Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Hey there! I just want to get a opinion from brits living in Canada if it's really the Utopia it seems to be! I moved to America 5 years ago and go to Canada often on business and i'm always stunned at how much of Canada is nicer than the states despite the obvious similarities! Thanks guys :thumbup:

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

and try using the search.... if you can't be arsed to do that come back in a few days and see the 20 page mega-thread that you may have started. Personally I hope not.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Ok thanks lol

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Yes Utopia is where the Americans aint. :rofl:

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Bottom line, the US is a shithole, full of shithoes and Canada is only marginally better. Less jobs, but not quite as full of shitholes.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

its about the same, just more expensive and colder. One of the differences that amuses me, is that wal-mart doesnt seem to do fresh produce in canada.

there may be marginally less gun crime, but a utopia it is not

where do you go on business trips??

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

the 2 walmarts near us do .. One for a while now and the other as of about a month ago... Walmarts taking over the world :thumbdown:

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Ah you are in healthy BC, I have never seen fruit and veg in a wal-mart in manitoba or alberta

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

we stayed in Alberta last year for 3 months and loads of Walmarts had fresh veg and fruit sections, plus a large selection of crazy people:rofl:

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

must be spreading east, I was in AB 2 years ago - mind you i was out in the boonies rather than Calgary village

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

...Surely you can find plenty of Canadians to ask? Most of them spend all their vacation (and their kid's college money) in your town.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Compared to Las Vegas, pretty much anywhere is utopia. I hated the place with a passion.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

I can't tell the US and Canada apart. What would you say are the major differences between average life in, say, Mississauaga ON and Plano TX?

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

What do you think is nicer? I guess the main differnce is that Canada has a more liberal outlook than much of the States, but again, that depends which bit of the US and which bit of Canada....Compared to Canada, California can look enlightened, but then the economies are totally different too.

Utopia? No, there are some issues, but on balance its a pretty nice place to live and raise kids, if you have a decent job/ income.

The main differences are climate and political landscape I would say, the material things are much the same, and the people as individuals are much the same, although perhaps Canadians as a group are more open to criticise their country, something Americans seem loath to do.(In public at least?)

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

I don't think the climate varies very much between Maine and New Brunswick, Ohio and Ontario, Montana and ..., well you get the idea.

Canada has universal healthcare and gay marriage, I don't belittle those differences, but what else? Canada and the US are equally engaged in attempts to subjugate foreign populations, they both indulge religionists (Ontario and Utah stand out as rare places where religion and education are confused), they're both societies in which big business dominates the political agenda. Differences are subtle indeed.

Apart from the two above, I think the main difference is that in Canada the music industry is subject to government regulation and that results in some truly awful noises emerging from the radio.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

I suspect we are both painting with a pretty broad strokes;) Dont you have satellite radio anyway?

For a poster in Nevada the weather contrast might be noticeable? If there is a Nevada like climate in Canada I have to admit I haven't noticed it.

I dont think canadian politicians are influenced by the religious right nearly as much, and the military budget and priority is not in the same league here as in the US, remember Canada is only responding to a UN resolution in Afghanistan, our politicians saw Iraq for what it really was. Generally Canada has a more permissive "live and let live" view on most things, but as you say, there is probably at least as much variation on a state to state or province to province basis as there is country to country.

Are you on about the catholic schools again? The catholic schools in Ontario are not compulsory, and the religious component does not seem to dominate in the case of my childs education at least, although shes only in grade 2 and that's just one school, I cant speak for the rest. I am not sure if the province shouldnt fund all religious based schools, or none of them... but as you know the catholic schooling option is all wrapped up in the history of confederation or something anyway....

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Yes, but while I was using rental cars I was exposed to Canadian broadcasting.

Granted.

I would say that Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney pretty much define the religious right.


The UN resolution is, in my view, smoke and mirrors. Canada has troops in Afghanistan so as to allow the US to concentrate on Iraq. Regardless, in either country it's usual for poor redneck youths to die overseas, leading to an unpleasant "support our troops" right-wing undercurrent among the unhyphenated population. The jingoistic glorification of the military is a similarity between Canada (at least rural Canada) and the US (at least the rural US) not a point of difference.

I think so. Vertical bands again, Alberta like Texas, NB like Maine, yadda, yadda.

Yes, just trying to preempt any argument that religion has more influence in the US. Discrimination on the basis of religion is generally illegal in the US but government policy in Ontario. Polygamy is nominally illegal in both countries but tolerated in AZ and BC. Bad as each other.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Hmmm... regardless of how you see it, before the current situation in Afganistan I certainly wouldnt say its "normal" for canadian troops to die overseas in significant numbers, and "support our troops" is not a right wing agenda! You know, the whole point of support out troops is that its the troops, not the war that you support! I support the troops, and Im hardly Right wing!

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

There are approximately 20 Wal-Mart Super Centres in Alberta, none in Manitoba.

http://www.walmart.ca/Canada-Storefi...=1265210996002 not sure this will come up with the list of Alberta stores or not, but it's worth a try.;)

Super Centers sell a complete range of groceries including fruit and veg.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Ok, a little more info is required here. What stunning differences have you noticed between US/Canada? On your trips up here, have you noticed that people are dancing in the streets or something?

