Path: utzoo!lsuc!sickkids!dptcdc!tmsoft!ead
From: ead@tmsoft.uucp (Elizabeth Doucette)
Newsgroups: can.general
Subject: What does it mean to be a Canadian?
Message-ID: <1989Jul27.235845.24886@tmsoft.uucp>
Date: 27 Jul 89 23:58:45 GMT
References: <615662921.9256@myrias.uucp> <568@UALTAVM.BITNET> <609@philmtl.philips.ca> <1458@apss.apss.ab.ca>
Reply-To: ead@tmsoft.UUCP (Elizabeth Doucette)
Followup-To: can.general
Distribution: can
Organization: EAD MoneyHealth Inc, Toronto, Canada
Lines: 46

In article <1458@apss.apss.ab.ca> jhp@apss.ab.ca (Herb Presley,
Emergency Planning Officer) writes: 

> ...
>
>If you really want to know what it means to be a Canadian, get in your car
>sometime and travel the Canadian highway system.  Stop at Moncton, Sherbrooke,
>Lachine, Portage la Prairie, Biggar, Lac La Biche, Golden.  Get out of your
>car, talk to the people, smell the fresh air.  Listen to the sounds.  See the
>mountains, the great lakes, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.  Canada will no
>longer be qualified, but will be who she is, a great country filled with great
>people and places.

You said it very well.  I have visited every province and hope someday
to get to the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.  We really have a
beautiful country.  The problem is, most people don't appreciate it.

A poll published in MacLean's magazine stated that ~60% of Canadians
believe that we should have a common currency with the United States.
That sucks, quite frankly.  You can be sure that WE would be using
THEIR currency.

Too many Canadians, it seems, are too complacent.  Everything is taken
for granted.  In fact, people bitch because they want more, but don't
want to pay higher taxes.

Maybe we can start a discussion on what it means to be a Canadian, to
each person.  Do we care?  What are we willing to do about it?  How
many people would rather sit on their butts, watch American
television, or rent American movies, or listen to American sports and
go to the U.S. to buy cheaper clothes or other goods, rather than
support their own economy.

Are we willing to start our own businesses and work long hours to make
it work?  Or, do we all want to work for a company where we can work
35 hours a week, get lots of vacation and full benefits.  (Our economy
will not be healthy this way).  Of course I realize that a lot of
people work long hours, but a lot of people don't.  How many people
are angry at the number of immigrants who buy up real estate?  I'm not
talking about the billionaires from Hong Kong who already have money.
I'm talking about immigrants who bust their asses, working very long
hours here in Canada, to make a better life for their families.  Is it
realistic to be angry at someone who does something that we are too
lazy to do ourselves?

Elizabeth