Originally Posted by iceflow

Sorry, I cannot in any way say that Canada is like the USA. In the Canadian cities I have visited / lived in I have not seen the following....ever...:

1. Seven minutes into local news the newscaster is still reeling off the previous nights murders.

There are city's in the US that don't have huge numbers of daily murders.

2. Every other advert on tv pushing some sort of wonder drug or other, ads for Advil etc excepted. Not sure if this constant pushing of medications and "do you think you have this wrong with you" depresses the population, but it doesn't do much for me. Sure I know why, it's because it's a private system here. Is it good for the population?....probably not....but it's good for businesses and that's what is the most important factor.

Simple reason for this, the government doesn't permit prescription ads on TV, no other reason. Also the prescription drug industry in Canada is for profit, last time I went to my pharmacy it certainly isn't a publicly funded one, and they are certainly in it for profit. The drug companies may have to agree to price controls, but prescription drugs are a big industry in Canada and very much for profit and sometimes the drugs may even cost more in Canada for generics.

3. A fascination with death and violence. Many tv ads pushing 'kidnap and murder coming soon to a channel near you'.

Plenty of those on cable networks owned and operated by Canadian companies, there is a whole network dedicated to murders/crime stories based on actual crimes, no different, and the main networks show all those US big shows and they do well in ratings. Clearly based on ratings people in Canada have a fascination or they would not be doing well.

I've just gotten back from a weeks vacation in Vancouver. Absolutely no way is the general vibe comparable to Houston. No way at all. The USA is what you end up with when the approach to governance is "well we won't govern, just go and figure it out yourselves....we'll call it 'freedom'". The result is varying groups forming with their own version of freedom and the subsequent daily churning. I do not see and have never seen big divisions in Canadian society.

Your not looking or ignoring the division then, it's certainly there a big divide between conservatives/NDP/Liberal folks. Vancouver is a dump of a city, better the Houston, but still has major drug issues and isn't a nice city by any means, okay place to visit/vacation but not so much to live unless of course your wealthy and have 6 figure incomes.

To the other OP....I'll take a look at Yahoo UK comments, I'm not expecting to see comments that are as extreme as those on Yahoo USA, especially about the leaders of the country and what fate they should suffer....but I may be wrong.

Originally Posted by Jsmth321

Bolded mine.

Canada isn't as different from the US as people like to imagine it is, the comments on CBC website are downright scary sometimes and just as bad if not worse then what I read on US based sites.

Originally Posted by robin1234

Probably all over the map, this question, partly depending on what aspects of life the observer is looking at, where they're coming from in the US, where they're visiting in Canada etc.

I was living in very rural, small town far north of New York State. Sort of small c conservative, generally socially liberal republican registered voters who value their guns, not because they are gun nuts but because they live in the country. When it came to an election they voted for Obama but also voted for their small town republican office holders.

When I crossed the St Lawrence to go shopping or have a day out, it just felt very different, not just because the people's accents were completely different. Small town Main Streets are much more lively, for a start (a bit moribund, but much better than New York State.) I think, even before the bicentenary of the war of 1812, the difference between the Empire loyalist vibe in Ontario and the "rah rah US is best" feel of the US makes you know you are in a different country. Mind you the beer is crap in Ontario, I don't know why.

I suspect that distinction isn't there out west, after all, the west was settled after the war of 1812.

Originally Posted by Jsmth321

Bolded mine.

Canada isn't as different from the US as people like to imagine it is, the comments on CBC website are downright scary sometimes and just as bad if not worse then what I read on US based sites.

Originally Posted by iceflow

Please advise the Canadian equivalent of Fox News.

Originally Posted by iceflow

There's something 'edgy' about the US that I don't feel in Canada.

Originally Posted by iceflow

..... There's something 'edgy' about the US that I don't feel in Canada. If that is the case and not just my imagination, then it has to be something to do with the way the country is governed and what is deemed to be acceptable in society.

Originally Posted by Pulaski

I believe it is mostly in your head. I am no more concerned about life in the US than I was in the UK - it's not wise to go wandering around the "wrong parts of town" in either country. I have only visited Canada once (three weeks), and it didn't seem significantly different from the US. ...... I am fairly certain that your warm fuzzy feeling about Canada and the Canadians is a product of your preconceptions.

Originally Posted by iceflow

OK got it.

Please advise the Canadian equivalent of Fox News. I'm assuming you must have something like it that broadcasts nationally if the two countries have a similar value set.

Please advise which major political party in Canada is pushing for relaxed gun laws and to allow the general population to openly carry firearms. I'm assuming that there will be a big divide in political views as you suggest between the parties in Canada on this topic. If this is not a topic of political division in Canada, then what topics are?

Please advise which major cities in Canada with a similar population have similar homicide rates to the US.

There's something 'edgy' about the US that I don't feel in Canada. If that is the case and not just my imagination, then it has to be something to do with the way the country is governed and what is deemed to be acceptable in society.

Originally Posted by SultanOfSwing

I didn't find Canada to be all that much different either when I was there. It felt like the US, with UK prices to be honest.

I liked it well enough, though. Poutine is the dog's bollocks.

Originally Posted by iceflow

I don't think it is my head, preconceptions etc. I've always found the folks north of the border to be generally more relaxed. I've always put that down to lower crime rates, better governmental support and control systems, resulting in a feeling of 'belonging' to the country and feeling safer. Statistically Canada fares way better than the US and the UK in terms of quality of life. We just returned from a week in Vancouver, we rode the public buses and/or walked everywhere. The folks were helpful to a fault. I think if my views were based on preconceptions those preconceptions would have been battered down by seeing too many similarities with the US, eg: homicides, medical ads on the tv up the ying yang, wondering whether the dick head over by the fruit and veg has a gun in his pocket and doesn't like loud music....etc etc.

Originally Posted by iceflow

I don't think it is my head, preconceptions etc. I've always found the folks north of the border to be generally more relaxed. I've always put that down to lower crime rates, better governmental support and control systems, resulting in a feeling of 'belonging' to the country and feeling safer. Statistically Canada fares way better than the US and the UK in terms of quality of life. We just returned from a week in Vancouver, we rode the public buses and/or walked everywhere. The folks were helpful to a fault. I think if my views were based on preconceptions those preconceptions would have been battered down by seeing too many similarities with the US, eg: homicides, medical ads on the tv up the ying yang, wondering whether the dick head over by the fruit and veg has a gun in his pocket and doesn't like loud music....etc etc.

Originally Posted by iceflow

I don't think it is my head, preconceptions etc. I've always found the folks north of the border to be generally more relaxed. .....

Originally Posted by kevntrace

.... I left the UK purely for the experience of adventure, not because I was looking to get away. I still adore the UK. Visit every year without fail. Hopping on a plane tomorrow for my annual hols back there in fact.