# At 8pm tonight I became a Permanent Resident of Canada **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541 "2008-09-14T06:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/41 "2008-09-17T13:50:58Z")
> [@Seven](#): > > (I never thought I’d be paying over a half million dollars for a house, but thanks to real estate prices in the area,… _gulp_. It’s a cool house though.) did they accept your Candian Tire money as part of the down-payment? every little bit helps… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/42 "2008-09-17T13:55:12Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > I guess Canada’s da bomb right now. Here’s an interesting column on that topic - five years old, and some things have changed since then, but still a good read: [It’s not just the weather that’s cooler in Canada](http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030730sam0730p1.asp). My favourite line from it: [QUOTE=Samantha Bennett] The Canadians are so quiet that you may have forgotten they’re up there, but they’ve been busy doing some surprising things. It’s like discovering that the mice you are dimly aware of in your attic have been building an espresso machine. [/QUOTE] ---
**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:** [September 17, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/43 "2008-09-17T16:46:17Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Hey, I’ve bought tires at Canadian Tire. Also bug spray, work boots, paintbrushes and rollers, a Skilsaw, garden tools, a football, an alternator for a 1990 Jeep YJ, a socket set, ammunition, a baseball bat, and a coffeemaker. Among other things. Kitchen utensils, cheap electronics, an umbrella, bicycle parts, magazines, caulking… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/44 "2008-09-17T17:41:03Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Here’s an interesting column on that topic - five years old, and some things have changed since then, but still a good read: [It’s not just the weather that’s cooler in Canada](http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030730sam0730p1.asp). > > My favourite line from it: Also, [Canada leads the US in the Global Economic Freedom index.](http://www.freetheworld.com/2008/091608_EFW-Cdn_EN.pdf) There was a McLean’s magazine article in July listing all the ways that Canada is superior to the US; there were a surprising number of ways. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/45 "2008-09-17T19:03:35Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Also, [Canada leads the US in the Global Economic Freedom index.](http://www.freetheworld.com/2008/091608_EFW-Cdn_EN.pdf) > > There was a McLean’s magazine article in July listing all the ways that Canada is superior to the US; there were a surprising number of ways. I just saw that article and came into this thread to mention it - July 7, 2008. I can’t seem to find a way to link to an on-line version, but I’m also not a subscriber. Anyway, yes, we’re sexier, healthier and our crime statistics are totally different - you’re more likely to have your property nicked in Canada, but more likely to be murdered, particularly with guns, in the US. It was fascinating reading, and worth looking up in your local library. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/46 "2008-09-18T00:48:47Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Kitchen utensils, cheap electronics, an umbrella, bicycle parts, magazines, caulking… …fishing gear, a bicycle, bungee cords, a head cover gasket for a 2.5L Chrysler four-banger, a set of jeweller’s screwdrivers, tomato plants, a softball glove, hundreds of feet of rope… Over to you, **Sunspace** … 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/47 "2008-09-18T01:00:05Z")
So after posting here about some of the stuff available at Canadian Tire, I surfed over to the Pit, where I opened the thread on hating [leaf blowers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=483497). What’s on the Google ad at the bottom of the screen? “Need a leaf blower?” And a link to Canadian Tire. **Seven** , note that even though Canadian Tire sells leaf blowers, you probably don’t need one. 🙂 ---
