If you were from America and gonna move to Canada

[Wols]

Where would you move to? Oh yeah, you don't have a ton of money but you would have enough to buy a small house/cabin.

[flowomo]

1. we visited Quebec this summer.... wonderful! But my ancestors are from

Nova Scotia, so maybe there.

[Lautremont]

2. I would move to Loni Beach, in Gimli, Manitoba,

on the shores of Lake Winnipeg.

[canuckagainstBush]

33. Loni Beach, eh?

My family has a cabin there!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. North of Vancouver.

Powell River or Campbell River area. God lives there. Really.

[tuvor]

7. I get to drive from Courtenay to Cambpell River weekly.

And you're right.

[DenverDem]

4. Vancouver.

BC is beautiful and the bud there is world class.

[Dez]

11. It's the best bud in the world!

Been there, done that *g*

[tuvor]

5. Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island

Beautiful location, nice houses under 200K Canadian.

But the market's doing really well here, and I don't know if you know, but the Canuck Buck has been gaining on the US buck and is at something like a 13-year high.

This is all hypothetical, though, because Kerry will win and you'll help to make it happen, right? :)

[marmar]

6. oh canada!

Toronto or Montreal. Condos are comparatively affordable, and both are AWESOME cities. Being from a border state (Michigan), it almost makes me jealous to visit T.O. or Montreal and soak up the acceptance, embracing and celebration of multiculturalism.

[jimshoes]

8. Windsor is nice

I visit there often. Georgian Bay area is also very beautiful. I've been to Wawa, Ontario which is North of Michigan as well but that's a bit back woodsy for me.

[LibertyorDeath]

9. Vancouver British Columbia

Or somewhere close to Vancouver.

[Dez]

10. Sunshine Coast

Never been there, but I heard it's nice! I love Vancouver Island, but don't like the long ferry ride to the city..

[ironflange]

27. Sunshine Coast is fabulous

We were there for the second time last summer, what an awesome spot. I'd move there in an instant.

[Lancer]

12. Windsor, Ontario

I have friends in the Detroit area so I wouldn't feel all alone. I have a feeling after tomorrow I won't have to seriously think about this again. But I sure was looking at apartment rental rates up there in August.

[Lefty48197]

13. Northern shore of Lake Superior

I think there's some beautiful areas east of Thunder Bay.

[Canuckistanian]

19. I second that!

Somewhere around the Little Pic river. Or maybe even in Thunder Bay.
Heaven! (but no jobs).

[Lefty48197]

25. That's the best thing about paradise:

Everything is free, so you don't need a job.

[Ruffhowse]

14. Vancouver, BC, wouldn't be much of a change from where I am now.

[Cascadian]

36. Same here.

I think I would feel very much at home in Vancouver and how can you not love this?

Mountains within minutes from downtown!




John

[NinetySix]

15. Cape Breton, NS!

God, it's only the most beautiful place you've ever seen!

[Hand]

17. Roger that!!!

It's the part of Nova Scotia that really DOES look like Scotland--moors, mountains, craggy windswept coastlines pounded by a wild surf, even a few streams that may still contain salmon!

Plus the people are great!

:hi:

ON EDIT: And if I'm not mistaken, there's a sizable colony of Nam-era draft resisters up around Mabou...

[iverglas]

16. first you have to pass the language exam

"If you were from America and gonna move to Canada"


That's: "If you were from the States and gonna move to Canada" ...


Me, I'm an Ontario city girl. So: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa. Or one of the old small towns in that corridor, particularly on the St. Lawrence, like Brockville. Or in-between-size, with a snotty university and all the cultural accoutrements (i.e. restaurants), gorgeous river-side parks, old stone building things, and no more than 3 hours from Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa: Kingston. Or maybe Peterborough, similar without the old stuff, and a really ugly university, as I recall.

Off the highways in/around that corridor/triangle (highways 401, 7 and 17, and the roads and highways connecting them) there are all sorts of little towns and less settled areas where real estate isn't expensive. (Brockville and Kingston and the other towns along the St. Lawrence aren't cheap, and the big cities are big cities.) But of course they also don't have loads of economic opportunities.


But then what do I know. I've never been to BC. ;)

[Wols]

18. You mean you have to speak English & French

Edit to say damn I'm dense. I see what you're saying regarding the language exam. Touche. Hey, I do know some French!


That can't be right can it? Damn, there's no way I could immigrate to Canada then. I almost didn't graduate from college because of the German language requirement. I've thought about Mabou. My favorite photographer, Robert Frank, lives there which is how I know about it. But if I'd have to know French I'm screwed. Guess I'll just have to make sure W doesn't win! The thing is, even if Kerry wins the attitude in the country when it comes to things like healthcare is just insane. Truly.

