Tough One Fridays: Immigrants in Canada

Tough One Fridays are a chance to talk about how we define Canadian--on the really tough topics. These are more controversial, polarized topics; share your thoughts in the comment section below.

TOUGH ONE FRIDAYS: THE RECIPE FOR CANADA

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Canadians love legal immigrants. Canada is the greatest country in the world, and because of this we expect the best to want to immigrate here. We love success stories of people
who have come here with nothing in their pocket but a dream. Hard work along with a determination to become Canadian makes great stories. Stories that Canadians love
to brag about to the world! One side of my family came over during the Irish Potato Famine. It was at a time when the Irish were treated quite poorly yet my family worked
hard, volunteered in three of our wars, and learned what it is like to be Canadian without losing their Irish heritage. Now everyone claims their Irish heritage, especially on St Patrick’s Day.

Conversely, Canadians hate cheats. It doesn't matter whether it’s a politician, an athlete, or an illegal immigrant. Consider an engineering student who cheats on their exams: you don’t think much of it until you realize you are driving on the bridge they
helped design! A friend of mine says it this way, “A chocolate cake without chocolate ain’t chocolate cake." There is a recipe to making Canada and it has made us the greatest country to live in. That recipe is why people want to be Canadians. However, when you throw in things that are contrary to that recipe, you affect the 'cake'. What are these damaging 'ingredients'? Drugs, gangs, historical hatreds from the old country, or a lack of understanding that we believe in equality: these things will poison the cake.

The good thing about our recipe is that it's flexible. When good things are brought into the
country, we get to choose what improves our cake. That is why people from all over the
world blend in. Can you picture Canada without Italians, Germans, Chinese, Lebanese or
Irish? That would not be Canada. So the secret is this: make sure the ingredients improve the
cake and keep the bad stuff out; then enjoy the cake!

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Share your thoughts below!

The Great Outdoors: Where Canadians Find Greatness

THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE: OUTDOOR EXTREMES

They forgot to draw in the bear. source

Canadians love the outdoors. We love camping in the wilderness in triangular taco-like tents, daring grizzly bears and cougars to try out the chewy middle. We think that’s fun. We play hockey in -40*C at 5:00am, and wonder why everyone doesn’t do it. We sit in leaky boats in the November rain for a single opportunity to fire a handheld cannon at some unsuspecting duck. And when we bag nothing, we are still happy because it’s the experience that counts—yes, that experience of slow death by exposure. Our kids go to school in shorts and a tee in February, and they think it’s normal! We love the outdoors.

I remember one October night in particular, sitting with my mother-in-law in the pitch black at Centennial Lake. We watched the Northern Lights for hours as they swirled against the perfect backdrop of the Milky Way. No one cared that it was -10*C; it was a magical moment. We will brave mosquitos that could sink an aircraft carrier just for the chance at catching a large-mouth bass. We will swim in water so cold that it would be a heart-stopping experience for lesser mortals. We will play tennis in +40*C and consider it good training. Heck, women wear four-inch heels on ice-covered sidewalks and still pull off a confident strut! Canadians rock the outdoors and in return, the outdoors makes us Canadian.

What do you think?

Comment below or email!

Tough One Fridays: Honesty and Policy

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TOUGH ONE FRIDAYS

I think I am going to call Friday posts “Tough One Fridays”. Let’s bring up the controversial topics so we can use the weekend to think and discuss ideas. Here goes.

DEFINING CANADIANS: HONESTY AS POLICY

Canadians are honest and we naturally expect honesty from others. I have always been amazed at how many times I have seen people pick up a dropped cell phone, money, or wallet and return it to the owner—or at least work like heck to find out who the owner is. I think that’s the problem with today’s election system: we elect someone to office and we honestly believe that they will follow through with the promises they make to get elected. Then they say, “I am your voice for the next three to five years, and what the party says is law.”

For my entire life my word has meant everything. My wife, children, brother, and sisters act the same way. It has not always been easy but I sleep well at night.  Yet today’s politicians make an art out of obfuscation. They say following the party line is the only way to assure inclusion in the power loop. Well, I did not give them my vote for the power loop; I gave them my vote to be honest and to represent the wishes of their constituents.

