies.

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## anneoctober

> ... and Bare Naked Ladies.


OK, wifie - you shocked me !! ::  Now SELL me Canada ! :Wink:

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## canuck

...oops I forgot the website - http://www.bnlmusic.com/default2.asp

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## rich

Jean, thanks for the recipe!

Now to the political cook book!

Not all is perfect in Canada/US relations, I can tell you. This is Obama country up here - but of course we don't get to participate in US elections. In fact we have just completed a federal government election which yeilded the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history. (Our Conservatives won, by the way...)

So either everything is just fine here or so terrible that people dont think voting will make any difference.

I incline to the latter viewpoint, but take your pick.

Certainly there has always been tension between Canada and the USA. Here's one tiny - but mindboggling symptom. Have any of you recently seen the weather forecasts from any of the big US tv networks. Look at the map! Where is Canada???? There is just a blank - a third of North America has disappeared. SO where does the weather come from????

 Can you imagine a weather map of England with no Scotland????

Now I have got that off my chest it's time to talk a little about terrorism.

Some Canadian historians detect a - not very well concealed - authoritarianism in the Canadian soul, up here in our invisible realm.

They argue that we have no revolutionary tradition and we do not have a constituonal right to happiness unlike our neighbours doown south. Trying to get an angle on this I went back nearly 40 years I guess to the Front for the Liberation of Quebec (FLQ)

A Quebec cabiner minister, Pierre la Porte was taken prisoner and murdered. Then British diplomat James Cross was kidnapped. At that stage prime minister Pierre Eliot  Trudeau stepped in with the WAR MEASURES ACT. In effect every Canadian in the country could be seized and held incommunicado for as long as it took to extract any information deemed relevant by the federal government.

So here is Trudeau facing his critics from the media.  What a tough little guy he was and what a great job the Quebec Jesuits did with his education! And how relevant to today's troubles....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7_a2wa2dd4

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## Sporran

I forgot to mention that singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell is Canadian as well.  One of her most famous songs was the catchy "Big Yellow Taxi" from 1970. She also wrote "Woodstock", which was recorded on albums by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Matthews' Southern Comfort, as well as herself, that same year. Judy Collins had a hit with "Both Sides Now" in 1968, also written by Joni, who then recorded it on her own album "Clouds," in 1969.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell

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## canuck

Yup, Joni Mitchell!  She was born in the same small town in southern Alberta as my son.   Many years apart of course.

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## rich

In Canada right now, along with the rest of the world, we are worried if we will ever be able to go shopping again. I have nothing but great shopping memories here in Toronto, from the Hercules Department Store on Yonge Street where I could outfit myself, (an impoversihed student),  head to toe in army surplus to the goose down comforts of Eddie Bauer on Bloor Street. So here are some Canadian stores - or should I say, stores in Canada as more and more of our department stores and chains are being bought up by Americans or Europeans.

I dont mind that too much but it takes a lot of fizzle out of going shopping in New York because basically it is all the same. Well here I hope are some differences.

And I would like if I may to pay homage to Lady Eaton, of Eaton Department store  Catalogue fame. She was by all accounts a deranged old bat whose mission in life was to teach Canadians proper manners.  Gone are the days.


http://misscavendish.blogspot.com/20...anada-and.html

More shopping to come!

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## rich

Montreal is a sexy place to buy clothes:

http://www.canada.com/topics/lifesty...d-3960631d93e7

This is Montreal par excellence. Look out for the piper every noon.

http://www.ogilvycanada.com/en/maison/history/

Your catalogue is in the mail.....(love the posters)

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/m...odqps0gp0f1o74

And there's more....

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## rich

One might argue - even myself - that the  Canadian economy is based on shopping, because what else is the trade of goods but shopping. Which brings me logically enough to the Hudson Bay Company.

This is long but it basically lays out the progress of Canadian economic history and it's a good read too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Bay_Company

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## silverfox57

having spent the best holiday of my life in Canada,three weeks in rocky mountains,
 never to be forgotten,there was a lot of               history on Scottish early settlers,towns and city's gave Scottish people a great welcome,took oh to the biggest
shopping center in the world,in Edmonton.spent two days in it,and never seen it all.USA was police with guns and everyone is a suspect,

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## canuck

The Hudson Bay Company, now there is a memory.   
The Winnipeg store was based on a design which reflected the style of the buildings on Princes Street in Edinburgh.   I have many happy childhood memories from the HBC.  A big treat was a Saturday shopping trip with my father and a stop at the candy department for some Edinburgh Rock. 

When the above mentioned Alberta born son graduated from university with a degree in Political Science and History the only appropriate present was an original Hudson Bay Blanket.  I have since discovered that you can also buy them in the Trading Post in St. Margaret's Hope on Orkney.   For those orgers concerned with family equality, I can say 'yes', my daughter also received one as a graduation present.

As for other shopping options, my first time in an H&M Store was in Inverness in the Eastgate Centre, the very place where our own DrSzin works as an elevator operator.   Soon after a franchise was opened in Oakville and then one in Toronto. 

Of course you cannot beat Canadian Tire for an all purpose DIY establishment.   

What Scotland really lacks is a Tim Hortons, but it is hard to sell a hockey legend in a country where ice hockey is not very high up the popularity ladder.

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## canuck

Take it away Errogie!  Here is the photo you wanted me to post for you.

">

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## golach

I have to say in my experience whilst working in Canada in 1958, was not all Maple Syrup and pancakes, I travelled extensively up and down the Great Lakes as far as Thunder Bay in the West to St Johns Newfoundland in the East and Goose Bay in the North East, I loved Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and of course best of all Ontario, but sadly I have to say that in 1958 in Quebec and especially Montreal, the bitter and ill feeling that the residents of Montreal and the Province of Quebec, gave to non French speaking visitors was diabolical. They would cut you dead, if you tried to purchase anything, or ask directions. The French have a marvellous way of making themselves seem superior to all other Nationals.
The journey up the St Lawrence River is an experience I will never forget, and it just got better and better each time we travelled up it as the seasons changed from Winter through to Autumn. Turning the corner of the River heading West the city of Quebec appears, now that is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, until you go ashore and are spat at in French.
Now on the other side of the coin, Ontario especially Toronto, was like heaven for us Scots sailors a far way from home, total strangers would drive up to the ship, the MV Dundee and ask what part of Scotland were we from, and invite us to be guests at their homes. Thank you all you Ex Pats.
On our way home in December '58 we called into a small port in Quebec called Sept Iles, Seven Islands, we were discharging tents for the locals to live in, no disaster or anything like that, that was the way the Quebec Province housed the people of Sept Iles.....they were North American Indians, I think they were Cree, but I am not sure. 
I have ranted long enough, there are or were two sides to Canada Rich. not the same.