[Canuckistanian]

20. Not speaking French doesn't exclude you

As a native of Toronto currently living near Ottawa, I can tell you that in some areas, French is as prevalent as say, Swahili.

I'm constantly astounded that people who have lived just across the river all their lives from a 90% French-speaking province can't even pronounce my wife's name (Renée) properly.

[Wols]

21. Yeah, I figured it out

I think the problem was I should have said something like this:
"If you were from the States and gonna move to Canada" ...

[iverglas]

22. too subtle for ya ;)

A. "If you were from America and gonna move to Canada"
C. "If you were from the States and gonna move to Canada"

A is what a USAmerican English speaker (and English speakers from much of the rest of the world) says.
C is what a Canadian English speaker says.

Yer not from "America", yer from "the States". Thus it has always been and always shall be in this part of America.

We're part of the Organization of American States too, y'know!


Duh. Edited before I even post to say I'm dense, and I see that you're saying that you see ... ;)



Now of course, there's also the mental health test:

"... the attitude in the country when it comes
to things like healthcare is just insane."

You have to be able to say, because you believe it, that the attitude in the US when it comes to things like firearms control and quite a lot of other reasonable limits on "freedom" that are demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society (that's section 1 of the Canadian constitution), and that are widely practised in Canada at Canadians' initiative and with Canadians' consent, is also insane.

When the urge to break out in chants of "freedom!", or to tell somebody that your freedom trumps his/her interests or the public interest, or to attempt to package freedom up and bestow it on some benighted souls somewhere else on the globe, rises up in you, you have to swallow it -- and think "peace, order and good government!" And set about thinking of ways that you can harmonize your freedom with other people's rights and with the public interest -- that you can practise modern social solidarity rather than eighteenth century bourgeois individualism at home -- and help said benighted foreign souls strengthen the rule of law in their own societies so that they can have the same benefits. And of things that you might learn from said foreigners about how to increase freedom and democracy in your own backyard (i.e., hypothetically, Canada), since other people really do have useful ideas about freedom and democracy from time to time too.

And remember that although Canada is indeed the best place in the world to live, there are lots of things wrong with it, and lots of things that other places really do do better and that we need to learn more about and strive to do better ourselves.

The OECD's report on the abysmal state of childcare in Canada last month offers one example. Everything we know about the situation of the First Nations peoples in Canada is another.

All in all, ya just can't ever have too much social democracy, and health care is just one little bit of that edifice.

[hermetic]

28. Huh???

"You have to be able to say, because you believe it, that the attitude in the US when it comes to things like firearms control and quite a lot of other reasonable limits on "freedom" that are demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society (that's section 1 of the Canadian constitution), and that are widely practised in Canada at Canadians' initiative and with Canadians' consent, is also insane."

Firearms control is insane? I don't follow....

[iverglas]

29. long sentences ...

Shortened for your convenience ;) --

You have to be able to say, because you believe it, that the attitude in the US when it comes to things like firearms control ... is also insane.

The rights -- and the collective security -- that we enjoy here do come at the expense of a degree of freedom. That's the choice we make.

All societies limit freedom. (You can't shout "fire" in a crowded theatre in the US, or lie in court, or falsely advertise snake oil to cure cancer, without breaking the law -- and so the law there does limit freedom of speech, just for instance.)

We agree that there are important individual and collective interests that justify limitations on freedom, but that many in the US, even our friends, would not immediately accept as a basis for those limitations.

When I first visited DU, I was aghast at a discussion of a landlord in some US state who had refused to rent housing to an unmarried (heterosexual) couple, because their lifestyle was contrary to his religious beliefs. His action was held to be legal, and a whole lot of people at DU agreed with that decision. Here, we regard people's need for shelter as superior to anyone's distaste for their domestic arrangements. The US doesn't allow discrimination in such situations based on race, for instance; we don't allow discrimination based on anything that is none of anyone's business, basically.

In the US, people are "free" to live together and not get married -- and to suffer the consequences of their decision if they can't get a place to live as a result. Here, people are free to act on their own wishes and according to their own aspirations and needs and not suffer consequences that arise from someone else's opinion of their choices. Basically, this means that people here effectively have the freedom to do and be what they want -- things that in the US they would effectively not be able to do and be *and* still enjoy the same benefits of membership in the society as everyone else. So, in a sense, we actually tend to be "free"er in many respects, since our freedom isn't as much of an illusion.

