well… except that July 1 isn’t a celebration of independence from Britain, but the formation of Confederation, as a British dominion. Independence didn’t come until later: December 11, 1931 or April 17, 1982, depending on how you look at these things.
I get what you’re saying, but I have to say that it was long-standing Canadians who began celebrating Chinese New Year here – in as much as there ever have been long-standing Canadians, apart from aboriginals.
I mean, the first Chinese Community organization in B.C. was founded in the middle of the 19th Century – around twenty years before the first shacks in what would become Vancouver were built. I know that sounds like late in the game to you Eastern folk, but it’s the very dawn of protohistory, from where I’m standing. 
Damn, that’s right! Wish my university had let me take that Canadian history class like I wanted… grumble grumble
Ok, now why does the whole damn word rail when people from the US refer to themselves/anything fromthe US as “American”: “You know it’s a whole continent or two, don’t you, dumbass?!” But if I call something in Canada “American” the Canadians get bent out of shape: “That’s not American!” . . . am I allowed to say 'North American"? I’ve gotten confused. Canadians: do you live on this continent or what? Why can’t you bitch about us in the same manner that the rest of the world does?
I like to think that although I live on North America, I am Canadian. Having lived in both US and Canada, let me tell you that they’re more different than most people think.
Canada’s the little brother in the shadow of the US. We’ve got a complex about it. We know it’s not healthy, but it’s there. Just don’t poke the (polar) bear.
A few questions forom an American:
that huge pile of snow (foremrly known as the “Northwest Territory”-who owns it now? ditto for the former “District of Mackenzie”-who’s got dibs on this?
Suppose the artic melts off 9as the global warming crowd predicts0-and the artic turns out to be a treasure trove on minerals (gold, platinum, diamonds, uranium, oil, coal, etc.)who owns the resources? years ago i read that a geologist discovered a mountain of pure iron ore on Baffin island-at the time, too expensive to extract. However, once the sea ice isgone 9and mining can go on all year)-this thing has got to be worth billions-who gets the money-the 30,000 or so natives?
The Northwest Territories, of which the District of Mackenzie was a division, was divided on 1 April 1999 with the eastern portion, mainly inhabited by Inuit, becoming a separate territory called Nunavut. The western part is still called the Northwest Territories. Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are two of Canada’s three territories, the third being the Yukon. They are parts of Canada just like provinces except that the territories have somewhat less autonomy than provinces do, being created by federal law rather than the Constitution.
The rules for the proceeds of mines in Nunavut I am not familiar with; I imagine that much of the revenue would go to the territorial government, much as Alberta reaps the benefits of the oil and gas deposits below their soil.
*Generally…*when you’re talking about an individual, it’s “native.”
“So this guy comes up to me, eh? Wantin’ to know where he could find a Timmy’s.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, so I says 'Buddy. Yer in Tronna! There’s a Timmy’s right down the street there, eh?”
“Wuzee a ferner?”
“Naw, he was some Native guy. Guess he hadn’t been in town fer long, eh?”
When you’re talking about them as a whole, it’s “First Nations.” elfbabe, the term “Nation” is used in place of “tribe,” ie: the Iroquois Nation, the Cree Nation, etc. I’m not quite sure on how sensitive the subject is, but mainly, “tribe” implies a collection of people within a larger, culturally similar, group. The First Nations were just that, individual nations, with their own cultures, alliances and languages. A band is a smaller community within the larger nation.
Any Native with more info on the subject is obviously welcome to correct me.
Aguecheek! I haven’t seen you post in forever. Nice to see you! How’s that place with the proximity to Tim’s treatin’ you?
The point is that it’s really fucking stupid to get bent out of shape when someone calls Innuits, Incans, Aztecs, and other First Nations Native Americans. All are people indigenous to the continents called North America and South America Do you really think that Seminoles, Apache, Cherokee and Sioux were busy building a nation called America between the 49th parallel and the Gulf of Mexico around 1300 AD?
You just haven’t been looking in the right places, thassall.
It’s doing…okay. The weather is definitely better than the DC area. I only sweat when I exercise now, which is a good thing.
And I’ve been up to Vancouver 3 times already in the past 6 months…and we’ve always got time for Tim Horton’s. We’re going up again at the end of the month to visit family, and I think this time I’ll pick up some pierogies as well. You can’t get bags of them down here, just badly-made ones in silly little plastic trays.
How’s by you?
Yes, you’re correct, and I thought of that myself. At a point where I was unable to post it. But oh well.
We are saturated with American culture, as I alluded to above. But while driving American cars, shopping at American stores, and consuming American entertainment might be considered exposure to “American culture,” I feel that’s only part of the equation. Drinking a Red Stripe beer while listening to reggae music does not mean one is exposed to Jamaican culture, after all.