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## rich

What this site needs now is a Cape Breton fiddle correspondent. We may just have one in our midst....stay tuned

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## rich

Golach, thank you for the account of your Canadian trip. I'm sorry if I've given the appearance of being in any way Pollyannish about Canada. I am not. That's why I put up the Trudeau U tube

I was wondering how to take into account the sometimes tormented relationship between our three solitudes - Brits/French/First Nations - and you have raised the issue nicely,espcially as you have personal evidence.

It seems to me that the most important question we can ask about Canada is why it hangs together in the first place. Why did Canada not secede and become part of the United States? 

I would suspect that the answer to that question can be found in French Canada and the Catholic Church. One would also look to the Empire Loyalists who flocked northward after the British defeat. And of course there was the Highland influence.

There's a funny wee town called Maxville just on the Quebec side of the Ontario border. They have a  Highland Games there annualy. Of course Maxville is a corruption of Macsville.

Lets get into the identity question over the next week or so. OK?

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## joxville

> There's a funny wee town called Maxville just on the Quebec side of the Ontario border.


Maxville! Hmmm, I wonder if it's named after a long lost relation?  ::   ::

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## rockchick

What a great thread!  It's been 10 years since I've lived in Canada, and this really brings it back to me.

Oh, by the way, moose tastes gooooood!  Especially moose stew.  The only way to describe it is like a cross between beef and venison, and a bit on the fatty side.

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## Sporran

Gosh, Canuck, that house looks very similar to one we owned when we lived in New England!  :Smile:  It was in the same kind of wooded setting, with a big yard as well. Looks like it could have been taken just down the street in our former neighbourhood, in fact!

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## Tristan

I am glad you enjoyed most of your time golach.  The time you were across there was a building seperatist movement in Quebec building to the French Government trying to meddle in Canadian Affairs in 1967 with de Gaulle's "Vive le Québec libre !" (Long live free Quebec!) speach.  There have been further attempts by Quebec governments to try and get a mandate to negotiate seperation that has been voted down by the Quebec people. 
You will be pleased to know things have become more tolerant. Much like in France now if you try and speak French or Quebecois things run fairly smoothly.

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## Tristan

> It seems to me that the most important question we can ask about Canada is why it hangs together in the first place. Why did Canada not secede and become part of the United States? 
> 
> I would suspect that the answer to that question can be found in French Canada and the Catholic Church. One would also look to the Empire Loyalists who flocked northward after the British defeat. And of course there was the Highland influence.


Don't forget the vast natural resources, very different culture and a very different manor in which the two nations developed.

I have always seen a lot of similarities between Canada and Scotland.  
Both countries claim a wealth of natural resources.  I have read many of the debates on here asking if Scotland could afford to go it alone.  I don't know enough about Scotland GDP to answer that question but it is clear Canada does have the population and wealth of resources to do so and to do so very well. Both have very large neighbours to the South and both have worked hard to maintain their own identity against increasing media influence.

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## Tristan

> It seems to me that the most important question we can ask about Canada is why it hangs together in the first place. Why did Canada not secede and become part of the United States?


In some ways your question points to a statement that helps lead us to a better idea of what makes a Canadian.  I believe the statement any Canadian would make is "There never has been any reason to secede to the United States!"

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## pat

Canuck - the photo is a double of my friends old house in Sackkville, Nova Scotia, even the gradient, except the other way around, drive is to the left, lake opposite - first visited it in 1977.  On visit in 2001 friend had long moved but went by to see changes - now quite a built up area, compared to way it was but it was such a beautiful area not surprising it has attracted many folk to build.

One difference I do notice between USA/Canadians is Americans generally stick strictly to speed limits - Canadians are slightly heavy footed but much more considerate drivers.

Friend used to drive miles to avoid a roundabout.

Canadians much friendlier, more helpful - can related easier to them.  My Canadian guests are surprised and quite pleased I can usually tell they are Canadian rather than American - I imagine the same as I do not like to be taken for English!!

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## trinkie

I was just about to mention the Hudson Bay Co. as that name was heard more in the north of Scotland than Inverness or London when I was young. So thank you Canuck for mentioning it.
Very many north people especially from Orkney, went out to work there. I have several in my own family line .
I know you will correct me if Im wrong, but somewhere I have read that two ships called at Stromness each year.
One ship was The Prince of Wales the other Ocean Nymph a smaller ship ( ?? ). Those ships left with hundreds of skilled men who went out to seek their fortune. It was a Brain Drain that Orkney lived to regret.
Often they took Esquimaux  wives  and raised a family. So many of us will have step brothers and sisters out there ! Fantastic thought.
Some Orkney wives and children later followed the men, and many of the children were sent back to Orkney for their schooling. One child was George Simpson McTavish who lodged with a relative of mine and later erected a Grave stone in appreciation of her kindness to him when he was so far from his own parents. But there are many such stories.
A lot of food and rations were picked up in Orkney too, because of the harsh weather in Canada, the rations would not last all winter. There are stories of Walrus hunting, and bitterly cold winters.
In my line several of the men worked at the York Factory, they went out in the mid 1800s but I beleve the Hudson Bay Co began in the 1600s.
Id love to hear stories of other Scottish / Hudson Bay experiences. The Hudson Bay archives on line give plenty of information and list hundreds of names.

Thank you for starting this thread, it promises to be a Goodun. 

Trinkie

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## canuck

Sporran, Pat - these are Errogie's photos.  rich sent them to me to do the technical wizardry to get them on the org.   I didn't realize that there were too copies in the file which I put through photobucket.   

We eagerly await Errogie's post to explain the haunted images from his Nova Scotia visit.

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## Errogie

Thanks guys for doing the technical bit with my picture of Boot Hill Halifax.

I've just returned from a long trip through New England to end up in Nova Scotia before flying home from Halifax. 

Several things featured constantly as we weaved our way up the eastern seabord, the first was the presedential election the second was the proliferation of private keep out signns whenever you tried to pull of the road - what is that all about in the "land of the free" kick the Indians then the French out and then put up the No Tresspass signs? 

Come on, this is an attitude that was spawned by the British upper classes as a result of fear, beatings and lots of cold water heaped upon them by the public school system and then simply replicated throughout their adult lives in the establishment. We've had freedom of access over the surface of Scotland for 9500 years and it's only in the last 4 or 5 hundred with the invention of lawyers that things began to screw up so cheers for our recent land reform legislation, this is something our transatlantic cousins should have got to grips with as soon as they landed and now they're going to have to straighten out the red neck Republicans and the National Rifle Associations phallic insecurities. Freedom needs to be straightened out at home before the Iraq oilfields. 

