Postage Stamp Chat Board & Stamp Bulletin Board Forum
 

I found this on the BBC.

What does it mean to be Canadian?

"[Canadians] accept that difference is actually quite interesting. What makes it possible to live together is agreement on things like ethics and public policy. Not agreement on accents and religion."

I live in Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in the world. According to data released by Statistics Canada as part of the 2006 census, Toronto is more ethnically diverse than Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City. 49.9% of Toronto's population is foreign-born.

Keeps life interesting...

As long as Canada has a vast territory , which is totally under populated , I doubt there will ever be any great friction between newcomers and the people who can trace their roots in Canada for at least 3 generations. The more overcrowding and economic problems, the more friction we see between emigrants and "natives".

Since my mother was born in Canada, can I claim Canadian citizenship if I want to?

_________________
Mike
Why do we need perforations? Scissors are cheap!

Mike,

Yes, I think that's citizenship by descent.

I am in Mississauga and all i can say is all those different types of food yum

Eh??? What's all this Canadian introspection, eh?

_________________
"Making money is a hobby that will complement any other hobbies you have, beautifully." - Scott Alexander
I collect Souvenir Sheets postally used on cover, WW used stamps up to 1957 except everything of Brasil and Argentina.

Places with the most ethnic diversity in Canada are crowded.

_________________
Always looking for modern Canada on paper!
Topical Interests: Disney, Boats/Sailing Ships/Lighthouses, Horses/Horsedrawn, Butterflies/Insects, and Trains - E-mail me with descriptions or scans if you have some!

During my time at the University of Toronto, in orientation week one of the first questions people asked each other was "where are you from?" It seemed everyone I met had immigrated when they were younger, or there parents had. From Hong Kong, Jamaica, Poland, Slavic countries. When people asked me "what are you?" (X hyphen Canadian, eg. Italian-Canadian, Polish-Canadian), I just said "Canadian". When they pressed by asking "but where are your parents from?" I would reply "Here".

My family on both sides has been in Canada so long, my mother doesn't know when our ancestors came over, and on my father's side, my grandmother was quite proud of being descended from the members of the first shipload of Scottish migrants to Canada.

Was it Marshall McLuhan that summed it up well by making the point, "the USA is a melting pot; Canada is a mosaic" and coined the term "multiculturalism"?

Canada encourages people to hyphenate their identity. Swear allegiance to the Queen when you take the oath of citizenship, since you have chosen Canada to be your home, but don't forget your homeland. Teach your children their ancestral language, practice your religion, celebrate your holidays. Just realize that some things have to be left at the door, ie. aspects of Sharia law.

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

It's especially interesting when one of your agreeable, ethnically diverse foreign-borns goes berserk on a bus, stabs, decapitates and cannibalizes a native born kid while those multiculturally-enlightened mounties and mosaic passengers stand there scratching their a**es watching him do it

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

Where did that come from? For one, your tirade on "foreign-borns" is xenophobic and very myopic at the very least. The problem you laughingly present is a HUMAN NATURE problem and has NOTHING to do with a person's origin. I find your observation disturbingly misanthropic. So which would you be; the one doing the attack, or among those scratching? Or do you see yourself as the victim?

If you really feel this way, there's lots of open spaces in the Artic where you may fare better (but watch out for Polar Bears as they will do most of what you've described with aplomb).

_________________
"Making money is a hobby that will complement any other hobbies you have, beautifully." - Scott Alexander
I collect Souvenir Sheets postally used on cover, WW used stamps up to 1957 except everything of Brasil and Argentina.

What did Brazil and Argentina ever do to you?
I find your philatelic preferences to be disturbingly xenophobic

-FK

_________________
" It's getting downright re-goddamn-diculous"
-John Wayne

This thread just took a hard left turn to a destination unknown.

Back to topic, "Canada is anything but a homogenous Commonwealth state; nearly one million indigenous people rub shoulders with immigrants from around the world, including many from Asia".

I thought that the Natives did not live in the cities and pretty much stayed on their Lakefront communities. The biggest cities I've seen the Natives in are ones like Kenora, Ontario and resort towns that are similar in size and location.

_________________
"Life is a tough Teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson later"
Anonymous

My family is quite happy with the history of our families. On my side, my mothers parents moved down from Quebec, Roi being their family name, and moved just across the border to Vermont. At one time there were family farms on both sides of the border.
On my wife's side they moved down to Michigan from Canada, O'Healy being their name from Ireland, her father working for the Grand Trunk railroad for 42 years.

We laugh about it quite often, me being French-Canadian, her being Irish-Canadian, the joke being if we were still both in Canada, we probably wouldn't talk to each other

Best to all.
pat

_________________
"I don't have a lot - But I like what I got"

What's it mean? My opinion for decades:

It means you are among the Americans' best friends in the world--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.K. (in alphabetical order), the friends we can count on, when the chips are down.

We call them Aboriginal people or First Nations people, and there are a great many First Nations people living in the cities in Saskatchewan. It's the fastest growing segment of the population in the province and I recall seeing projections that First Nations people could make as much as 30% of the population within a generation.

Some still live on reservations, some in cities. Many of the people on the reserves are still living in terrible poverty, while other communities are doing very well. In some cases, they are creating what is known as "urban reserves", areas of cities that are focused on economic development for aboriginal people.

You're right about diversity. While we're still not as diverse as Toronto or Vancouver, Regina (my city) has a growing Asian and African population, along with folks from all over the world.

Did not know Regina had that kind of diversity. Traveled through there many times as I used to fish Lac LaRonge twice a year.

_________________
"Life is a tough Teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson later"
Anonymous

I guess that post is referring to the incident on a Greyhound bus when a man attacked and decapitated a fellow passenger. The perpetrator was diagnosed schizophrenic. Yes, he was Asian, but does that matter? Why would it make a difference if the person committing the crime were white? Or what if they're a "visible minority" (politically-correct way to say "non-white") but born in Canada?

In that case the question "how did someone so mentally-disturbed gain residence in the country, where's the screening by CIC (immigration department)?"

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Being Canadian means that when you backpack across Europe, you sew a Maple Leaf flag on your bag, and people treat you nicer.

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

How very true. Before our Children, my Wife and I backpacked across Europe and she being a Canadian had a Maple leaf on her backpack for exactly the same reason. She claimed she would be treated nicer by the locals then me with this on my bag.




She was correct. While I was treated nicely everywhere I went, every time in local pubs as soon as the Pints started flowing, someone always wanted to yap at me about US Politics and assumed that I talked to the President on a weekly basis...

_________________
"Life is a tough Teacher, it gives you the test first and the lesson later"
Anonymous

I have traveled a lot in Canada. One drive was from Montreal to Vancouver. Another was up to Alaska on the Alaska Highway through some of Canada's best. In 1998 I went up to Yellowknife in a camper with my family and a dog. My boys were still little, so when we broke down in Hay River, it was a problem. We met nothing but kindness from everyone. One of the mechanics even had us over to his house for a barbeque. It turned out to be one of the nicest times ever spent up there. Overall I'd say that Canada is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and it has some of the nicest people.
I hope that helps keep things on track.
- Morgan

I scanned this thread looking for my favorite story on the subject, but I didn't see it here, so I'll repeat the old chestnut:

In 1971, the Canadian Broadcasting Company was looking for the parallel to the saying: "As American as...apple pie."

So the CBC ran a contest, and the winner was: "As Canadian as...possible under the circumstances."

_________________
- maturin -

Best omnibus issue of 1862: royal wedding of Victoria to Abe Lincoln