# I need a crash course in Canadianness **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418 "2024-06-02T18:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [June 4, 2024, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/81 "2024-06-04T10:28:07Z")
We’ve been fighting ignorance since 1973. It’s taking longer than we thought. As for Stetsons, well, here’s my favourite. The Stetson Mountain Sky: > **[Mountain Sky Crushable Outdoor Hat](https://stetson.com/products/mountain-sky-crushable-outdoor-hat-acorn)** > > Stylish, durable and ideal for any adventure, this rugged wool felt Aussie hat is made in the USA of high-quality water-resistant wool felt. It’s also completely crushable, meaning it can easily be rolled up and packed into a bag while still... ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/82 "2024-06-04T12:21:14Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > maple syrup (although it’s _so_ American, too, I don’t know why they claim this) I haven’t had syrup outside of Vermont in over a decade: have other places started to offer maple syrup again? Because previously, elsewhere in the US, even if you specifically ask for maple syrup, the vast majority of the time you would get maple flavored sugar water. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/83 "2024-06-04T12:42:21Z")
Canada produces about 70% of the world’s Maple Syrup, with Québec producing about 90% of that amount. The USA is the second-place producer at the national scale. [Québec alone outproduces](https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-world-s-top-producers-of-maple-syrup.html) the next province/state level producer by an order of magnitude. I think the argument that maple syrup is more “Canadian” than “American” is pretty solid (sorry, Vermont!). ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/84 "2024-06-04T13:19:17Z")
We are due to get some Michigan maple syrup in our CSA share this week. I guess we’ll see if it’s any good - it’s from a small local farm. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/85 "2024-06-04T17:05:01Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Neil Young, “Four Strong Winds” > [@moes\_lotion](#): > > Neil does an excellent cover of this, but I prefer the original Ian Tyson/Judy Collins version. Surely you both meant to say Ian and Sylvia. Judy Collins? Really? Ah, I see she did a version with Glen Campbell. But . . . sheesh! ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/86 "2024-06-04T19:52:12Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > Judy Collins? Really? Ah, I see she did a version with Glen Campbell. But . . . sheesh! We’re going to have to pelt someone with stale Tim Hortons donuts… ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/87 "2024-06-05T01:05:19Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I think the argument that maple syrup is more “Canadian” than “American” is pretty solid (sorry, Vermont!). Whereas the Indians who actually originated maple syrup didn’t have a concept of the US and Canada border, thus while Quebec can claim poutine, there’s an equal claim to maple syrup, despite volumes produced. > [@Ludovic](#): > > Because previously, elsewhere in the US, even if you specifically ask for maple syrup, the vast majority of the time you would get maple flavored sugar water. LOL, this is a major pet peeve of mine. Actually, being “major,” it’s not really a “pet” peeve, is it? No, you have to bring your own maple syrup pretty much any place you go, otherwise you get maple-flavored corn syrup. This is just restaurants being cheap, and not an indication of whether a state or province honors maple syrup or not. When I was in Quebec last year, guess what I got at breakfast at five star hotels in Montreal or random Casse Croutes in Quebec? Yeah, corn syrup. I missed sugar shack season this year, but I hope to make it next year. I’m under the general assumption that the Quebec sugar shacks won’t give me corn syrup by default! ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/88 "2024-06-05T05:23:21Z")
I heard one “American layman’s” description of Canadians as “a polite version of Americans but they play funny football”. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/89 "2024-06-05T16:51:07Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > Surely you both meant to say Ian and Sylvia. > [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > We’re going to have to pelt someone with stale Tim Hortons donuts… In my defence, neither my sister nor I have ever been bitten by a moose. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/90 "2024-06-05T19:46:57Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Sadly, Stan’s been dead for 41 years. Died in the Air Canada flight that caught on fire in Cincinnati in 1983. He was only 33. Doubtful that today’s kids would know who he was. Very sad. I still listen to his records from time to time (Athens Queen is one of my favorite comic folk tunes). There was some suspicion that the fire was set by someone smoking illegally in the john. It was shortly after smoking on planes was banned. I think they started putting smoke detectors in johns. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/91 "2024-06-06T02:24:30Z")