But forgive me I digress, back to good old pagan Haloween for there is no hold barred when it comes to celebrations on the other side of the pond. Throughout our travels we saw great displays of pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons and ghouls decorating front porches and gardens equalling anything our most enthusiastic Christmas lights devotee can display over here but pride of place has to go to "Boot Hill" (which is the photo kindly reproduced for me by my friend Cannuck). This was a suburban garden outside Halifax. Fibreglass gravestones had been tastefully distributed around the lawn and there was even one with a blood soaked hand protruding above the turf. It had to be worth a photo. My only regret was that we couldn't stay to see what the grand finale might be on the 31st. 

Yes, if I was starting again I would definitely head up to the howling wilderness around Hudson Bay.

Mentioning Hudson Bay and the Orkney connection as we know the early trading ships topped up with water at Stromness and many Orcadians went over there and quite a few of them settled and raised families with the local Cree Indian community passing on their fiddle music in particular. About 25 years ago a group of their descendants with names like Magnus Stout and Linklater visited Stromness with their music and entertained their cousins with their 150 year old version of the reel Mrs. Macleod of Raasay and others. I have a video tape of the homecoming somewhere. The whole question of Scottish music in Canada and the States and how it changed, adapted, or remained in its original form is a is huge subject for another day.         

Anyway great country, great people and they do like to celebrate their Halloween!

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## rich

Trinkie, did you know the Macfarlanes who lived in Princes Street Thurso? Jackie MacFarlane spent his entire working life with the Hudson Bay company - much of it in the Arctic. He ended his career as a mink farmer with the company. He lived in Lachine, outside Montreal. We stayed with him and his family when we emigrated to Canada. I believe Jackie was one of those young lads who took the boat to Hudson Bay. I think Dundee was another recruiting area for the Hudson Bay Complany. I can remember  annual ads in the Courier extolling the life of adventure to be had in Canada.

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## rich

Crime in Canada.
Our thread would be incomplete without it....

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b...r/default.aspx

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## canuck

Now rich, don't go painting the wrong impression of Toronto.   The National Post page which you have put up highlights 6 crimes over the past year and a half.   Nothing is that lily white, not even Fort McLeod where Joni Mitchell was born.

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## Sporran

I'm led to believe that the health care system in Canada is similar to Britain's NHS. Is this correct?

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## rich

Sporran, in effect Canadian healthcare is very similar to the NHS. The service is remarkalby good especially when you consider all the bickering between Federal and Provincial governments. Here's what you need to know!

http://www.medhunters.com/articles/h...eInCanada.html

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## rich

So, Canuck, you think I am underestimating Canadian crime? Then let me give you:
THE EXCHANGE BANDIT

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b...executive.aspx

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## canuck

> I'm led to believe that the health care system in Canada is similar to Britain's NHS. Is this correct?


My orthopaedic surgeon in Germany had done post-graduate work in Toronto.  My orthopaedic consultant in Edinburgh had done post-graduate work in Toronto.   They agreed on my treatment.   So I figure that I had the same work done in Scotland as I would have had done in Canada.

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## rockchick

I had to laugh today at my Canadian-ism...don't know if anyone else will get this (except Mr. RC perhaps)...but whilst at work today a situation arose which required a bit of finagleing and a bit of thinking "outside the box".  While engrossed in the problem presented I told my colleague (who was wanting to know the status of the job) that I was "MacGyvering a solution" and to give me five minutes...He thought for a minute, and then asked what the heck I meant by MacGyvering...?

Does anyone else recall the tv series MacGyver (I might have the spelling wrong), where MacGyver pull all sorts of solutions, like disabling nuclear weapons, with string, chewing gum and a paper clip?

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## canuck

Yes, rockchick, I totally understood what you were talking about.  

To the confused here is a link to some of the shows - http://www.cbs.com/classics/macgyver/video/video.php

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## Moira

> My orthopaedic surgeon in Germany had done post-graduate work in Toronto. My orthopaedic consultant in Edinburgh had done post-graduate work in Toronto. They agreed on my treatment. So I figure that I had the same work done in Scotland as I would have had done in Canada.


 
I don't care much who done what where.  I'm happy that you received the best of care here in Scotland   :Smile: 

Fascinating thread - thanks to rich and canuck .

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## Sporran

I am finding this thread fascinating too!  :Smile: 

Canuck, I hope you're not plastered anymore. Have you been able to give your cast the boot yet?

And yes, rockchick, I do remember the MacGyver TV series. It ran when we were living in New England in the 80s and early 90s, and I used to enjoy watching it. I liked Richard Dean Anderson in the title role.  :Smile:  Here's another link to an article about the series:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGyver

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## golach

> Yes, rockchick, I totally understood what you were talking about.  
> 
> To the confused here is a link to some of the shows - http://www.cbs.com/classics/macgyver/video/video.php


Canuck, we here in the UK have been watching MacGyver for a while now, and a lot on other Canadian TV productions, the wonders of Satellite TV. Mrs G is particularly fond of Blue Murder, for its Toronto locations.

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## Tristan

> Canuck, we here in the UK have been watching MacGyver for a while now, and a lot on other Canadian TV productions, the wonders of Satellite TV. Mrs G is particularly fond of Blue Murder, for its Toronto locations.


I always thought is was Due South that appealed to the ladies (and not for the locations). :Grin:

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## golach

> My orthopaedic surgeon in Germany had done post-graduate work in Toronto.  My orthopaedic consultant in Edinburgh had done post-graduate work in Toronto.   They agreed on my treatment.   So I figure that I had the same work done in Scotland as I would have had done in Canada.


I spent a couple of weeks in hospital in Newfoundland in '58, the Cottage Hospital in Botwood, the main Doctor / Surgeon was from Edinburgh, the Matron was from Glasgow, and as the only other Scot in the hospital I got away with murder, the Matron used to get the Sunday Post and the Weekly News sent over from Scotland and she passed on to me about 3 months back issues, as I had been away from home about 5 months this was like heaven to a lonely young lad.
But Botwood had in those days a ratio of 7 females to every male, I thought I was in heaven there too, the Nurses Aids were all my age, and I had no shortage of visitors  ::  I loved the Canadaian Medical system, cannot say a bad word against it  ::

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## trinkie

Quote : Trinkie, did you know the Macfarlanes who lived in Princes Street Thurso? Jackie MacFarlane spent his entire working life with the Hudson Bay company - much of it in the Arctic. He ended his career as a mink farmer with the company. He lived in Lachine, outside Montreal. We stayed with him and his family when we emigrated to Canada. I believe Jackie was one of those young lads who took the boat to Hudson Bay. I think Dundee was another recruiting area for the Hudson Bay Complany. I can remember annual ads in the Courier extolling the life of adventure to be had in Canada "  end quote 

Rich, I dont remember that person, but it sounds as though he had a great time in Canada.
During the War my parents had a couple lodging with them, and immediately after the War they left UK and went to Canada where they were extremely happy and he bacame a successful bespoke Tailor ( having trained in Bond street, and made RAF uniforms during the War)      This man told me how good the Canadians were to their ex-Servicemen and an advert was put in the paper each week for years after the War,  reminding them what they were entitled to  and encouraging them to apply for all the grants available.    What a generous country !  


