I have heard on various boards that Canadians are wimps; that we put up with too much from our government and stores etc. etc.

It occurred to me today as I was chatting with my son. He always gets an income tax rebate. But he never gets any interest. But if you owe the government money you pay interest. So why is this and why do we put up with it. Or is it like that in the UK? We have to prepare our own tax returns, but if we get it wrong, the government corrects them. So, really what is the point of doing it in the first place?

And all the time on here I read comments about how we put up with bad service and stuff like that.

So in the UK they would not put up with this kind of thing? What do they do about things they think are unfair to get them changed?

Its the same here, and we British are very well known for putting up with crap service and being treated like dirt, i was kinda hoping it wasn't like that there, at least the service is better in shops at least from what i saw ?

CP I think the diabolical service is covered up by the niceness of the person supposedly serving you!

It's just 'programmed niceness'.

R.

eewww!! not comfortable saying this but I have to agree...Canadians just seem to put up with a great deal and never winge. I've found the government fold if you really know how to go in hard and boisterous (building permits experience:curse. But Canadians are such lovely, lovely people and never seem to moan. I agree with the Ozzies when they call us whinging pommes, I really love getting together with my British ex pat pals over a coffee and moaning and whinging and then laughing about it all and still coming to the same conclusion that Canada is far better place to live than the UK.

But there is a payoff for everything in life and perhaps if they were better customer service and more pride in their work then we all become a slave to the workplace which is then just another rat race which is why we all flocked. I live in hope that one day I never, ever have to buy another tile, bath tub, sink, hardwood flooring, furniture, kitchen, bed sets ever again. But as I repeat myself CANADIANS ARE VERY NICE PEOPLE and perhaps it might just be my attitude that stinks and needs to change.........crikey, now I'm becoming too nice!!!

If you dont want the government "holding" your money interest free until you get around to claiming it back at tax time, there are a bunch of forms you can fill in for common deductions (like married allowance and kids for example) that makes tax deducted at source more accurate.

You can talk about "interest", but in reality you are talking about them giving you more of "our" money back, so ultimately all that would happen if we wanted interest paid on our tax refunds is we would be taxed more in the first place to cover the additional expense to the government (which is after all, just us anyway), so it would be rather pointless.


People who consider canada and canadians to be whimpy tend to be looking at it in relative terms, often from the US where government intervention is allegedly minimal. Maybe they should be expecting more from government

I dont think canadians put up with more crap than anyone else (except perhaps banking). Perhaps its just that the generally good manners and genial good nature of (canadian born) canadians softens the blow to the point that A: You dont notice them getting pissy, and B: You dont have a problem helping them get what they want anyway as they ask in a nice, non abrasive way.

I hope that newcommers can adopt some of the canadians niceness, (superficial or not), I know I try, but I fear that in the coming years things will just get more brash and impatient as the rest of the world brings its problems here.

I find that Canadians very much "put up and shut up" which is why the banks, phone companies, energy companies, government, etc get away with so much here and screw people over all the time.

Britons have become a lot more consumer-savvy over recent years with regards to rights and how not to be pushed around by big organisations. I am still shocked at how the consumer gets treated here. "Watchdog" would have a field day.

Which is more important, Bank fees and cell contract, or kids in the street happy slapping total strangers and generally making trouble?

I like the old style Canadian society, personally I hope its not eroded too fast, although I fear its inevitable.

You clearly haven't met my missus.

Yes, I have heard that Canadian cell plans are the most expensive anywhere. Not that I have checked it out. It's just what I have heard.

I agree that you can arrange for deductions but they never seem to work out exactly right at the end of the year. And really, it is OUR money, but then when you put money in the bank - that is OUR money too. And then if you go to an ATM that is not your bank's ATM you pay $1.50 or something for the privilege of getting your own money out of another bank. I bet it doesn't cost Bank of Montreal to give me $20 of my T-D Bank money! I thought I had heard there were plans afoot to do away with that charge, but haven't heard anything lately.

I do complain in restaurants for poor food. My son doesn't like complaining. He thinks its embarrassing. Once I was having lunch with my granddaughter and she had a caesar salad and the lettuce was all black and disgusting. So I commented on it and she said "DON'T say anything." But I ignored her and spoke to the waitress and said it obviously wasn't her fault but they shouldn't be serving lettuce like that. I said it quietly and politely and she came back and said the manager told her to take both salads off the bill, even though mine was fine. So I said thank you very much.

I am not paying for rotten food!

or mine....

Not that i shop much or just on sales commission

Its kind of inevitable that cell plans will be expensive in a vast country with a relatively small population. Even if the infrastructure only covers the southernmost populated areas and the corridors in between, its going to cost more per person for half as many people as live the UK to build and maintained that infrastructure than it will to build and maintain an infrastructure that covers a fraction of the area with twice as many potential users.

Same argument applies to air travel. Canada will be expensive for some things simply because its so big, east to west, never mind south to north, and not all that many people live here.

iaink i am nice, see i do exactly what it says on the tin

Most of the time it seems genuine to me but there are occassions when I know it's programmed...

Like for example when you get to the checkout and they say "did you find everything you were looking for?" Has anyone experienced what happens when you say "no -actually I couldnt find X, Y and Z". The response is still a smile but this time its a bewildered sort of smile. Clearly this event hasn't been planned for in the programing. Eventually the checkout person says <still smiling> "Oh.....Have a nice day and thank you for shopping at Store X". And that's that.