I can’t find it on the web, making me doubt my memory somewhat, but ISTR Malcolm Gladwell once writing, “Canadians are proud of nothing, except, perhaps, that they are not American.” Which nails it for me (in a positive way, it’s not a diss!) ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/92 "2024-06-06T07:03:58Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > This is just restaurants being cheap, and not an indication of whether a state or province honors maple syrup or not. When I was in Quebec last year, guess what I got at breakfast at five star hotels in Montreal or random Casse Croutes in Quebec? Yeah, corn syrup. My sister used to manage a small chain of mostly-breakfast restaurants in Québec. At one point (about 1990) she decided to put real maple syrup in those little pitchers on the tables. The customers started asking for their usual (cheap) syrup and she had to switch back. So yes, most restaurants use the cheap stuff. I’ve seen some where they’ll bring you real maple syrup if you ask, but charge for it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/93 "2024-06-06T20:06:55Z")
I guess Vermont is an exception, since the once or twice I’ve had pancakes there it was easy to get maple syrup, perhaps so easy that you don’t need to specify “maple syrup”, but I’ve never felt secure enough to do that. Maybe, like you say, there would be enough people expecting corn syrup that they’d need to clarify either way if you just asked for syrup. > [@Balthisar](#): > > I missed sugar shack season this year, but I hope to make it next year. I’m under the general assumption that the Quebec sugar shacks won’t give me corn syrup by default! Never having been to a sugar shack I’d definitely assume that. However, one time something like that ran against my expectations: the Strawberry Festival in Plant City FL. They have a large tent there offering a build-your-own strawberry shortcake, and for the first couple of times I went, I swear that they offered fresh strawberries for the shortcake. You know, the fresh strawberries that they are celebrating the harvest of. In a festival named after the strawberry. But the last time I had a build-your-own strawberry shortcake there, you were allowed all the biscuits, whipped cream, and canned strawberry syrup you wanted on your plate, but at the end they topped it off with exactly one fresh strawberry. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/94 "2024-06-22T14:10:07Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > You try being a lumberjack and wearing anything other than a plaid shirt. That ain’t happening. Werll… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FshU58nI0Ts/hqdefault.jpg "Monty Python - Lumberjack Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts) ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/95 "2024-06-23T09:03:59Z")
Not a Canadian but I have visited Britsh Columbia twice. Browsing this topic reminded me of this video: [Canadian, Please](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/96 "2024-06-23T09:59:46Z")
That image is so quintessentially Canadian it should be on a postage stamp! A Mountie in a canoe, sporting a dress uniform as red as the Canadian flag, with a faithful wolf or wolf-like dog beside him, on what appears to be a northern Canadian lake with pine trees in the background! Back in my youth I used to love camping in our beautiful northern wilderness parks, except I wasn’t wearing a Mountie uniform, my canoe was made of fiberglass and not birch bark, and my companion wasn’t a wolf. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/97 "2024-06-23T10:47:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > A Mountie in a canoe, sporting a dress uniform as red as the Canadian flag, with a faithful wolf or wolf-like dog beside him Anyone else remember _Due South_? ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/98 "2024-06-24T15:18:57Z")
At this point we should note that the red getup hasnt been the Mounties’ regular daily uniform for many decades - even in the Nelson Eddy/Janet Macdonald years they wore something more practical. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2024, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/99 "2024-06-25T08:44:23Z")
Right. The Mounties’ red uniforms are their dress uniforms, used in parades, citizenship ceremonies, things at Parliament Hill, colour guards at sports events, and such. Their everyday, regular policing uniforms are, last time I checked, pale green shirts, and black trousers with a yellow stripe. And they drive late-model cars and SUVs, not dogsleds or horses. (Though the RCMP Musical Ride is a treat to see. It’s Olympic-style dressage, with Mounties in dress red uniforms, only with a lot of horses, not just one.) ETA: Hey, @Eva_Luna , any word yet? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418/100 "2024-06-25T13:19:20Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > And they drive late-model cars and SUVs, not dogsleds… Their poor dogs must be exhausted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-crash-course-in-canadianness/1002418.md?page=6)