Trinkie

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## rich

GOLACH: I promised you something from Quebec. In 1992  Mordeai Richler, Canadian writer and Montreal resident (of the Anglo persuasion) wrote a series of articles for the New Yorker about Quebec separatism and that province's inglorious past.

This is a TV clip at the height of the debate. 

In my opinion the debate was less about anti-Semitism than it was about the role of Anglophones in Quebec society.

Anyway it is a fascinating look at a not-quite-fossilized past.

http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertai...re/clips/4601/

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## rich

Montreal!  Home of smoked meat sandwiches, blizzards and ice hockey. This is a fine account of it all....

http://www.slate.com/id/2079816/entry/2079820/

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## rich

AMAZING GRACE -  WAS SHE TRUDEAU'S CAITHNESS PIPER?

This unique contribution to Maple Soup comes from "Margie."
She writes:
My friend Gracie was a secretary with fantastic shorthand speeds and accuracy as well as a piper.
 She left Wick to join a circus - yes a circus, playing the pipes, riding elephant, sparkly outfits etc, married one of an acrobat trio, cannot remember if he was Romanian - he was smashing, on the tv quite often on programmes like Saturday night at the Palladium, was on one of the Queens shows there.

 After 2 children they parted, she then lived for a short time around the Thames area, remarried, her and new husband plus children went off to Canada where she eventually became one of  Prime Minister Pierre Elitot Trudeau's  secretaries -and occasionally I understood played the pipes. 
I am 60 this year - Gracie would be I think about 3 or 4 years older - our parents used to out to everything together and were the best of friends until her parents and sister moved down to Telford. Gracie still comes back to Caithness to visit friends and relations (mainly in Lybster)

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## Tristan

Lets not forget the other tenuous link between Scotland and Canada.  Margret Trudeau is the ex wife of the former Prime Minister P.E. Trudeau).  I believe her family has Caithness connections in Dunbeath.

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## canuck

Margaret 'Sinclair' - there must be Caithness connections somewhere in her family background.

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## trinkie

Garbled thoughts going through my mind last night - after Dookin for apples !!

Another Caithness connection was a Mowat from Keiss who went to Canada and there married a Levack from Caithness.
The town "Levack "  was named after her.   Mowat became a leading and well known figure and later sent back some Silver objects for the Keiss church.

Have I got the facts right ?

Trinkie

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## elamanya

im sure i can mind seeing a sign near Kelowna in BC saying that one of the first canadian prime ministers was from Lairg..

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## Errogie

There's a roadside memorial near Rogart commemeorating this native of Sutherland and I think he was a Macdonald.

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## rockchick

I understand that Margaret Trudeau's mother was from Lybster

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## trinkie

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/mowat

This is what I was thinking about.

Trinkie

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## weedonald

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b...s-hunting.aspx

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## sandyr

Interesting comments here.
Agree with most of them/ perhaps not so much with the Crime issues.
Perhaps I see it thru 'rose coloured glasses', but Canada is for me 'The Promised Land', and I am not religious!
Left Lybster, Caithness in the 60's and to London, England and after a sojourn there lasting several years, to Canada. Pretty scary going to London, but then to Canada........... Aghhhhhhhhhhhh! 
Settled in Southern Ontario, in a suburb of Toronto/ have had a wonderful life and career, with travel and excitement, wonderful 4 definitive Seasons, with downhill skiing 30 mins away and bigger hills 2 hours away/ sailing Lake Ontario......45 miles wide...the other side is the United States, and about 140 miles long.  A small sea!.....Oh...retiring at 55........ Celine....have you heard her latest CD?  Not to scruffy! ......And Second City. Been going for likely 30 years.  Many well known Actors got their start there.
Orcadians were instrumental in the original Hudson Bay Company, and where ever you go here, the Scottish names are obvious.
The U.S. thing I think is overblown....when we are at 20/30 below zero, it is rather nice to board the plane and head South to Ft. Lauderdale, or other South Florida locations where it is in the 70/80s. They are having severe financial problems just now, but as always they/ we will survive.
Crime.........not bad at all.  Yes we have a few gangs members killing each other.... and ........? 
There are serious crime problems in the U.S., but so far we have managed to avoid such problems.  Laws are very much based on Common Law from Britain/ perhaps we are becoming a wee bit Americanized....but then we are neighbours...or as in the U.S. language... neighbors/ U's are commonly missing.... color, harbor, then Scarboro, tire. Perhaps just subtle differences.  Have been traveling a bit these past years and Canadian Airports are civilized compared with London Heathrow, Dallas/ Ft Worth etc. We seem to be a laid back people.
Yes we have had some Aboriginal problems but there again...who hasn't?
And Margaret Sinclair/ P.E.T.'s (Trudeau) wife's family was from Caithness.  And I think John Diefenbaker, the 13th PM of Canada's grand mother was from the Latheronwheel area and visited said place in the early 60s.
Health Care is good/ Everything is taken care of, and companies can also bargain for a supplementary plan, which can give one everything totally free.
And Canadians like UK trained people. Two of my 2nd Cousins are here,  both specialists in their trade and have done very well.  I do know of a couple of people who came out without specific trades., and felt 60/70 hour weeks was like slave labour and went back.  I know I have worked those hours at some point in my career.  Unions are not as strong here and are losing their power. It is good and bad. There is a pendulum that swings and seldom is it in the middle!
Now the first Prime Minister. Sir John A Macdonal was born in Glasgow....perhaps his parents were from Up North, and I shall throw this in to get everyone going....He was a Freemason!!  As were many geat men!!!!!!
This is perhaps a more serious post, but I have to say that there are many opportunities here..Go West young man-Go West!
I mentioned in another post.........the big question is......
What is Scotland's greatest Export........
........
Its people!

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## weeboyagee

Best way to find out about Canada - come over and see for yourself! Guess where weeboyagee is at the moment!  Greetings from Maple, Ontario!

