For this post, I thought I’d take the time to answer some questions about Canada from… well people who don’t live here ^^;; I posted on my Facebook and Twitter looking for questions from curious individuals and this is what I’ve got:
Victoria wrote: “Does Canada participate in daylight savings time? Do you have crazy long sunlight hours in the summer and crazy long night hours in the winter cuz you’re so far north?”
We do participate in daylight saving time. Well, most of us do. There are a few places that do not participate but those are in the minority. As for the sunlight hours, I live close to the US/Canada border so for myself it is not that bad. It would be pretty similar to what Seattle experiences I’d imagine. The long periods of sunlight/darkness are more likely to be experienced by those MUCH further up north in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Oh and Nunavut! We must not forget Nunavut, she’s new 😉
HOWEVER! Where I live is a desert climate so it means 95 F in the Summer and 10 F in the Winter are not that uncommon. Plus without having a large body of water, it is a dry cold/heat.
Maria (on Twitter) wrote: Mounties. I want to know about Mounties because in American TV they be hott… more … i also heard that Canadian tv is funded by the government, I liked Slings and Arrows – but it was only 3 seasons is this typical. Also thank you for Nathan Fillion.
We are also proud of our Nathan Fillion so thank you for joining us in our admiration of him 🙂 Anything originally aired by CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corp) will likely receive funding from the government. So TV shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie, Heartland, Republic of Doyle, and Cracked would fall under that category. We do have some Canadian specialty channels that show Canadian TV shows as well: so Continuum, Lost Girl, Rookie Blue, and your Slings and Arrows would fall under that category. The model would be more similar to how American TV series work in comparison to British programming as that renewal is based upon ratings and budget. Since Canada has a smaller market, networks have more reasonable expectations about performance. That being said, there is no typical length for a series. Canadian TV (public or private) does not get a lot of hype or PR in comparison to American TV due to the smaller market and the budget sizes companies have over here right off the bat. Getting renewed is always a good thing but being picked up by an American network for airing is a PLUS.
As for our Mounties (aka Royal Canadian Mounted Police), they’re our federal/national/municipal police force. They ONLY wear the red outfit for special occasions, so normally they look like this. Or that. The red suit is more commonly worn for photo ops, special events, or presentations. They also drive cars that look like this. So the sexy Mounties you see on TV look sexy for a reason 😉 Our cops can look as sexy or not sexy as your own. They are also known to make MASSIVE mistakes. Check out this article from just 2007. Lots of massively stupid things happened there that just makes us shake our head.
Thanks for the questions 🙂 It was fun to write this up. Maybe I’ll do it again. If you have any other questions about Canada, feel free to ask in the comments section and I’ll answer them.
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scoobyclue
November 20, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Thank you for answering my questions. I thought Slings and Arrows was a great show and was surprised it was only on for 3 seasons ( I think it was three ) I would also like to know a little more about the divide between French and English Canadians. In my job I get a lot of calls from Canada – and the Frenchies, who obviously do not know I am in the US always go off on me in French, but are perfectly nice to me when I tell them I am in the States and speak English. ( although I do speak German ) Also did Canada ever seek its independence from British Rule, how strong are your British ties … and what do you think every American should know about Canada … because honestly, as an American living in the south I know very little.
Also what is your favorite Canadian writer? I love Sparkle Hayter – but get she is not so “lit”
Cookie
November 21, 2013 at 6:17 PM
I would suggest watching the Canadian movie Bon Cop, Bad Cop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Cop,_Bad_Cop). It is switches between English and (Canadian) French, but it does come with subtiles. It demonstrates the attitudes between Ontario and Quebec, and English and French culture. Canada seperated from British control on July 1, 1867. For the most part, we govern ourselves, decide when we go or not go to war, but get the Queen to sign major bills into law. The Queen is our “head of state” technically but our country leader is a Prime Minister. Because we didn’t rebell against our wonderful British godfathers, if one of us get knighted we can use Sir, but since silly ‘Merica rebelled, you can’t! Overall I’d say that we have a lot of ties to British culture because we never saw it as a “bad” thing in our early history.
I don’t really have any favourite Canadian authors, though if one was looking for one, I would always point to Margaret Atwood.
Things Americans Should Know About Canada:
1- We have cities, cars, etc. Our cities pretty much look like yours
2- We have ten provinces and three territories, not states.
3- It’s not a winter wonderland all year round here. I swear. We do have distinct seasons
4- We have more guns then you. HOWEVER, our guns are typically used for hunting
5- Minus Thanksgiving, we celebrate a lot of the same holidays as you
6- Despite how we act, our national sport is not hockey, it’s lacrosse
7- Canadian football is different. The Canadian Football League (CFL) has larger end-zones, the football is bigger, and they have one less ‘down’.
7b- We can do touchdown dances to celebrate without getting penalitize
8- Canada has rednecks, too
9- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ety2FEHQgwM Listen to this song. It contains important Canadian history concerning the US 😉
10- For the most part, French is important to know if you work for the government or live around Ontario/Quebec. It’s kinda useless over in the West for the most part. Even grade 4 me (and my grade 4 classmates) wondered why we were learning French when we had HUGE communities of Punjabi, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese speaking people, not even an hour’s drive away.
11- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y6Ci9ok5aM This song mentions a lot of good points about Canada