People are free to be gay or lesbian in the US; here, they are free to be gay or lesbian and not suffer the consequences of being unable to marry, unable to find housing, etc. The 20% of us who have no religion are free to be atheists and not suffer the consequences of our children have to recite a statement that our country is "under god".

Basically, we here are much more "free" to do and be what we want and be treated equally regardless of what we do and are. That means limiting some people's "freedom" to treat others unequally, and we choose to do that.

Our idea of actualizing rights and freedoms extends to ensuring that people who are poor have access to health care in fact, not just in theory. And that women have access to abortion services, under that health care plan, in fact and not just in theory. And that both women and men have the freedom to take a few months out of the work force to care for a child, in fact and not just in theory -- because we provide employment insurance benefits and job security for those who do it.

And giving some people the actual means to exercise those freedoms -- to get medical care, to have abortions, to care for children -- involves bearing the expense associated with their choices collectively, which we also choose to do.

A lot of USAmericans who admire our health care system, for instance, don't really understand the entire context in which it exists, which it is just a part of, and on which it really depends.

[hermetic]

30. Thank you, I see.

And I have no problem saying that.

[Jackie97]

32. Uh, iverglas.

You all might be part of the Americas, but I think you're the only country that actually considers yourself that way. I think everybody under "the States" just proudly consider themselves their own nationaity. Not to mention that Mexico is also "the States". They're the United States of Mexico. We're "stealing" the name that's officially in the title of their country. Shouldn't we be more considerate of their feelings since "United States" is officially in their country's name? Why are we "the States"? What about other countries with "states"? Aren't we all "states" as countries? So far, I think I've only seen Canadians feel sensitive about this subject. Everybody else calls us America as far as I can tell.

Of course, we all know what our real name is. It's Bushyland. Sigh.

[iverglas]

37. uh, Jackie97

"So far, I think I've only seen Canadians feel sensitive about this subject. Everybody else calls us America as far as I can tell."

As it started out, the point wasn't being made out of "sensitivity". It was a linguistic question. Canadians SAY "the States", period.

This practice, which has existed since long before I was born, doesn't likely have anything to do with "sensitivity" or any kind of geopolitical analysis at all. It likely goes way way back to the post-revolutionary period, when you folks first became "the States" -- the states that had just formed a confederation.

We up here weren't a state, or states. We were a colony. Prior to your revolution, you too were colonies. Then you became states: united states.

When we say "the States", we know which states we're referring to. If we said it in Guatemala, someone might think we were referring to the Mexican states, I suppose, but I doubt it. In my experience, of course, Spanish speakers in the Americas refer to your country as "los Estados Unidos", just as it is usually referred to in Canada/Quebec, in French, as "les Etats-Unis" (which gets just about exactly twice as many hits on google as "Amérique" -- very few of the latter referring to the US).

Of course, you'll notice that I did say "<America> is what a USAmerican English speaker (and English speakers from much of the rest of the world) says". And of course, since I referred specifically to English speakers, my statement was perhaps more accurate than yours, which referred to "everybody else".

In point of fact, few Canadians are "sensitive" to this issue. But I can assure you that a whole lot of other Americans are. But then, I was a little put off by Cubans calling you folks norteamericanos; you may recall my tale of being asked in Havana whether I was a norteamericana (USAmericans being rare birds in Havana in the 1970s), and replying sí, yo soy canadiense -- yup, I'm a North American ... a Canadian. Confused the Cuban all to hell. The point is, Cubans most certainly do not call USAmericans americanos, which they consider themselves and everyone else in the hemisphere (well, maybe except Canadians ;) ) to be.

As tourists in the UK, when my mum and I were asked what part of America we were from, we replied: "the Canadian part" -- really not making the geopolitical point about America/the Americas, just making the "you're being presumptuous" point, humorously, to people who really ought not to forget that we Canadians do exist. (Of course, I made the equally unforgivable mistake of taking a New Zealander on our bus for an Australian ... .) The "sensitivity" that arises in that situation doesn't have to do with being excluded from "America", it has to do with being excluded from the consciousness of people whose country my great-uncle, and a lot more of us (proportionately far more than of USAmericans in both world wars), died defending.

But really. It was a joke. USAmerican immigrants need to learn Canadian English so they can get ahead here. Next, we'll do "chesterfield".

[Jackie97]

39. I empathize. Really, I do.

We were discussing Canada in my South East Asian history class. Somehow, the language issue came up, along with Canadians being "Canadians". I mentioned that every Canadian online that I "know" makes if very clear to me that they're not American. Somebody asked "What type of people define themselves as what they're not?". I just answered back "The type of people who everybody thinks is an American".