WBG  ::

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## Aaldtimer

"I mentioned in another post.........the big question is......
What is Scotland's greatest Export........
........"
McEwan's!!! :Smile:

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## canuck

Pumpkin recycling Canadian style:

http://green.sympatico.msn.ca/articl...umentid=693811

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## elamanya

mind being at the stampede one year and the guy on the mike asking is there any one here from WIIIINNNIIIPPPEGGGGGGGGGGG.....  cheer went up, to which he replied welcome to CANNNNNNADAAAAAAAAAAA lol wwhat did he mean ..

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## Sporran

> Best way to find out about Canada - come over and see for yourself! Guess where weeboyagee is at the moment!  Greetings from Maple, Ontario!
> 
> WBG


Oh, lucky you, weeboyagee!  :Smile:  How many times have you been to Canada now?

I've been there four times. Twice to Niagara Falls, and twice to Montreal, way back in the 80s. It's definitely a country I'd like to see more of!

Last year we had the pleasure of seeing a Toronto band here twice. (Apparently I like doing things twice, lol!  :Wink: ) They're called "Enter the Haggis", and they're a fabulous Celtic rock band with influences of other music genres as well. I was lucky enough to have the chance to meet all the band members, and what a nice, friendly, unassuming bunch of lads they were! Founding member Craig Downie originates from Glasgow, and moved to Canada with his parents as a boy. I was fascinated by the way he could talk to me in his native Scottish accent, then talk in his Canadian accent on stage. (In the same way that actor/singer John Barrowman of "Torchwood" fame can switch back from his American accent to his original Scottish accent.) Anyway, if you ever get the chance to see ETH, go!!!! Their music is an exhilarating experience!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enter_the_Haggis

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## canuck

> mind being at the stampede one year and the guy on the mike asking is there any one here from WIIIINNNIIIPPPEGGGGGGGGGGG.....  cheer went up, to which he replied welcome to CANNNNNNADAAAAAAAAAAA lol wwhat did he mean ..


elamanya, I've lived in both Winnipeg and Calgary, but I have no idea what the guy on the mike was referring to.   Calgarians have a bit of a 'way out there' humour.   There is also a fairly healthy rivalry between sports teams and there could have been some reference to something there.  

It is also possible that an American TV commentator made some reference to Winnipeg assuming that it was in North Dakota, because I think some people do think that the city might be in the States.   I am only guessing here.   I have nothing to base this theory on other than every once in awhile foreigners do make reference to Canadian cities near the border as being American.

Do you remember the year that you were in Calgary?  That might help to narrow it down.

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## weedonald

From Beautiful British Columbia check this out. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20.../vaillant-text

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## Sporran

Wow, what spectacular scenery, weedonald!  ::

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## rich

That is a great article, weedonald! Thanks!!!

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## rich

So WeeDonald's article just calls out for this:

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/...an_mcgrew.html

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## Sporran

Thanks for that link, Rich. Robert W. Service wrote some amazing poems, and what a handsome Scot he was!  :Smile: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service

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## peter macdonald

One of Canadas greatest products by way of a man from Halkirk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Keith 
Seriously good IPA
PM

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## George Brims

> Best way to find out about Canada - come over and see for yourself!


I have, though not much of it yet. Medicine Hat over through Calgary, to Banff, N then East to Edmonton, and back to SE Alberta. The bits of Alberta that start to get ripply before the Rockies rise up reminded me of Caithness, except it seemed to go on forever and there was no coast! 

Also been through Toronto airport (several times) and from the harbour to the airport in a taxi in Vancouver. Hope to see more yet though.

----------


## Betty

Perhaps you have seen via your media in the UK that an event is currently taking place in both London and Canada -

 At sunset November 4th through to sunrise November 11th, this site will present a vigil commemorating the 68,000 Canadians who lost their lives in WWI.  The names of the 68,000 war dead will be projected over a week of nights onto the National War Memorial in Ottawa, buildings in other regions of Canada and onto the side of Canada House in Trafalgar Square in London, England.

The site mentioned is http://www.1914-1918.ca/ 

I plan to attend our local showing tonight at 2:34 a.m. when my great uncle's name will appear.  He had lived in Wick until coming to Canada and joining their forces, where he was killed at an early age.

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## Tristan

WW1 is particularly important for Canadians because the "capture of Vimy [Ridge] was more than just an important battlefield victory. For the first time all four Canadian divisions attacked together: men from all regions of Canada were present at the battle. Brigadier-General A.E. Ross declared after the war, "in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation."" (from http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibiti.../index_e.shtml).
It was also a very well rehearsed and well organised offensive.  Although the Canadians lost over 10,000 men on the successful assault this paled in comparison to the 100,000 French lives that had been lost trying to take the ridge.
Since then Canadians have always done a lot to remember those who fought and died in the wars.

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## rich

Here's the poem. Written by a Canadian.


http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

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## Moira

> Perhaps you have seen via your media in the UK <snip> 
> The site mentioned is http://www.1914-1918.ca/ 
> I plan to attend our local showing tonight at 2:34 a.m. when my great uncle's name will appear. He had lived in Wick until coming to Canada and joining their forces, where he was killed at an early age.


Betty, I'd not seen this mentioned but I rarely watch telly and only buy the Press & Journal - so thanks from me for a great link.  :Smile:

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## Moira

Rich, I remember the very iconic ballad entitled "Working Man" sung by Rita MacNeil which links the coal mines of Cape Breton with our own lost coal mines here.

Don't click this link unless you have 5 minutes to spare and if you have a glass eye, be warned, it's going to start watering....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGLP2D9GbsI

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## rich

I saw her in Toronto with the men of the deep. Very moving.
The Springhill disaster also gave rise to a great song.

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## rich

There is a Ewan McColl version - he co-wrote it but you know I prefer U2!!!!
This is a surprising and rare version from Dublin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBGgv...eature=related

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## rich

The place I have always been happiest in Canada is Montreal.
People are cool with a certain je ne sais quoi.  Restaurants and fashion are the tops. And the night life is wonderful. The music scene has always been special. So it could be time  for some Leonard Cohen - it could be closing time....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVt6v...eature=channel

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## rich

But still time to include these  fabulous Montrealers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB6-s...eature=related

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## weedonald

And when you wake in the morning here in BC, and look out the window you could see this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgOpINNR3yg 
In front garden of my son's house in Comox on Vancouver Island

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## Sporran

Donald Sutherland is one of my favourite Canadian actors. I know he was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and I believe he was brought up in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. But does anybody know whereabouts in Sutherland his ancestors came from? And could he possibly have any Caithness connections?

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## canuck

I found this site by accident.  It might bring back a few memories, although it doesn't speak to any Caithness connections.

