Lol personally, one of my best friends lives in Toronto, Canada now. After he moved there i went to visit him a couple times and I don't mind Canada now. Toronto is actually pretty cool. But the common U.S. citizen opinion of Canada is VERY low lol. I know we're all kind of conceited a-holes for thinking that way, but at least in my High School Canada is the target for a lot of jokes. Nobody seems to take the country seriously for 4 reasons: - The common misconception that all Canadians outside of the big cities live in igloos and ride mooses. - Hockey. Pretty much everyone here HATES hockey, and the few kids in my school that play hockey get called dbags on a regular basis - Diverse population. A very large portion of Canada is jewish or Asian both of which are targeted in American jokes on a daily basis already. In America, most foreigners convert to the standard American way of living while that's not necessarily true in Canada. - Canada sort of seems like an inferior copy of the US to many people as they listen to our music, watch our movies, wear our styles, and use our inventions but are just kind of sitting there with no real military or contributions. Again these are just the common opinions. Mine is actually different from most. So the question is, does Canada deserve to be viewed so lowly or are they deserving more credit?
I think the only reason Canada receives such bad attidute is due mostly to ignorance. Canada is one of the best countries in the world and it should be recognized that way.
I see what you mean. It really hit home when you said: That was the common misconception that I hold. Notice I said was I no longer feel that way about Canada. Actually I never felt like it were inferior. Maybe just a copy. With shows like Degrassi and Life With Derek, it even took me a while to figure out the show actually was Canadian. I don't have anything against Canada, the Niagara Falls are beautiful. I can't tell the difference between our television shows really.... I just think maybe I don't want to live in Canada or even be there for a prolonged period of time because it seems really cold. Ultimately, Canada doesn't deserve the bad attitude it gets. Its not being run by a fascist dictator or anything, so I don't see why people would hate it.
Well, and we Americans are naturally raised to be egotistical. We are told we are the greatest country in the world from birth. Especially in military. It has an impact on you when you learn in History classes that we've never really lost a War. You turn on Call of Duty and one of the first things you hear is "WE are the most powerful military force assembled in the history of man. When all else fails, we don't." I think it just subconsciously makes us think very highly of ourselves. When people in a third world country think of a country with freedom and liberty they think of us, not Canada even though Canada holds many of the same rights we do. We are just so over glorified.
well. I live in Canada and right now we seem to be one of the best countries in the world. I live in Beautiful BC (Olympic town)... as to all the misconceptions and stereotypes they are built out of ignorance. we don't need a massive army. we don't live in igloos. we all dont say aboot. we all don't eat poutines ... yes we are multicultural. yes we are polite. there are stereotypes based on every country so there is no bad attitude towards Canada. the way i see it Canada has grown allot over the years and still is. P.S AMERICA DID NOT WIN ALL THE WARS THEY WERE IN.
The only war we lost was Vietnam, a war that could have been won if we had used more resources but really shouldn't have occured in the first place. Also didn't help that the worst President we ever had by far was in control for part of it (Nixon). On the bright side, that war inspired Call of Duty Vietnam which i am excited to play =) Military is a very big factor in determining the amount of respect a country receives though. Since the beginning of civilization, military has always been the biggest factor in determining power and respect. In today's situation, it may not be quite as important, but i think it does still influence opinions of canada all over the world
LOL! A question, I have always wondered what about hockey is so un-attractive to so many people....I mean...what's the sterotype behind that? Game looks fun |:
I know you guys lost Vietnam and im fully aware of what happened im not arguing with you on that one. It was a bad situatiion just like the Iraq Anti-Terrorist conquest Bush started. IM not here to diss America. Im here to help clear up stereotypes that people have when thinking about Canada. I beleive our countries work well together. The one thing i hate the most is when Americans say we are doing nothing to help over seas. We have had Canadians based in Afghanistan for many years now and it and still is the hotbed of violence in the middle east. We also provide supplies and soldiers to the effort.