I empathize, but I'm doubting that Canada is the only country going through this. Did you notice the small country right above China as much as you noticed China? When most USAmericans think of South America, I think they tend to think of Brazil. Did they notice all those countries around Brazil?

I think the biggest issue of the day might be Chechnya. They. are. not. part. of. Russia. They never have been. Russia's just been trying to force themselves on them since the 1800s. Now, their sovereignty isn't even recognized.

I think most people do see a difference between the United States and Canada. Otherwise, Americans wouldn't claim to be Canadian in other parts of the world when they're about to get their ass kicked for being American. They wouldn't claim it because they would know that people thought Canadians were the same.

I think Canada made a real unique name for themselves being right beside the States and saying "No" to their war. I honestly doubt that some of the European countries that supported our UN sanctions would have done that if they were so close. I don't mean to insult Europe, but that's what I think. We're going to need more international resistence in the next four years (Is it really going to last four years since people hate Bush so mush. I see impeachment attempts and other stuff happening).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must listen to music and think more about whether I want to practice fight or flight.

[iverglas]

43. this one's for you

It's on a site belonging to some individual whom I don't know, and I don't want to use his/her bandwidth without asking, so copy the url and add ".jpg":

http://www.anthamatten.org/a/UCA

You'll like it.

[Jackie97]

44. LOL!

I still like Bushland better though. The fundamentalists here have a Christianity that I think "Jesus" himself would disown. LOL!

[Huckebein the Raven]

23. Vancouver or somewhere in Quebec because I would like

to speak French. Also, Ontario a bad place to live because I wouldn't mind Toronto.

[PatGund]

24. Hmmm..

Well, my ladyfriend lives in Vancouver, so I have a bias towards that portion of BC.

Besides which, my Joule is nowhere near good enough to handle Quebec. :-)

[ironflange]

26. Alberta's OK, too

Sure, Albertans are considered right-wing by Canadian standards, but the old rule says that a Canadian conservative is about the same as a moderate Democrat in the US. Try Calgary if you like the great outdoors, proximity to the mountains, and the annual 10-day bust-up in July. Pick Edmonton if you're more into culture (especially theatre) and don't mind more cold weather. Edmonton is a bit more liberal politically, though Calgary, for some reason, has elected a long line of Liberals as mayor.

If you were to choose one of these cities to live in, you would have to be able to let fly an insult to the other one at a moment's notice.

[nickinSTL]

45. I'd consider Calgary

Despite the Conservatives, as I have a friend in Calgary who's offered to help me out with finding a job there if I decide to go.

[Jackie97]

31. I don't know.

Where should I move to? I'm seriously considering moving to Canada or someplace else.

Sorry to intrude.

[auntAgonist]

34. Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia !

Nova Scotia , anywhere.
New Brunswick.

Definately the east coast, but you have to like cold winters.

[Hand]

38. It's not that cold out east...

Nova Scotia especially is kept relatively moderate by the Gulf Stream. It's pretty blustery further west and north, i.e. New Brunswick (Province of Swine) and Newfoundland, but if you want COLD, try central Canada and the prairies!

BTW, did you know that Ottawa is the second coldest national capital, right after Ulan Bator, Mongolia?

:hi: from Halifax.

[Wols]

40. I'm actually looking most closely at Nova Scotia

Up around the Cape Breton region. I wouldn't want anything fancy, it's just me and my dogs and I am pretty shocked at how inexpensive real estate is in this region. I don't want to put too much in a house as this looks like a rural area where employment opportunities will be scarce. Hopefully in a year I will have enough money where I won't have to worry about work for a while. I already have some money saved up and will sell my house and land here in the States within the next year or so. Now I just have to figure out the bureaucracy.

[auntAgonist]

42. True, I guess I was 'thinking' it was colder than it is

from looking at some photo's a friend had sent. Nova Scotia calls out to me. Born and raised in Scotland and having lived in Canada most of my life Cape Breton Island drew me like a moth to the flame. I cried like a baby when we left NS when our vacation was over, vowing to come back and never leave again .... I hope that promise to myself can be kept someday. It IS heaven on earth.

[Cascadian]

35. How about this place?

That was taken off of Vancouver Island near Tofino.


John

[Iceburg]

41. Or how about a some wildlife in your backyard

to restore the faith in this good planet



Along the Rideau River (Kemptville, Ontario near Ottawa)

[LiberteToujours]

46. Edmonton!

OK, I can't really give you any reasons why it's better than any other city in Canada, but I live here. ;)

Oh! We do have the biggest mall in the world.

http://www.westedmontonmall.com