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/Savi...-proud-of.aspx

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## Tristan

> I found this site by accident.  It might bring back a few memories, although it doesn't speak to any Caithness connections.
> 
> http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/Savi...-proud-of.aspx


Fantastic site...will have to look for one about some of our Canadian heros like Terry Fox who ran a marathon a day for 143 days in his Marathon of hope and he did it all with one leg too.

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## Tristan

Found this at http://www.c4vct.com/kym/humor/yacan.htm and how true it is.
*
You Know You're a Canadian When...*

You stand in "line-ups" at the movie, not lines.

You're not offended by the term "Homo Milk".

You understand the sentence, "Could you please pass me a serviette, I just spilled my poutine."

You eat chocolate bars instead of candy bars.

You drink pop, not soda.

You know what it means to be on pogey.

You know that a mickey and 2-4's mean "Party at the camp, eh!"

You can drink legally while still a teen.

You talk about the weather with strangers and friends alike.

You don't know or care about the fuss with Cuba, it's just a cheap place to travel with good cigars and no Americans.

When there is a social problem, you turn to your government to fix it instead of telling them to stay out of it.

You're not sure if the leader of your nation has EVER had sex and you really don't want to know if he has!

You get milk in bags as well as cartons and plastic jugs.

Pike is a type of fish, not some part of a highway.

You drive on a highway, not a freeway.

You know what a Robertson screwdriver is.

You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.

You know that Thrills are something to chew and "taste like soap."

You know that Mounties "don't always look like that."

You dismiss all beers under 6% as "for children and the elderly."

You know that the Friendly Giant isn't a vegetable product line.

You know that Casey and Finnegan are not a Celtic musical group.

You participated in "Participaction."

You have an Inuit carving by your bedside with the rationale, "What's good enough protection for the Prime Minister is good enough for me."

You wonder why there isn't a 5 dollar coin yet.

Unlike any international assasin/terrorist/spy in the world, you don't possess a Canadian passport.

You use a red pen on your non-Canadian textbooks and fill in the missing 'u's from labor, honor, and color.

You know the French equivalents of "free", "prize", and "no sugar added", thanks to your extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging.

You are excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.

You make a mental note to talk about it at work the next day.

You can do all the hand actions to Sharon, Lois and Bram's "Skin-a-ma-rinky-dinky-doo" opus.

You can eat more than one maple sugar candy without feeling nauseous.

You were mad when "The Beachcombers" were taken off the air.

You know what a toque is.

You have some memento of Doug and Bob.

You know Toronto is not a province.

You never miss "Coaches Corner."

Back bacon and Kraft Dinner are two of your favorites food groups.

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## Big Jean

Excellent site canuck . Maple syrup and Tim Hortons ... mmm .  :Wink: 

How about this one for Canadian heroes .

http://deena.ca/

There are many people listed here. Just scroll down, and select the category you want to view .

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## Big Jean

Good one from you also, Tristan, and definitely all true !!!  :Grin:  :Grin:

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## Tristan

An interesting link, thanks for that.  Funny how it doesn't include the Canadian hero David Hornell who flew out of Wick on U-boat patrol.  He posthumously earned the Victoria Cross.  http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub...ations/hornell. Nor does it include Silken Laumann who rowed in the Olympics even though she broke her leg in a rowing accident, was told her Olympic career was over, yet rowed 3 weeks later.

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## Tristan

This thread started with a quote about what is a Canadian...I think this may be a better one.
Canadians have been so busy explaining to the Americans that we aren't British, and to the British that we aren't Americans that we haven't had time to become Canadians.
Helen Gordon McPherson

Quickly followed by any and all of these quotes...

http://www.indefual.net/canada/quotes.html  here a number of interesting quotes about Canada from some notable people including Churchill
Canadian Quotes

Here is a collection of quotes about Canada that are amusing, entertaining, patriotic, or thought provoking. My hope is that you enjoy reading them, and they make you feel pride. We are going to start off nice and easy with quotes from celebrities.
Celebrities and Icons

    Canadians . . . have no south of which they can speak warmly.
    Priit J. Vesilind, National Geographic

    When they said Canada, I thought it was up in the mountains somewhere.
    Marilyn Monroe, actress

    I had no idea Canada could be so much fun
    Bruce Willis, actor

    I wouldn't let someone take my Canadian citizenship from me for anything
    Jim Kale of the Guess Who

    They must be doing something right up there in Canada.
    Hugh Hefner, Playboy Founder

Comedians

    After all, we fought the Yanks in 1812 and kicked them the hell out of our country -- but not with blanks
    Farley Mowat (1921-)

    The US is our trading partner, our neighbour, our ally and our friend... and sometimes we'd like to give them such a smack!
    Rick Mercer, "This Hour Has 22 Minutes"

Politicians and other criminals

    Prime Ministers and Premires

    For me, pepper, I put it on my plate.
    Jean Chrétien

    If I say I'll do something, I make sure I do it... There will not be a promise that I will make in the campaign that I will not keep!
    Jean Chrétien

    I'm not going to play politics on the floor of the House of Commons.
    John Turner

    I am so excited about Canadians ruling the world.
    John Diefenbaker

    I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.
    John Diefenbaker (From the Canadian Bill of Rights, July 1, 1960.)

    We shall be Canadians first, foremost, and always, and our policies will be decided in Canada and not dictated by any other country.
    John G. Diefenbaker

    Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die.
    Pierre Trudeau

    Americans should never underestimate the constant pressure on Canada which the mere presence of the United States has produced. We're different people from you and we're different people because of you. Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is effected by every twitch and grunt. It should not therefore be expected that this kind of nation, this Canada, should project itself as a mirror image of the United States.
    Pierre Trudeau

    Canada is a country whose main exports are hockey players and cold fronts. Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain.
    Pierre Trudeau

    I just think you Westerners should take over this country if you are so smart.
    Pierre Trudeau

----------


## Tristan

I just think you Westerners should take over this country if you are so smart.
    Pierre Trudeau

    We peer so suspiciously at each other that we cannot see that we Canadians are standing on the mountaintop of human wealth, freedom and privilege.
    Pierre Elliott Trudeau

    Whether we live together in confidence and cohesion; with more faith and pride in ourselves and less self-doubt and hesitation; strong in the conviction that the destiny of Canada is to unite, not divide; sharing in cooperation, not in separation or in conflict; respecting our past and welcoming our future.
    Lester Pearson

    As we enter our centennial year we are still a young nation, very much in the formative stages. Our national condition is still flexible enough that we can make almost anything we wish of our nation. No other country is in a better position than Canada to go ahead with the evolution of a national purpose devoted to all that is good and noble and excellent in the human spirit.
    Lester Pearson