I guess my point is that in Canada, there seems to be a great emphasis made on encouraging immigrants to continue with their culture. Continue being Chinese, Portuguese, Greek, Pakistani…celebrate your customs and traditions. Hey, that’s what multiculturalism means. Unless you happen to be an immigrant from the United States. Then, the attitude seems to be that “we don’t want you flying your flag or celebrating your customs or traditions or doing anything that reminds us that you are American. We get enough of that already.”
But I would think that bringing and celebrating customs and traditions from the old country are designed to make the immigrant feel more comfortable in his or her new home. Any exposure of Canadians to that culture is a secondary benefit, but it is not the primary one. By not encouraging Americans to celebrate their own culture, even by our attitudes, I cannot see how we Canadians are treating our American immigrants in the same way that we treat other nationalities who have chosen to come to Canada.
I agree that if a bunch of American expats wanted to organize themselves a Fourth of July celebration in, say, Toronto’s High Park; then they could. But I wonder how many complaints/protests/letters to the editor such a celebration would attract. Because I believe it would attract some form of negative attention. We seem to be very good at complaining about the United States and such an event might be seen by some as yet another perfect opportunity to complain.
In the end, I suppose that what really matters is that any immigrant, American or otherwise, is happy here. Certainly, my wife is, even though she does miss a few things. Tell you what, RickJay–should you be in Calgary in early July, we’ll have you over to our place for a Fourth of July celebration. We’ll do that anyway; but it would be nice to have some company this year. 
I make my own pierogies, but you can get them here. And I still live in the baggie that is Baltimore in the summer. Had a baby. Lost a lotta weight. Back to work at Hopkins main pharmacy (Sorry, the hijack’s all done now.)
I’m* jealous*! :mad: 
Mr. Stasaeon promises to take me across the border to find me some Tim’s as soon as I get my “permission to travel” document approved from the INS. Hooray!
Thankfully, my grandmother keeps sending me tins of Tim’s coffee. Still… what I’d do for an Iced Cap and a maple pecan danish… or just a big old box of Timbits. Sour cream glazed! Forget *Krispy Kreme * - BLECH!
:eek: Someone pinch me, to wake me up from this horrible nightmare…no perogies? cry The Ukrainian in me just died.
I’m a bit puzzled by this - are you talking about something that has actually happened, or just speculation?
My take on it is quite different. Regina and Saskatoon both have multicultural fests in the spring and summer, with pavillions put on by different ethnic/national groups. I’ve been to the American pavillions at both Mosaic in Regina and Folkfest in Saskatoon. There wasn’t any great outcry or editorial hand-wringing - the Yanks were just part of the show, usually with good jazz as the entertainment portion. The papers and tv articles treated them as just another pavillion.
I’m speculating, I suppose. But I’m basing my speculation on what we’ve heard from friends and acquaintances each time my wife has wondered why we celebrate other cultures but ignore American culture. Mostly, the answers she gets are along the lines of those mentioned earlier (“We’re surrounded by it anyway”) although some have gone so far as to say that it would be yet another great opportunity to protest Bush/McDonald’s/Wal-Mart and so on. So yes, speculation; but with what seems to me to be an educated guess at what might happen.
I will say that the above is the attitude we encountered when we lived in southern Ontario. Here in Alberta, we haven’t encountered it. Maybe it’s a regional thing.
Had no idea about the celebrations in Regina and Saskatoon–perhaps I should suggest to her that she take a business trip to those cities at that time and join in the fun. She travels a lot on business, and does need to get to each city at various times during the year. Heck, if they’re at the right time, I might even be able to join her–sounds like a great time.
they’re a hoot - the Winnipeg one is even bigger, spread over two weekends.
but check before hand for the line-up to see if it’s what you’re interested in - whether there’s a pavilion for a particular ethnic group depends on whether there are enough people in the local community willing to orgnize a pavilion. I just checked the Saskatoon FolkFest web-site and there’s no US pavilion listed for this year yet, but it’s not on until August, so that might change. There’s a few others missing from the last time I went to it, like the Dutch and Australian ones, so it might just be that not everyone’s signed up yet. Or, pavilions sometimes go into hiatus if the local group is tired of putting it on - there was no Irish pavilion at Regina for several years for that reason.
Another bit of culture shock I remember from my first trip to Vancouver, BC: Chinese kids speaking English with a slight Scottish accent. very surreal.
Reminds of Samantha Bee’s “Do You Mind If I Tell How We Do Things In Canada” section in John Stewart’s America.
“On April 17, 1982, the Queen of England gave us permission to amend our constitution to make it so that we wouldn’t have to ask permission of the Queen of England to amend our constitution!”
BTW, what’s with the Tim Horton’s? I think there are five of them within a 20-minute drive from me. Is this usually not the case?