POLICY VS POLITICS

I believe that this is the reason people stopped voting. Why would you be interested in people who lie to get in, do things that make no financial or moral sense, and ignore their constituents? And if I hear one more time that I can vote them out in four years again, I’ll scream. A ton of damage can be done in four years. Just look at Ontario’s finances!

So here is my premise. Canadians are honest and want honesty to represent them. The lack of such leaders has made people believe that there is no difference between voting and not voting. Canadians crave that honest hero that will buck the party line and do the right thing no matter what the cost.

What’s your opinion? Comment below or email!

Defining: Poutine, Canada's greatest culinary creation

Fries. Gravy. Cheese. Repeat.

 POUTINE: THE GREAT CANADIAN FOOD EXPERIENCE

What do Canadians think of Poutine? Poutine is the greatest culinary creation ever given
to us by our Quebecois brothers. There is no treat finer than piping hot, home-cut french
fries, covered in squeaky, fresh white cheese curds, and steaming dark brown gravy to melt the
cheese 'til it gently clings to each crispy fry. Use soft fries, non squeaky curds, or cold gravy, and you effectively spell doom for the dish, and bring shame to the talentless moron who would defile the greatest meal since
the hamburger.

Poutine cake from The Cake Shop

Canadians also know that poutine is only poutine when prepared as described, and no variance can be accepted as genuine. Any addition of such things as pulled pork, chilli, hot dogs, yellow curds, string fries, or
friggin’ gummy bears is nothing short of an abomination! I believe that if a national vote was taken, every proud Canadian who has ever savoured a true poutine (by the way its pronounced pu tin not poo tine) will vote it as the penultimate Canadian junk food! What do you think, Canada?

Comment below!

Defining The Canadian: Where Do We Start?

credit: Sippakorn

A CONVERSATION ABOUT 'CANADIAN'

So what’s this blog all about? Well, I was having a conversation with some friends about cultures around the world. We house foreign students and we were discussing the differences between their various cultures when someone said, “Canadians don’t have a defined culture.” I took exception to this because I am a proud Canadian. However, I had to admit that I could not really describe what a Canadian is.

               

 This blog is looking to answer that question. What is a Canadian? What is it that makes us the greatest country in the world? What do we believe? What do we think about the world? What do we think of where we are going? So, what I am going to do here on my blog is fire some ideas out there and see how you feel. I want to keep this as unpolitical as possible because I believe that Canadians want to trust that each party does have the health of the country at heart. However some things will feel political because the big things we will talk about can affect the entire country.

HOW 'CANADIAN' WORKS

Let’s use a couple of simple examples. Canadians love food. They love all food and it matters not what culture it comes from. This a very broad statement and it does not fit everyone, but if you look around you will be surprised by the diversity of restaurants we love. It is our willingness to try different foods that is our food culture. Of course we have roast beef and mashed potatoes, barbequed salmon, and poutine; but we also have pierogies, shawarma, and beavertails! That is what makes “our food” so terrific.

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Now here is a tougher idea. Canadians do not believe inanimate objects commit crimes. When was the last time your Chevy went out on a bender and hit a telephone pole? When was the last time your computer decided to surf illegal sites? It seems like a simple concept: it takes a person to make the decision to operate these things. However there are people who believe that restricting the public’s access to these things is the answer, not holding the user responsible for his/her own decisions. I posit that Canadians believe the person is accountable, not the car/car company/computer. But do you agree? These are the kind of things I hope people will discuss.

SPEAK UP AND SHARE

 So whether we discuss music, language, multiculturalism, or the Macintosh apple (a Canadian creation!), I hope people will comment and say what they believe makes us Canadian. Tell us what you think Canadians in general like, dislike, love; what will we fight for, favourite things to do, and anything else you can think of. Pierre Burton said you are a Canadian if you can make love in a canoe (a singularly awkward experience, I can assure you) but you have your own ideas and we would love to hear them. Let’s keep it simple. This isn’t social studies class. So have fun!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What makes a Canadian truly Canadian?

Comment below. Share your answers to this question. Together, perhaps we can define the Canadian.