Both countries have influenced each other but with the influence being greater from the US because of their overwhelmingly larger population and world influence. To say that the entire world has been under American influence for more than half a century is an understatement. But to say that they are our motherland is a gross misunderstanding; both cultures, originally offshoots of European culture, have evolved into a North American culture. Considering this, it was still a bit eye opening to see the reaction to Andrew Scheer's dual citizenship "crisis". Is Celine Dion a dual citizen?
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I think it's different when it's a politician and potential leader of a country when they have dual citizenship and especially when his party has been outspoken on the issue in the past.
I find more differences in Canada between west and east. When I moved to Ontario for a couple years in the early 90s for school I felt it to be very American, BC didn't have that American vibe going on. Even the differences between BC and Alberta stand out to me, Ukrainians and Russians, Germans etc their influences in Alberta are quite strong, whereas I find BC influences to be more British. Perogies and Sausage are easily found on menus in Alberta for example, and Fish & chips or Roast Dinner is popular on BC menus. |
Anglos, quite literally those of English descent are still closer to England than the USA. What you call allophones, if applied to the ROC: yes I would agree are more influenced by America.
I'm half American yet I still get most of my mainstream news from the BBC. Earlier this year I read an interesting book about the Scots who built Montreal: (controversial idea) Montreal is the most British large city in North America. The American revolution was really a Scots Irish rebellion. I agree Vancouver and Vancouver Island feel more upper class English than anything between Ontario and BC; in Ontario, Barrie and London feel very English to me. re: Empire Loyalists. Consider the context: Montreal was really their "mother" city, the largest city closest to them. Read COMPTON IN RETROSPECT: 1880-1950 - the English (often Scottish) from Vermont and NH built the eastern townships with trade centered around Montreal. As French Canadians moved in, the Empire Loyalists moved to Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver. |
I have to say I'm not buying it.
I would actually take issue w/the notion that Canada has grown to be more like the United States. I would suggest we've become LESS like the United States in the last 4 decades in particular. *** If one examined religiosity in society; Canada used to be far more religious. Today, Canada is not only relatively secular across the nation; but in fact much more so than the United States. This owes in part to the lesser presence and influence of evangelical Christians in Canada who are less than 10% where the U.S. number is 35% ** Lets consider the constitution; sure we went 'codified' as is normative throughout much of the world these days........ But we didn't merely exclude a right to bear arms; we excluded property rights. We chose to include equalization payments to the provinces; something with which there is no U.S. parallel. We have also seen a vastly different Canadian Supreme Court than its U.S. counterpart, not merely in demeanour, selection process or broad societal endorsement..........but in the means of interpreting the constitution itself as a 'living tree'; rather than the U.S. emphasis on 'founding fathers'. Our court has made decisions you have not seen nor are likely to see in the U.S. not merely on gay rights, but on assisted dying, marijuana, prostitution, and the rights of first nations. When one examines views towards immigrants; its not merely than Canadians are more tolerant or welcoming; but how much 'race' is not an issue to the degree it is in the U.S., at least in most parts of Canada. I would again suggest this has marked a clear shift from the Canada of the past; but also from the present U.S. with the trend lines in opposite directions. Canada is certainly not the polar opposite of the United States; but nor is it all that similar. So many aspects of cultural difference seem to pass unnoticed in day to day life; but would strike you clearly from afar. At the same time, I don't think of Britain as a singular 'mother country' either. I think Canada is one of handful of nations with diverse parentage and diverse influences. Canada feels very much like a project of Britain and France with increasing First Nations recognition and influence; but its also influenced both by the United States but also by its very diversity. I've had the great pleasure to travel outside of Canada and North America a fair bit. I have to tell you there are so few places that have great Italian Food, great Thai Food, great Syrian Food, great Punjabi food etc etc. all in one place. Yes, that's more reflective of Toronto and Vancouver than the country as a whole; but those are the 2 biggest centres in English Canada and that same influence can be seen, albeit in lesser amounts in smaller centres throughout the country. I would argue the U.S. is not our mother country, Britain was only the more influential co-parent and the country has evolved into new directions no longer linked to those parents or to the U.S. to the south. |
