# Canadians: Share With Us Foreigners Facts and Trivia About Your Country. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676 "2006-07-08T22:18:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/61 "2006-07-16T14:10:41Z")
Holy crap, [it’s online](http://collections.ic.gc.ca/flag/html/ch8.htm), too. For some reason, I love this: > [@](#): > > The design was chosen as the best available model of the sugar maple > > leaf for display upon a flag surface under moderate and mean conditions > > of wind. When fluttering or flapping in a breeze or light gale, it purports > > to project with motion picture effect the appearance of a living leaf. It > > was selected after I had studied its performance under varying velocities > > in the National Research Laboratory Wind Tunnel. > > There are an interesting number of major and minor points, or waves, > > on the real sugar maple leaf. It is possible to count some twentythree in > > all. The stylized design finally chosen has eleven points which visually > > multiply as wind speed increases. ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/62 "2006-07-17T12:39:28Z")
The Canadian Football League, or CFl, consists of 8 teams. Two of the teams have the same nickname, the Roughriders. No wonder no one takes the CFL seriously! ---
**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:** [July 17, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/63 "2006-07-17T13:24:53Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > As has already been suggested in this thread, [Newfoundland](http://homepage.eircom.net/~edrice/stellar/stamps.htm) > had its own postal system until 1949, and the former colony’s stamps continue to be postally valid anywhere in Canada, although such use is uncommon. Dominion! Newfoundland was a Dominion, not a colony, although in a form of receivership from the Depression onwards. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/64 "2006-07-17T13:30:58Z")
> [@dawson](#): > > The Canadian Football League, or CFl, consists of 8 teams. Two of the teams have the same nickname, the Roughriders. No wonder no one takes the CFL seriously! You’re about a dozen years behind the times and out of date! The Ottawa Rough Riders folder in the mid-nineties, leaving the Saskatchewan Roughriders the sole holders of the name. (And besides, they didn’t have the same name anyway - see that space and capital R in the Ottawa name? 😉 ) Since then, the CFL has been blossoming - TV revenues have shot up, as has other sponsorships, and both gate and TV audiences have been high. As well, a recent article indicated that more Canadians are more likely to follow the CFL than NHL - the hockey strike, plus the fact that a majority of the teams are in the U.S., has apparently diluted the NHL’s popularity. The CFL is the only national league that’s just Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/65 "2006-07-17T13:43:29Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > You’re about a dozen years behind the times and out of date! > > The Ottawa Rough Riders folder in the mid-nineties, leaving the Saskatchewan Roughriders the sole holders of the name. (And besides, they didn’t have the same name anyway - see that space and capital R in the Ottawa name? 😉 ) > > Since then, the CFL has been blossoming - TV revenues have shot up, as has other sponsorships, and both gate and TV audiences have been high. > > As well, a recent article indicated that more Canadians are more likely to follow the CFL than NHL - the hockey strike, plus the fact that a majority of the teams are in the U.S., has apparently diluted the NHL’s popularity. The CFL is the only national league that’s just Canadian. semantics. And the fact that the Ottawa team had to fold any proves my point! While four people going to a game instead of two may represent double the attendance, it still doesn’t make the game popular. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/66 "2006-07-18T01:31:00Z")
While most of the cars sold in the Dominions to my north (thanks for the correction on Newfoundland’s erstwhile status, **Northern Piper**!) have names familiar to residents of other nations, there have been some uniquely Canadian makes and models. Pontiac: [Parisienne](http://vintagecars.about.com/od/greatcars/ss/pparis.htm) (although the name was briefly used in the USA) [Acadian](http://www.cardomain.com/ride/628092) [Laurentian](http://www.pontiacserver.com/56laur_ad.html) (a link at the bottom of the page leads to an English translation of the ad) McLaughlin (later [McLaughlin-Buick](http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/mclaughlin-buick.htm) ) Ford Motor Company: [Meteor](http://www.ford.ca/english/learnabout/heritage/prewarfords/meteorphase1/default.asp) (available at Mercury and Lincoln dealers in Canada) [Frontenac](http://www.ford.ca/english/learnabout/heritage/prewarfords/frontenac/default.asp) (name had previously been used by Durant Motors in [1931](http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0003084)) [Incomplete list of other Canadian vehicles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Canadian_automobiles) ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/67 "2006-07-18T02:00:51Z")
> [@dawson](#): > > semantics. And the fact that the Ottawa team had to fold any proves my point! While four people going to a game instead of two may represent double the attendance, it still doesn’t make the game popular. The Rough Riders folded when the league was in the middle of a financial crisis. Of course, the Ottawa Renegades, who just folded last winter, don’t have that excuse. That was plain old mismanagement. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/68 "2006-07-18T02:02:00Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Well, no. I was listening to the news that night, and it was noticed at the Alliance convention immediately after the name was chosen (I remember hearing the chairman say, “This isn’t funny, people”); and they somewhat embarrassedly reversed the order of “Conservative/Reform” in the name as soon as it was realized. Well, I distinctly remember a quote from a Liberal lambasting the new party as “Canadian CRAP”. ---
**Author:** ![notso\_clever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@notso\_clever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notso_clever)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/69 "2006-07-18T22:38:26Z")
A few tidbits about Newfoundland and Labrador "Here are a few tidbits of information that you may have never known before: We were… the first province to respond to Titanic’s distress signal, the first to vaccinate for smallpox, the first to host a transatlantic flight, the first to have wireless communication in the world, the first place to discover proof of the theory of continental drift, We have… the oldest street in North America, the oldest city in North America, the oldest rock in the world, the oldest continuous sporting event (Regatta Day rules!), the largest university in Atlantic Canada, the most pubs per square foot in Canada (George Street), the longest running radio program in North America , caught the world’s largest invertebrate (giant squid) We are… the funniest people in Canada (ask anybody), the sexiest people in Canada (Macleans magazine survey), the only province that has four identifiable flags, the only province able to land the space shuttle (Stephenville), the most giving people in Canada (Stats Canada), the most sexually active people in all of Canada (what else are we gonna do?) A Newfoundlander… built the world’s first artificial ice arena, invented the gas mask, was once govenor of Northern Rhodesia, was with Abraham Lincoln at Gettysberg We are the only province to have its own… encyclopedia dictionary, pony, dogs, cultural publication …" This is a frequent Newfie pride trivia email that makes the rounds. Take it with a grain of salt. I can verify a few things to be true, we do have a dictionary of Newfoundland English and we have the most sex! ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676/70 "2006-07-19T02:43:02Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > While most of the cars sold in the Dominions to my north (thanks for the correction on Newfoundland’s erstwhile status, **Northern Piper**!) have names familiar to residents of other nations, there have been some uniquely Canadian makes and models. > > Pontiac: [Parisienne](http://vintagecars.about.com/od/greatcars/ss/pparis.htm) (although the name was briefly used in the USA) > [Acadian](http://www.cardomain.com/ride/628092) > [Laurentian](http://www.pontiacserver.com/56laur_ad.html) (a link at the bottom of the page leads to an English translation of the ad) A number of GM car models sold in New Zealand during the 50’s and 60’s were built in Canada in right hand drive versions. The Parisienne and Laurentian were two seen here. Also a number of Chevrolet models, although I don’t recall exactly which ones. I’m not a Canadian, but I thought that trivia deserved to be included. Cheers, Kiwi Fruit [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-share-with-us-foreigners-facts-and-trivia-about-your-country/363676.md?page=3)