Main difference for me is that there is better social security up here than the US, less crime too, but everything is way more expensive. Differences are pretty subtle IMO.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Nowhere = Utopia

Everywhere has good and bad and in terms of my own existence, the good in Canada outweighs the bad (that's why I intend to remain).

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

:rofl: Good luck! A good start for your Grail quest, Sir BenNveer, might be this boiler. Maybe ask some [non-Calgary based] Canadians too, as others have suggested.

http://www.historywire.ca/en/post/19601

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

...I think you'd have to agree that the guy was a little to the right of his great grandson.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

The US prides itself on its competitive environment so everyone is a threat. That's why you carry a gun.

In Canada it's more collaborative society. You don't need to carry a gun and you can leave doors unlocked in many places.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

I go to both Toronto and Vancouver pretty often and also calgary a few times! When i'm there i always like to rent a car and go explore instead of just sitting in my hotel room! Of course i know no place is perfect but whenever i'm in Vancouver or Toronto i can't help but notice there are no ghettos, mostly pristine, educated immigrants, much better enviroment to raise a family and most people seem more wholesome and happy! Of course not without it's flaws Canada truely is a great country and by far one of the best in world for quality of life :thumbup:

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

you'd better watch this.....not really a dangerous ghetto like many in the US but pathetic all the same:

http://scoutmagazine.ca/2010/02/02/w...ry/#more-16510

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Next time you are in Toronto head for Jane and Finch, or some of the more downmarket bits of Scarborough and see if you still feel the same way!:rolleyes:

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

I will have to check that out! I usually stay in Ancaster when i go to Toronto because i have alot of family there!

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Iaink....thanks for your comments.

Dbd33...what bollocks.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Thanks. I'm pleased to have them but one cannot really take credit for nature.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

On the surface it doesn't appear to be anything special, but there are some political differences. And despite what others are trying to tell you about Canadian ghettos, there are none, at least in southern Canada. We keep our ghettoized way up north where we can conveniently forget about them.

People who think there are ghettos in Toronto or Vancouver are talking OUT OF THEIR ASS because they have never been to Detroit or Baltimore or New Orleans or (put ten other US cities here). There is simply no Canadian equivalent to what the average American considers a ghetto.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

I've been to all those US cities. Also, Compton, East Saint Louis, Washington Heights, Far Rockaway, Elizabeth, very many other unattractive corners of the US. In DC I even got to ride in a fire truck with an armed escort, they always have armed escorts in Anacostia. I suggest that there is no substantive difference between the housing projects in the US and rent-geared-to-income housing in Scarborough. Specifically, I think Tuxedo Court is as rough as a building gets anywhere.

Beyond that, I suggest that the average American (and I lived with the average American for years) would consider the Hispanic market in Queens, under the Roosevelt, and the surrounding area, to be a ghetto; it's not frightening but everyone there speaks a language other than English. By this standard I suggest that both Little India and Chinatown in Toronto count as ghettos.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

here's my quote "not really a dangerous ghetto like many in the US but pathetic all the same"

I lived in the US for almost 4 years prior to moving to Vancouver, Miami is way, way worse than what I've experienced in vancouver. Having said that, Vancouver's ghetto, and a ghetto it is, is soul destroying. It's true the area tends to gainer sympathy not fear, but it doesn't say much about a first world country like Canada. The OP said something about vancouver being pristine and a lot of it is, but as jaw dropping as vancouver is, the dtes is jaw dropping in a totally different way.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

This is a real Ghetto, or rather a war zone. The sad part is that you could tell that at one point it was a nice neighborhood.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

no open drug use, packs of mentally ill, or people crapping in the middle of the high street though. That area looks largely abandoned, the dtes is far from abondoned, other than by those who don't live there that is.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

it' not abandoned and it's the murder capital of NA.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

That could quite easily be a description of Alberta avenue East of 97st. here in Edmonton. I guess most Canadian cities have somewhere like this?

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

looks like a lot of the buildings are to me. Besides, the point was that Vancouver is some sort of pristine utopia - it's not. the dtes may not be dangerous in the sense that you are likely to get murdered or raped, but its more visibly disturbing on a human level, even Dan Rather was mortified when he came here in 2008 for 60 mins. One can bat about more dangerous or run down places, it doesn't change the fact that the DTES is a disgrace.

I know about murder, deal with it and its consequences every day. I'm more shocked by what I see on the DTES. Death is death its final, the DTES is home to the living dead.

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

Yes it is Utopia, I fart rainbows nowadays and the recession only effects other people, everyone here is smiley ( bloody Mormons) and our traffic signs are candy.

The polar bears that play with our children make the -53 awesome and I just can't wait to have my face taken clean off my body by the next lot of chinook winds.

Yep, U *******Topia.

A sincere
Mrs M x

Re: Does Canada = Utopia?
 

no argument from me about the DTES being some quasi government produced shithole. That is Vancouver's problem. Relatively speaking it is a small area located in the downtown of the city, so you see cars and the general public all around.

The ghetto in Detroit is a HUGE swath of the residential area of the city. You don't see cars in the Detroit ghetto's because the cars will get stolen there if in fact people could afford them. Those dilapidated buildings are in fact homes for many thousands. It would be more like Surrey. Like Bleepy Bloops said there is nothing close to this in Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Incomemap.jpg