    We have it all. We have great diversity of people, we have a wonderful land, and we have great possibilities. So all those things combined there's no where else I'd rather be.
    Bob Rae
    MPs (Female)

    'Yes, if I were dead.'
    Agnes Macphail (when asked if they would say nice things about her if she were dead)

    'I'm no lady. I'm an MP.'
    Agnes Macphail

    'Patriotism is not dying for one's country, it is living for one's contry. And for humanity. Perhaps that is not as romantic, but it's better.'
    Agnes Macphail
    Brits and Americans

    Canada is the linchpin of the English-speaking world.
    Sir Winston Churchill

    There are no limits to the majestic future which lies before the mighty expanse of Canada with its virile, aspiring, cultured, and generous-hearted people.
    Sir Winston Churchill

    I don't even know what street Canada is on.
    Al Capone, US ganster

    In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect.
    Bill Clinton

Writers

    A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe.
    Pierre Burton, historian

    The great themes of Canadian history are as follows: Keeping the Americans out, keeping the French in, and trying to get the Natives to somehow disappear.
    Will Ferguson

    Many Canadian nationalists harbour the bizarre fear that should we ever reject royalty, we would instantly mutate into Americans, as though the Canadian sense of self is so frail and delicate a bud, that the only thing stopping it from being swallowed whole by the US is an English lady in a funny hat.
    Will Ferguson

    With or without the Royals, we are not Americans. Nor are we British. Or French. Or Void. We are something else. And the sooner we define this, the better.
    Will Ferguson

    I read and learned and fretted more about Canada after I left than I ever did while I was home. I absorbed anything I could on topics that ranged from Folklore to history to political manifestos... I ranted and raved and seethed about things beyond my control. In short I acted like a Canadian.
    Will Ferguson

    Canada is one of the planet's most comfortable, and caring, societies. The United Nations Human Development Index cited the country as the most desirable place in the world to live. This year a World Bank study named Canada the globe's second wealthiest society after Australia.
    Time magazine

Anonymous and Others

    Give your head a shake. This is the greatest country in the world.
    Curtis Sanderson (From the Rant & Roar Forums)

    What is a Canadian? A Canadian is a fellow wearing English tweeds, a Hong Kong shirt and Spanish shoes, who sips Brazilian coffee sweetened with Philippine sugar from a Bavarian cup while nibbling Swiss cheese, sitting at a Danish desk over a Persian rug, after coming home in a German car from an Italian movie... and then writes his Member of Parliament with a Japanese ballpoint pen on French paper, demanding that he do something about foreigners taking away our Canadian jobs.
    Anonymous

    God Bless America, but God help Canada to put up with them!
    Anonymous

    He shall have dominion also from sea unto sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
    Psalm 72

Unclassified

Canada is an interesting place - the rest of the world thinks so, even if Canadians don't.
Terence M. Green

Canadians are the people who learned to live without the bold accents of the natural ego-trippers of other lands.
Marshall McLuhan

Canadians have an abiding interest in surprising those Americans who have historically made little effort to learn about their neighbour to the North.
Peter Jennings

I think every Canadian should have a map of Canada in his or her house. It should be displayed in a place where one can sit and contemplate the wonderful vastness of this land. As Canadians we are continuously groping for an identity and a sense of love for our nation. We grapple with the concept, find it somewhat distasteful and leave it for another day. We find American flag waving, hand over heart while belting out Oh, say, can you see... too much and avoid doing the same. We admire their national spirit, but Canadians are, in contrast, understated. To understand the identity that exists in our hearts think of our sweepingly majestic home, its quiet, serene beauty. A beauty recognizable to us all. We are proud of this nation and of who we are. We just don't say it. It's like the map. It just sits there on the wall displaying the lines of our coasts, the bulk of our waterways, and the breadth of our northern territories. Surveying all of this leaves me in awe. It brings a tear to my eye...O Canada...
Debora O'Neil

It is the task of the rising generation of Canadians to create a new confidence and a new sense of cultural and civic duty in Canada. Unless we achieve some success on this front, and I believe we are beginning to do so, the very real attractions of the vigorous society to the South of us may attract too many of our able people. Then the human resources and skills required to shape and direct a complex industrial economy will simply not be available to us in Canada.
Mitchell Sharp

It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she's something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of.
Emily Carr

Canadians have been so busy explaining to the Americans that we aren't British, and to the British that we aren't Americans that we haven't had time to become Canadians.
Helen Gordon McPherson

Canadian nationalism is a subtle, easily misunderstood but powerful reality, expressed in a way that is not to state directed - something like a beer commercial or the death of a significant Canadian figure.
Paul Kopas

Vive la Canada. This country is not for sale.
Don Sweet

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## Tristan

Vive la Canada. This country is not for sale.
Don Sweet

We are lucky to live in a country as rich as ours. To break it apart would be asinine in the highest degree.
Barry Gerding

We'll explain the appeal of curling to you if you explain the appeal of the National Rifle Association to us.
Andy Barrie

In only a century and a quarter since Confederation, Canadians have shaped out of the North American wilderness one of the most privileged societies on the face of the earth. Ranking among the seven most prosperous nations in the world, Canada is rich not only in the abundance of our resources and the magnificence of our land, but also in the diversity and the character of our people. We have long been known as one of the most tolerant, progressive, innovative, caring and peaceful societies in existence.
The Will of a Nation: Awakening the Canadian Spirit by George Radwanski & Julia Luttrell

When I'm in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like.
Jane Fonda

Canada is a place of infinite promise. We like the people, and if one ever had to emigrate, this would be the destination, not the U.S.A. The hills, lakes and forests make it a place of peace and repose of the mind, such as one never finds in the U.S.A.
John Maynard Keynes

You Canadians have given us such hope to carry on. We admire your bravery. You are the neighbour of such a rich, powerful country, and yet you don't mind clashing with them. Well, that gives us more confidence.
Pedro Gutierrez

I am deeply moved by the warmth and courage of the Canadian people which I felt so strongly during my recent visit to your country. Your support of the struggle against apartheid restored me in my journey home and reassured me that many just people around the world are with us.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Canada is probably the most free country in the world where a man still has room to breathe, to spread out, to move forward, to move out, an open country with an open frontier Canada has created harmony and cooperation among ethnic groups, and it must take this experience to the world because there is yet to be such an example of harmony and cooperation among ethnic groups.
Valentyn Moroz

The beaver, which has come to represent Canada as the eagle does the United States and the lion Britain, is a flat-tailed, slow-witted, toothy rodent known to bite off it's own testicles or to stand under its own falling trees.
June Callwood

