# The CanaDoper Café (2012 edition of The great, ongoing Canadian current events and politics thread.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014 "2012-01-01T03:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 54
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1061 "2012-05-06T23:41:14Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I think a man or woman’s actions speak much louder than the geographical location of his/her or his/her parent’s birth. Just wait until Mulcair is PM, makes a sweetheart deal with France and opens a Citroën dealership. Next thing you know, all government cars will be Citroëns, with the contract a secret because of national security. It’ll be the biggest scandal since the used British screen-door submarines. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2012, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1062 "2012-05-07T05:25:04Z")
I think giving out bibles is a good idea anywhere - I’ll take a free reference book any time anyone wants to give me one. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1063 "2012-05-07T05:36:11Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I think giving out bibles is a good idea anywhere - I’ll take a free reference book any time anyone wants to give me one. Remind me the next time I’m in Calgary, and I’ll bring you the Bible from my hotel room. And if I stay at the Fairmont Palliser, I can also bring you a book on the teachings of the Buddha–last time I was there, I noticed that both books were in the bedside drawer. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1064 "2012-05-07T14:11:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I think giving out bibles is a good idea anywhere - I’ll take a free reference book any time anyone wants to give me one. Our frat used to have a bullshit reading room – a small library of propoganda texts that various cults and troubled nations had sent us upon request. The beauty of it all was that the library was also the bathroom, so folks had lots to read when sitting on the pot. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1065 "2012-05-07T17:44:47Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Remind me the next time I’m in Calgary, and I’ll bring you the Bible from my hotel room. And if I stay at the Fairmont Palliser, I can also bring you a book on the teachings of the Buddha–last time I was there, I noticed that both books were in the bedside drawer. Cool! I’ve got a couple of bibles already, but I don’t have any Buddhist books. > [@Muffin](#): > > Our frat used to have a bullshit reading room – a small library of propoganda texts that various cults and troubled nations had sent us upon request. The beauty of it all was that the library was also the bathroom, so folks had lots to read when sitting on the pot. That’s a great idea. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1066 "2012-05-07T18:52:38Z")
We had the opposite - we had ‘The Straight Dope’ and its many sequels in the biffy library… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1067 "2012-05-09T19:24:33Z")
The recent round of “Were your parents/grandparents born in the 19th century?” threads reminded me of my favorite ancestor-whom-I=never-met, and a vagrant memory from my childhood resulted in a “WOW!” moment for me. My great-grandmother was born in the Province of Canada, on a farm about two miles east of the capital at the time, Kingston. When she was born, the young queen had been on the throne for not quite four years, and down south of them, the President was two months in his grave – and there was still lasting resentment that the Vice President now considered himself President. The year was 1841. She lived through a lot. My great-grandfather met and made her his second wife, after losing the first to some illness. She had two sons, one of whom died in young adulthood, and one spinster daughter. Her two grandchildren, my father and my aunt his sister, ended up giving her unique birthday presents – Aunt June was born on her 64th birthday, and my parents married on her 96th birthday. She died that fall. But here’s the interesting thing: her brother kept that farm, and it stayed in the family for decades. When I was about ten, we went to visit them. The memory that just surfaced, though, is of the patriarch of the family, nearing 70 then. His father was active in Tory politics after Confederation, and “When I was about your age, boy, I went with him to meet the Prime Minister. He was our M.P., you know.” Until now, I never put two and two together. PM who was MP from Kingston towards the end of the 19th century? Omigod! I am **one degree of separation** from old Sir John A.! ---
**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:** [May 9, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1068 "2012-05-09T22:41:04Z")
Allow me to be the first to say - “That’s very cool!!” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1069 "2012-05-09T23:23:54Z")
Wow! ---
**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:** [May 10, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1070 "2012-05-10T00:37:22Z")
Cool - but isn’t it two degrees? One to your relative, and a second from him to John A? ---
**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:** [May 11, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1071 "2012-05-11T00:40:53Z")
That is very cool, **Polycarp**. I don’t know if that qualifies you for honourary Canadoper status, but I’d vote you in. 🙂 Hey, what the hell is going on in Montreal? The student dissidents are smoke-bombing the subways now? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1072 "2012-05-11T02:05:44Z")
I’m not talking about the student protests because they just annoy me (they went past our house last week making a racket _during Game of Thrones!!!_ You do NOT interrupt Game of Thrones!!!) and I’m too tired to be coherent. I think attacking the subways is stupid and the longer this drags on, the more harm they do to their cause; I’d say the same regardless of the cause - they are hurting the wrong people by smoke bombing the metro IMHO. But fuck 'em. I GOTTA JOB! I just signed the paperwork today, I start in a couple of weeks and I’m very happy; this is a perfect place to start the career I want. It’s about freaking time, but the salary is good, the bennies are good, I get three weeks vacation to start and this is what I want to do. So…yay me! 😃 ---
**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:** [May 11, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1073 "2012-05-11T02:08:51Z")
**CONGRATS MNEMOSYNE!** It’s been a long haul for you, as I recall - glad to hear you’ve landed where you want to be! ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1074 "2012-05-11T02:16:51Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I GOTTA JOB! Good for you. It is a real pain being out of work. I had it happen for the first time in 18 years two years ago. Not fun. You end up doubting your worth and abilities even though they shouldn’t be related. Not fun at all. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1075 "2012-05-11T03:46:06Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I GOTTA JOB! Good on ye!!! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1076 "2012-05-11T12:26:52Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > I GOTTA JOB! Congrats! ---
**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:** [May 11, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1077 "2012-05-11T13:52:06Z")
Congratulations, **mnemosyne!** That’s great news! ---
**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:** [May 11, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1078 "2012-05-11T13:55:26Z")
Good news indeed! Congratulations, and good luck in the new job! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1079 "2012-05-11T14:27:32Z")
Thanks everyone! It has been a really tough year for me (and I know I’ve whined enough about it online…). I’m very excited about this job and can’t wait to start! I’ve already worked at this company before as an intern, so it should be easy to get settled in, but it’s going to be a massive learning curve for the job itself. Still - I have two undergraduate degrees: I can learn anything! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014/1080 "2012-05-11T14:29:50Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Still - I have two undergraduate degrees: I can learn anything! 🙂 Hmmm, I can see why it took so long: Professional Student.😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014.md?page=53) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-canadoper-cafe-2012-edition-of-the-great-ongoing-canadian-current-events-and-politics-thread/608014.md?page=55)