To H3nry: Personally, i do agree with the common hate for hockey. The reasoning is that almost NOBODY plays it (and i've lived in 4 states), but the people who DO play it here are complete dbags. No joke. They get WAY to into it and let it consume their life, and for some reason they always seem to be very conceited and self confident even though everyone hates them. One hockey player i know actually started his own fan club on facebook, being completely serious. I actually think being a dbag makes you BETTER at hockey. That's why there are so many fights in hockey. They all have anger management because they are all tools. I can't help but feel like there's a relation there. As for the plain sport itself, it's just not fun to watch. The puck goes to quick to play close attention to every play, and nobody likes to be around ice. To AK: Agreed, but i actually blame YOUR government for that. My friend himself didn't even know his own country did ANYTHING at all to help Haiti. He says all he sees on TV is Americans. All he reads about is Americans when it comes to these situations. You guys don't seem to have any media control there, or at least you choose to mainly publicize Americans if you do. Often times, he assumes certain celebrities are American even though they are actually CANADIAN.
Not gonna jump into the actual debate...just throwing in my 5 cents... I work in a call center and I get calls from not only the US but also Canada... Canadians are SO SO SO SO much nicer, they're way more polite & definitely more appreciative. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy living in the States but go Canada too I personally love our friendly upstairs neighbor!
LOL... amen. somebody says something thats true. when the olympics hit downtown Vancouver it was one of the most fun atmospheres on the planet. bars and clubs didnt hike up their cover charges. I loved working the olympics. security wise. not many hooligans. all i got to say is Canada is a great country and im proud to be Canadian.
Canada may not have the best reputation right now, but when I'm traveling abroad, I always tell people that I am from Canada and NOT the US. So Canada might not have the best rep, but neither do many countries.
I'm Canadian, and proud to be. We're a pretty good country all in all, I think. As for military contributions, all I know is my dad went to Afghanistan for 6 months, fighting for his country just like Americans do, theirs.
Who deserves bad attitude? Think about it. No one. Sure the States have Hollywood, all these awesome movies, producers, actors/actresses. Canada might have been a prairie country previously, but the way they treat their citizens ain't half bad. Just look at our health care alone. That's something to be proud of. We might not have Obama, instead lousy Stephen Harper but none the same we are a country who is proud of ourselves, much like people in the States. The huge misconception is that Canada sucks. People who judge before they know squat about something is completely ignorant. I was born here, and been living here for the majority of my life. I don't mind it here one bit. Lots of green grass fields to run around, we get to snowboard and what not, we pretty much keep ourselves busy. NO ONE lives in igloos and stuff, given that cities and villages are in some way developed. people who think Canadians live in igloos seriously don't deserve my respect. Hockey technically wasn't our sport. Soldiers in the English army first discovered it. Technically it's more of a British sport? That's where it was originated from. To be honest, if USA looks at hockey so poorly, they might as well not be in the NHL. If they are in there for money and for fame, then that defeats the purpose of the NHL, and the fun of the sport itself. It's arguable. Every country has it's crappy stuff and it's good stuff. While USA is making fun of Canada behind our backs, we're also making fun of USA behind theirs. It goes both ways
I don't think that Canada actually has a bad reputation at all outside of the US. I know that the friends I have from Thailand, Ireland, Finland and Australia all think Canada is great and go out of their way to insult the Americans and my cousin has been in the Canadian army for years now, I don't think our military is huge simply because we have no reason to be afraid that people will attack us...until resources start running out and our allies to the south decide to take us out, which I sadly fully expect to happen As far as igloos, I think it's the pretty common opinion that the fact that anyone could think that is hilarious and lowers the respect we have for the average american quite a bit. And as for hockey, I don't really find any sports interesting to watch except for volleyball, but I can occasionally get enjoyment out of it, like the gold medal matches this year and finally, I'm very sad to hear that people give Canada attitude because we don't coerce minorities into changing their life to better fit into their surroundings, I think that should be something that is admired
I second this ^^ We all know that this is not a once sided conversation. I'll admit that there are a lot of ignorant people here in the US and they like to throw around jokes and insults without having any backings, but I'm sure there are also some of those ignorant people running around Canada at this very moment. I personally think Canada is a great country... aside from the massive seal slaughter... but that's an entirely different subject. XD
The health care system in Canada is NOT something to be proud of... my best friend's father (the one i mentioned moved to Toronto) died last year because he had to wait 9 months for a surgery he was perfectly capable of paying for due to the health care system there. That was actually their biggest complaint about Canada.