# Ask the Canadian, eh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506 "2000-06-25T23:45:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/1 "2000-06-25T23:45:31Z")
After reading the [Ask the Brit bloke](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=28301)thread, it occurs to me that some of you may be curious about Canada. So… ask away, and I will try my best to answer. 🙂 Scott, Toronto ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/2 "2000-06-25T23:51:55Z")
What is Canada’s GNP? Main export? Dollar equivalency? National pastime National soda? Speaking of soda, do Canadians say soda, or pop, or something completely different? How common is that “eh” anyway? French or English? Do you like little boys? Ice Hockey or Football(soccer)(this question is intended to incite war!) Do you guys think the Brits suck as much as we do? etc, etc…? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/3 "2000-06-26T00:11:49Z")
Main Export… I don’t know depends on the Province. Wheat & Oil(as in the prairies), Maple Syrup (Quebec), Fish & Lobster (Martimes and BC)… all depends which province you live in. National Soda? Do we have one? We just drink Cola and Pepsi like any normal person… and btw its more commonly called pop here. Though there are probably people who call it Soda or Cola as well. At a restauraunt I usually order it as cola. Eh? Isn’t too too common though it is used. That was part of the whole Great White North thing to make you guys wonder about use. You hosers. Majority is English then in Quebec majority is French and Ontario is pretty evenly distributed. (I’m English know very little French) Little boys? What kind of a question is that? I’m a girl I like boys but not little boys. Ice Hockey or Football? Um… I don’t watch sports but I can definately say Hockey has kept my attention longer then Football (of both kinds… though I like watching Aussie Rules Football) etc? etc? Um I can’t answer that since I don’t know what your asking. Hope that helped. Hope you don’t mind me jumping in Sunspace but I figured all us Canadians can toss out answers to these _grins_ ---
**Author:** ![FreakFreely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@FreakFreely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreakFreely)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/4 "2000-06-26T00:17:34Z")
How many canadians does it take to change a light bulb? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/5 "2000-06-26T00:23:20Z")
One, if that’s all right with you. Here’s a deep Canada question (from a Canadian): Since practically all of the original Canadian colonists from Britain and France were of Celtic and Viking descent (Scots, Irish, Bretons, and Normans), why do we keep insulting each other as “the French” and “les anglais” as though we were the descendents of the people who subjected and ruined us? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/6 "2000-06-26T00:32:44Z")
I have no clue but when you think about it we aren’t going by our ancestry but by what language we speak daily. We’re not insulting each other as the French and English cuz they are all descended from French people and we are all descended from English but because they speak French and we speak English. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/7 "2000-06-26T00:33:07Z")
GNP: just passed the trillion-dollar mark this year, in Canadian dollars, of course. Dollar equivalency: 1 CAD = ~0.68 USD these days. Main export: cars and car parts. I just cheked this with the Canada Information Office , and wasn’t surprised; I figured it was either car parts, wood, telecom, or animators… National pastime: discussing the weather… with a secret twisted pride that we actually put up with it long enough to build cities, get married, and raise the next generation. National soda: as in so many things now, we are under the thumb of the vast US corporate culture machine. So for cola, it’s the standard Pepsi versus Coke slugfest. For ginger ale, we drink Canada Dry. This may be out national brand of soda… but we generally don’t call it that. Here in Ontario, at least, it’s “pop”. This may vary by region. Eh? Not very common. Or I just don’t hear it. I’ve a feeling that this may vary by region as well. French or English: 3/4 English, 1/4 French. Packaging is bilingual, as are road signs in areas with significant French-speaking populations, or in facilites (airports, etc) funded by the federal government. Most French-speakers are of course in Quebec, but there are significant populations in northern Ontario and New Brunswick. That “3/4 English” tends to hide the fact that non-French-speaking Canada is tremendously diverse linguistically. In Ontario, Chinese is increasingly common. There are also many Portiguese, Italian, and Spanish speakers. In BC, French is even rarer, and the up-and-coming languages are apparently Chinese, Punjabi, and Spanish… In the city where I live, it is actually quite rare to hear spoken French, but I hear Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Serbian, Croatian, and dozens of others every day (and that’s just at work). Next question: huh? Hockey or Football? Hockey. The word “ice” is superfluous, since “ice hockey” is the default type. The popular sport among young men seem to be hockey and basketball. Baseball seems to be fading somewhat, and soccer remains relatively minor. But I could be wrong on this… I am not a follower of sports. I’m biased about the Brits… some of them were my ancestors. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/8 "2000-06-26T00:36:20Z")
Thanks, TopazAntares! It’s good to have a western viewpoint here. An an Ontarian I am aware that what I say may not hold elsewhere… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/9 "2000-06-26T00:41:07Z")
And welcome matt\_mcl! Mi certe memoras vin… ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/10 "2000-06-26T00:45:20Z")
_grins_ Your welcome Sunspace. Glad to help out. I think its cool you actually researched your answers I was just going by what I’ve learned in school and what I think it could be. And are you trying to up your post count? 3 in a row by you _looks at you suspiciously_ ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/11 "2000-06-26T00:47:57Z")
Another self-question: Why are there people who are determined - they make a point of it - to live in Montreal and never learn French? And then go and get huffy because their reactionary attitude annoys people? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/12 "2000-06-26T00:49:19Z")
How many Canadians were killed in the making of ‘South Park’? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/13 "2000-06-26T00:57:00Z")
None, but the entire Baldwin family was blown to smithereens. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/14 "2000-06-26T00:59:57Z")
matt I think its a strange sort of pride for them to have claimed they live in a French city and yet can’t speak the language. I’d hope none Bill. Well if my little brother had been taken and lost in the making of it I wouldn’t have minded. ---
**Author:** ![Angkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Angkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angkins)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/15 "2000-06-26T01:23:56Z")
Ok, I’m here to help answer question too… from an East coast perspective…since we have a representative from Ontario and Alberta. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/16 "2000-06-26T02:17:41Z")
Welcome, Angkins! If I ever move to Montreal, one of the reasons will be specifically to learn French! Or at least resurrect my French… It _is_ incredible that someone would live in Montreal and specifically and pridefully NOT learn French. But then there are also people who hit their heads on the wall because it feels good when they stop… I didn’t see South Park, so I can’t comment. Many people have told me that it is shockingly funny though. ---
**Author:** ![DippyMonger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@DippyMonger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DippyMonger)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/17 "2000-06-26T02:41:34Z")
HOLD THE BOAT! TopazAntares, are you Canadian? You said you like Aussie Rules Football. I’m an Aussie, and I know it’s the greatest sport in the world which is why I play it, but does it get media coverage in Canada? How do you know about it? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/18 "2000-06-26T02:52:39Z")
Kaj ANKAU por revigligi la lokan Esperantoklubon, aktuale dormeman, CHU NE?!! _spron’ spron’_ ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/19 "2000-06-26T02:58:42Z")
Ho jes! …cxu ili bezonas novan retpagxon? 😉 Esperanto: yet another language spoken in Canada… ---
**Author:** ![dpr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dpr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dpr)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506/20 "2000-06-26T03:12:30Z")
Dippy, they actually have played matches in the dome in Toronto (yeah I was surprised too). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-canadian-eh/23506.md?page=2)