To be Canadian

bigpoppa

bigpoppa

Well-known member
Iv been thinking about this for sometime, and although I am no expert on Canada, I have a definition of what it means to be Canadian.

If all your friends are from the same part of the world, you’re not Canadian.

If you have friends or roll with people from every possible background, you’re officially Canadian, blending into the fabric of Canada.

I know many people , some who came here both recently and many decades ago, who live in their enclaves and bubbles, never venture outside of it.

If they Asian all their friends are other asians from the same or neighbouring countries, Latinos that hang out with other Latinos only, etc

Indian people who moved here, they live in Brampton, and in their free time go to temple, did they ever actually leave India?

Far be it for me to be the decider, but anyone who is friends with everyone or who has a wide social
Circle is actually Canadian. The rest are still stuck in the motherland.
 
I have a buddy, son of europeon immigrants, that is forever complaining about the damn immigrants coming here and not adopting Canadian "Culture"
Whenever i ask him he to define Canadian "Culture"... he can't come up with an answer, doesn't even try... for 45 years so far.
Canada is too big and too diverse to have a cohesive "culture"... I think
Canada history is kinda different... usually world powers go to war over land and resources. When Canada was first formed, our biggest resource/export was beaver pelts and the two occupying armies, the French and the British, said "screw this, not worth the effort"... we can live next door to each other, you french guys stay over there, us brits will stay over here... this can work... and Canada grew from there
Sorta unique, a country formed in surrender, no victory involved... compromise and cooperate: That's us, to a fault
 
Winter must be coming ...

A Canadian winter must be coming...
 
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bigpoppa said:
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If all your friends are from the same part of the world, you’re not Canadian
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Not so! That is Canadian.

Canada promotes multiculturalism which is fundamentally different than the US melting pot model. Canada doesn't ask new Canadians to assimilate into the existing culture, it promotes keeping and sharing each persons native culture.

The USA is a 'melting pot', which means new Americans are asked to accept and assimilate into the American culture. New Americans are not required to abandon their native cultures, but unlike Canada they asked to leave behind things that conflict with American culture.
bigpoppa said:
If you have friends or roll with people from every possible background, you’re officially Canadian, blending into the fabric of Canada.
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That just makes you a decent person.
bigpoppa said:
I know many people , some who came here both recently and many decades ago, who live in their enclaves and bubbles, never venture outside of it.
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My neighbour is 92, she came to Canada as a young bride at 17 from Greece.

She doesn't speak a lick of English. I have friends from Italy, Turkey, Germany, China, and Quebec with elderly parents that have been her 60+ years and cannot speak fluent English.
bigpoppa said:
If they Asian all their friends are other asians from the same or neighbouring countries, Latinos that hang out with other Latinos only, etc

Indian people who moved here, they live in Brampton, and in their free time go to temple, did they ever actually leave India?

Far be it for me to be the decider, but anyone who is friends with everyone or who has a wide social
Circle is actually Canadian. The rest are still stuck in the motherland.
Click to expand...
I am Canadian.

I was born in Canada, as were 4 generations on Mom's side and 3 generations on Dad's side.

I drink Molson Canadian when I watch Ice hockey and CFL football.

I have friends from every corner of the globe.
 
What makes me a Canadian?

I'm polite to people, (but I don't apologize unless it's necessary - I make a mistake, hurt somebody's feelings, win a fistfight)

I can drive a RWD car in the winter without snow tires. I can drive a snowmobile, boat, ATV or motorcycle at any time of the year.

I don't require a hat or mitts for winter in Toronto, and I won't complain about the cold.

I can drink 6 large Tim Horton's coffees and 6 Molson Canadian tallboys.

I can skate, play hockey, football, and lacrosse.

I speak English and enough French to get a room, Poutine and Pisse-Dru when in Quebec.

I can fell make syrup from a Maple tree, or fell it with an axe if I need firewood.

I am Canadian.
 
bitzz said:
Also? ... that's mighty inclusive of you... today being the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and all....
Having a nation day of truth and reconciliation is a pretty Canadian thing to do (the Aussies do one too... different truth, different first nation)
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I kind of agree except an Indigenous person doesn't get the day off unless they live in BC or work as a Federally regulated employee.

Sadly most federal employees aren't out learning truths or reconciling today, more likely to be doing things like surfing Tofino.
 
bitzz said:
Also? ... that's mighty inclusive of you... today being the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and all....
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Really?!?!

Did you really need all the quotes of this thread to understand the context of my post?

If so, here it is:

bigpoppa said:
If all your friends are from the same part of the world, you’re not Canadian.
Click to expand...

To which the reply is:

Lightcycle said:
First Nations people who live on a reserve and only have First Nations friends are also Canadians.
Click to expand...

The point of the post was:

Lightcycle said:
Toronto doesn't equal Canada.
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To imply that although Toronto is multicultural, there are other parts of the country that aren't. So it isn't possible to be friends from other parts of the world if everyone around you are from the same area. Not to imply that the First Nations people weren't the original Canadians...
 
We are a country of rocks, trees, fish, butter tarts and for the last 100 years or so oil.
We are a country based on natural resources - without that who would want to live here (sarcasm font) ?
 
bigpoppa said:
I know many people , some who came here both recently and many decades ago, who live in their enclaves and bubbles, never venture outside of it.
Click to expand...

I've noticed this primarily with first gen immigrants...at all the places I've worked in the past, it is not uncommon to see segmented groups of Filipinos, Indians, Russians, Tamils, Caribbean folk etc during lunch time. I've always attributed this to language barriers.

What gets me is folks who've lived here for 20+ years and still barely manage a few words of English. How is this even possible lol.
Yet some of them manage to somehow survive 2 hours of Church sermons without falling asleep 😅
 
Mad Mike said:
Canada promotes multiculturalism which is fundamentally different than the US melting pot model. Canada doesn't ask new Canadians to assimilate into the existing culture, it promotes keeping and sharing each persons native culture.

The USA is a 'melting pot', which means new Americans are asked to accept and assimilate into the American culture. New Americans are not required to abandon their native cultures, but unlike Canada they asked to leave behind things that conflict with American culture.
Click to expand...

Is this a good thing or bad thing?
I suspect that by the 3rd generation parental/cultural background do not have as much significance as they would have with the 1st or 2nd gen folk.
 
sburns said:
Where is this coming from?
What girl played with your heart?
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Not directed at anyone, I just notice it in Toronto all the time, and I tend to mesh with people
Who are like me, they were born here or went to school here and have spend a significant amount of time here.

They grew up with people from all sorts of backgrounds and formed a sort of Canadian identity.
 
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