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I believe this is the case with all of Britain's settler colonies. Of the 15 million people who emigrated from the British Isles in the 19th century, about half were from Scotland or Ireland, despite those regions having much smaller populations than England. The fact that in today's times England is far more densely populated than Scotland or Ireland and dominates the UK population-wise is primary the result of this phenomenon. In 1841, Scotland & Ireland, combined, had about the same population as England; by 1901, England had three times more than both combined. |
If it wasn't for the Scots and Scots-Irish there would be no America or Canada as we know it today. A good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Fighting
Really the dividing line in Canada has been religion not language: Catholic vs Protestant vs non conformist. |
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It's hard to generalize about the two countries but when it comes to food I think the average American has a more "whitebread" palate than the average Canadian. There is a much higher prevalence of diner style food and bland processed food south of the border. This definitely holds in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest vs. Ontario. Another really interesting area is architecture. Canadian cities were building copies of European-style buildings up until the late 1800's or so, at which point American styles became more popular. Richardsonian Romanesque is an example of an American style. These days, in terms of architecture, I think Canadian cities are diverging more and more from American cities. Toronto is not really developing like a Midwestern city, Vancouver is not that similar to the US West Coast, and development in Halifax is nothing like the New England cities. |
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The elephant in the room is that we are both Anglo-Americans.
Canadians dislike the term because there is no form of "Canadian" in that phrase because overall the term is a huge lie. Canada never has and never will exist in reality. The French Anglo divide in this country isn't a lovers quarrel it's a fact that hasn't changed in 250 years. Americans dislike the term because they are obsessed with the idea they are some unique nation not remotely attached to a "anglo" tradition. One of my favorites is the popular use of the term "western culture/civilization". Americans fetish the idea that they have just as much in common with Germans, Italians and Spaniards as they do Brits. The reality is an American is no closer to German culture than an American, and latino's wouldn't stand out if the US had a stronger Mediterranean heritage. We're Anglo Americans plain and simple. |
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Since 1900 many of the major urban development phenomena have played out differently in the two countries. White flight and school issues (which we don't think about much in Canada), urban renewal, highway construction, modern transit, segregation of uses and development of central business districts, gentrification and urban infill. |
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On the urbanization front, this is obvious, as you mention: 25 years ago, the average Canadian 30-something would buy a suburban tract house for their starter home just like their American peers. American millennials still buy suburban tract homes en masse; Canadian millennials - if they can buy at all - live in condo neighbourhoods which are quite different even from the new-build midrise rental apartment neighbourhoods that their millennial professsional counterparts in the more expensive coastal American cities would live in if they can afford decent housing. The other, huge difference is the presence of Hispanics/Spanish in the US, which is essentially nonexistent in Canada. The Spanish/Hispanic influence is enormous; basically the only thing close to it is the presence of all Chinese languages and cultures combined in Metro Vancouver, and even there it feels like a smaller, more scattered presence than in the more Hispanic metros of the US. The effect this is having even on white American culture is enormous; if you go to a house in the US for a football party, you're served chips and salsa and most Americans have a lexicon of Mexican foods that would completely stump your average Canadian (most Americans of all classes and backgrounds know the difference between an enchilada, a gordita and a chimichanga). Then there are Anglo Americans in lines of work like construction, social work and agricultural management who have mastered Spanish to a level beyond the French capabilities of an Ontarian who took French Immersion to at least grade 10. I did some comparisons between the 2011 census versus the 2010 American census, and I found that there were about 200,000 Canadians who had Latin American origins - or fewer than the Hispanic population of Metro Sacramento, CA. |
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Sure, the average RN in Cornwall can probably afford to buy a detached new-build bungalow, the same as her counterpart in Utica, NY, but this represents a fraction of Canada. Quote:
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But other than that there was nothing special about the "13 colonies". They were just the ones that heeded the call. There could have been more or less of them. |
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It's a lot like how if you make a list of metros with transit use or cycling and pedestrian commuters you get a list that includes cities like Boston and San Francisco mixed in with Victoria and Halifax. You don't see cities like Eugene or Charleston on those lists. |
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