You look at the history -- the aboriginal people welcomed the first settlers here with open arms, fed us and took care of us ... that continues today, we welcome people from all nations to come in and share.
Peter Stoffer

We are tremendously proud of our cultures, heritage and achievements and we will continue to break new ground. I am proud to be a Canadian and I hope you are too.
Philip K. Lee

I always thought of this as God's country.
Jack Granatstein

As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't want to go to any other country. It's good enough here.
Orviel Kruse

If you don't think that your country should come before yourself, you can better serve your country by livin' someplace else.
Stompin' Tom Connors

There are more left-handed Mormon streakers in the West than there are western separatists.
Mel Hurtig

The crisis of Canada today is the combination of economic problems facing us and the increasing impotency of governments that lack either the will or the resources to do much about it. The tragedy of Canada today is that just when we need a country that's pulling together in common cause, we have one that keeps finding new ways to pull itself apart.
Angus Reid

In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichyssoise of nations, it's cold, half-French, and difficult to stir.
Stuart Keate

Canada has never been a melting-pot; more like a tossed salad.
Arnold Edinborough

It's going to be a great country when they finish unpacking it.
Andrew H. Malcom

For many years Canada has held an obscure place among the countries of the globe. Our borders have been pictured as the abode of perpetual snows, and our people as indifferent, easy-going, indolent. But change is taking place.
Charles R. Tuttle

Canadians, like their historians, have spent too much time remembering conflicts, crises, and failures. They forgot the great, quiet continuity of life in a vast and generous land. A cautious people learns from its past; a sensible people can face its future. Canadians, on the whole, are both.
Desmond Morton

The huge advantage of Canada is its backwardness.
Marshall McLuhan

Canadians don't have a very big political lever, we're nice guys.
Paul Henderson

The spineless pussy willows in Ottawa are actually helping to condition the Canadian public to accept the surrender of our country, which American forces were unable to accomplish in 1776 and 1812.
Paul Hellyer

And, of course, let's not forget the official slogan for Molson's Canadian: 'I Am Canadian'!

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## rich

This just in from the West Coast.

http://www.salon.com/

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## Tristan

An interesting article into the Canadian Political process.
It is encouraging to see one government not trying to spend itself out of a recession - very refreshing and sensible.



My dear American neighbours,

I see the political crisis in Canada has finally made it into the Washington Post's Foreign Briefs column.

So, anticipating a flood of interest from all of you at the dog run in the morning, let me try to give you some idea of what's happening up there.

A few weeks ago, we had an election in Canada, a couple of weeks before yours, actually. A political party known as the Conservatives won.

Well, sort of. They didn't win in the sense that most of you understand winning. I'll get to that in a second.

They also aren't what most of you would consider conservative.

They support what you call socialized medicine, they believe in protecting a Canadian-controlled banking system, they believe in government as a vehicle for transferring wealth between regions, and they've actually muzzled party members who tried to make abortion a campaign issue.

In fact, instead of making his Sunday trip to church a photo opportunity, our Conservative leader refuses to discuss his faith in public. (Like many Americans, he's an evangelical Christian).
Different kettle of fish

So our Conservatives are a bit different from yours. Down here, you'd probably call them Democrats. And fairly liberal ones at that.

But, as I said, they won our last election, which is a pretty low-key affair compared to yours. The campaign lasted a few weeks instead of two years.

What's more, they won with only 37 per cent of the vote. Now, you can do that in Canada because our Parliament has three other political parties: The Liberals (again, pay no attention to the name, they tend to adapt their worldview as needed), the Bloc Québécois (a Quebec party that says it wants to break up the country, but hasn't actually done much about it for many years), and the NDP.

I'm not quite sure how to explain the NDP. The other parties like to call them socialists.

Some of their more doctrinaire members would like the government to nationalize or take a large financial stake in things like banks and manipulate the national economy by spending huge amounts of public money. You know, the sort of thing President George W. Bush has been doing this year.

I know, I know, it's confusing.

Funny old world, isn't it?

So. The Conservatives won our election and formed something called a minority government.

That means the Conservatives can basically be tossed out of office by the opposition parties whenever they feel like it, which usually happens after a year or two. Then there's an election.

This time, though, the opposition parties decided to throw out the government before it really even started governing. But instead of forcing another election, the opposition parties made a deal: they formed a surprise coalition and now they want to take power without consulting voters again.

Americans might have a hard time understanding this sort of thing, but it happens all the time in places like Israel and Italy. Wait, though. Uh, wake up. We're getting to the really interesting part.
The CBC connection

To take over, the opposition parties have to convince our head of state that they can govern effectively. President Bush is your head of state, at least until Barack Obama moves in.

But our head of state isn't elected. It's the Queen. And she's represented up there by someone called a governor general, who is appointed. Voters don't have anything to do with it.

Except for not being elected, a governor general is a lot like your vice-president. Sort of ceremonial. Our governors general travel a lot, cut ribbons, declare holidays for school kids and try to set a good example.

The current office holder, Michaëlle Jean, used to be a CBC reporter. Like me.

Actually, the one before her was once a CBC reporter, too. So were two others in the recent past. In our country, any CBC reporter can dream of becoming head of state.
Letting a journalist decide

Like your vice-president, sometimes a governor general becomes unbelievably important. Right now, for example. Sooner or later, this former TV reporter is going to have to decide who runs Canada.

Now, the Conservatives aren't taking this state of affairs lying down.

They've been talking about shutting down Parliament for a while until they can think of some way to prevent the opposition parties from throwing them out. But they can't just do that. They'd have to convince the Governor General to let them.

It's all very dramatic, you have to admit. Right? Don't you? Hello?

I mean, we Canadians don't have all those big-mouthed cable anchors that you have, but you can imagine what they'd do with a situation like this.
It's the economy

Wait a second. I forgot to explain why all this is happening. Bear with me.

You see, Canada's economy is in trouble. Just like everybody else's.

So when the Conservatives won, most people expected them to turn on the spending taps, the way every other country in the developed world is doing.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for some reason, decided not to.

In fact, last week he had his finance minister announce that the government intends to run a surplus in its next budget. Meaning the government intends to take more in taxes from Canadians than it needs to run the country.

(I know President Bush has never run a surplus. But Canadian governments have, every year for more than a decade, even when the supposedly spendy Liberals were in charge.)

Anyway, in the middle of an economic crisis, Harper's plan didn't go over well with the three opposition parties and they saw their chance.

So that's what's happening.

Actually, if you think about it, our prime minister is doing exactly what President Bush keeps saying he'd like to be doing, instead of authorizing another trillion or so every week in new bailouts.

Maybe it's not such a funny old world after all.



from http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...macdonald.html

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