**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:** [September 18, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/48 "2008-09-18T01:06:29Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > …fishing gear, a bicycle, bungee cords, a head cover gasket for a 2.5L Chrysler four-banger, a lawn-badminton set, tomato plants, a softball glove, hundreds of feet of rope… …Christmas lights, a copper elbow-joint for a water-supply pipe, a lawn-badminton set, car wax, ski wax, floor wax, beeswax, AA batteries, that gasket that goes under the toilet, a GFCL electrical socket, incandescent lightbulbs, CF lightbulbs, a full-spectrum gro-lite for when I lived in that little room in Oakville, a trilite CF bulb, a hamburger… ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/49 "2008-09-18T01:08:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > …fishing gear, a bicycle, bungee cords, a head cover gasket for a 2.5L Chrysler four-banger, a set of jeweller’s screwdrivers, tomato plants, a softball glove, hundreds of feet of rope… > > Over to you, **Sunspace** … 🙂 Hammers, paint, toasters, tents, TV tables, foot baths… ---
**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:** [September 18, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/50 "2008-09-18T01:11:51Z")
> [@lynxie](#): > > Hammers, paint, toasters, tents, TV tables, foot baths… …jumper cables for my mom’s car, an electric fan, candy, an air mattress… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/51 "2008-09-18T01:26:35Z")
…a thermostat for that same 2.5L Chrysler four-banger, a golf bag, a vacuum cleaner, a trucker’s road atlas of the US and Canada, a coffee mug, a thyme plant, a replacement spool of weed-whacker thread, oil filters (for various engines), ice skates, inline skates, chewing gum, rad sealant, a few pairs of pliers… ---
**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:** [September 18, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/52 "2008-09-18T01:31:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > …a thermostat for that same 2.5L Chrysler four-banger, a golf bag, a vacuum cleaner, a trucker’s road atlas of the US and Canada, a coffee mug, a thyme plant, a replacement spool of weed-whacker thread, oil filters (for various engines), ice skates, inline skates, chewing gum, rad sealant, a few pairs of pliers… …nails, screws, an office chair, videotape, duotangs, paper, a map of Whitby… ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/53 "2008-09-18T04:28:02Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > …nails, screws, an office chair, videotape, duotangs, paper, a map of Whitby… Christmas tree, TV converter, gasoline, motor oil, archery equipment, 12’ ladder, basketball and hoop, corningware, hunting shirts, duck shoes… ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/54 "2008-09-18T04:32:05Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Hawkin’s Cheezeys? Hawkin’s whats? …cutlery, bicycles, fuses, de-icing salt, a vacuum cleaner, one giant flathead screwdriver, and a waffle iron… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/55 "2008-09-18T04:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=Baffle] Hawkin’s whats? [/QUOTE] hard cheesies made by Hawkins ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/56 "2008-09-18T05:26:46Z")
Don’t tell me there’s a place in Canada where you can’t get [Hawkins Cheezies](http://www.cheezies.com/static.htm)! I thought those things were ubiquitous. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/57 "2008-09-18T05:45:14Z")
> [@lynxie](#): > > Christmas tree, TV converter, gasoline, motor oil, archery equipment, 12’ ladder, basketball and hoop, corningware, hunting shirts, duck shoes… > [@Baffle](#): > > …cutlery, bicycles, fuses, de-icing salt, a vacuum cleaner, one giant flathead screwdriver, and a waffle iron… …seeds, a trowel, cement, twist ties on a spool, that claw thing you dig in the garden with, a metre stick, patio tiles, driveway sealant, pool chemicals, a scientific calculator… ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/58 "2008-09-18T05:59:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > did they accept your Candian Tire money as part of the down-payment? every little bit helps… I’ll ask my banker if I can use my Tire Money for closing costs.. Fans, AC, bug spray, lightbulbs, potting soil, BBQ grill scraper, car wash soap.. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/59 "2008-09-18T06:04:42Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > There was a McLean’s magazine article in July listing all the ways that Canada is superior to the US; there were a surprising number of ways. A copy of that ended up on my desk at work. Good article. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541/60 "2008-09-18T06:13:14Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > However, I am informed that for authentic Mexican food, you have to go to Bradford. This is apparently because of the large number of Mexican labourers who come up every summer to work in the Holland Marsh agricultural area. How true this is, I’m not certain. If there is a Mex restauraunt in Bradford I have not seen it, the Mexicans yes , they are commonly seen right up until the harvest comes in. Jamacian soul food is the only odd ball eatery visible. Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-8pm-tonight-i-became-a-permanent-resident-of-canada/463541.md?page=4)