Is Canada a good country to live in as a republican/conservative?

Question

let's face it, Americans such as my self (at least my generation) don't know very much about the place, mostly because all we learned about in school were native americans and blacks (no offense, i'm just sayin'). what most of us do know is the stereotypes like :

they're overly polite

they export a lot of maple syrup

it's cold

they have funny accents

their city's have funny names

they have national health care, which I've heard is better than that of the U.K.'s

there is beautiful landscape and clean air

and of course hockey

now for your average American republican who thinks taxes are a necessary evil, that all major politicians are generally retarded and a big bag of conflicted interests, and that the government should be ruled by the people not vice verse ( V for Vendetta is probably my favorite movie), that San Francisco will be destroyed by fiery hail in the next 5 years, that the USA is far too dependent on foreigners (because of the politicians) and too easy on illegal immigrants (they're called ILLEGAL for a reason folks) and that we stick our nose in way too deep sometimes, is Canada a good place to live?

in other words, are there as many left wing nuts up there as there are down here?

Answer 1

Everything you want to know about Canada is in this website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada

Answer 2

politics ranges from area to area like in the US but we have no equalivalent to the southern US baptists or fundementalism conservatives as in the mid-west US.  Religion plays next to nothing in our politics. Alberta is the most conservative province and BC probably the most liberal.   We dont have the major right/left divide as in US with most politicans hugging the middle ground.  For instance even our conservatives must support things like universal healthcare and same s*x marriage to stay main stream and electable. Overall we are believers in government run programs for instance here in BC even our auto insurance is a public system and not private as is healthcare.  I like it as it avoids alot of the litigation costs and legal wrangling and outrageous profiteering. In healthcare as well it avoids profiteering but does produce waiting lists for some procedures but at least we dont have people going bankrupt, losing their assets or not getting procedures done.

Corporate taxes here are actually lower than the US with personal income tax being somewhat higher but includes health care access.  Changing jobs means nothing as far as health insurance so not quite so nailed down to an employer.

Our pension system is solid, our government has had a surplus for 9 solid years now and debt has actually declined.   We have unemployment inurance, maternity benefits, wcb etc too so safety net although trimmed severely since the 80s is still quite large.  Welfrae is almost non-existant outside single moms with kids under 5.

Our biggest concern economically is whats happening in the states.  Just like Canada is the #1 buyer for 31 of 50 states the US buys 80% of our stuff so it affects us as well.

Our oil reserves are bigger than saudi Arabia but harder to get at.   Population concentrated in 10 big urban areas across the country with vast untouched spaces in between./  A lake for every person and relatively clean enviroment and civil society.

Yes most of us have high speed internet and hd tv and yes phones as dont forget Alexander was a Canadian invented that in the first place

Answer 3

In comparison to the United States, Canada is far left of centre politically.   Taxes are high because there are many social programs in place.  We currently have a "Conservative" federal government.  Canadian 'conservativism' is probably just slightly to the political left of the US democratic party.   Historically, the Canadian Liberal Party has governed the country as much as 75% of the time.  From a US republican point of view, a Canadian liberal is so far left you'd call him/her a socialist.  Provincially, the New Democratic Party (NDP) forms the government in a number of provinces.  the NDP is even further left than the Liberals.  The last true 'conservative political party was called Social Credit.  They died out federally 25 years or more ago and the last provincial Social Credit government was beaten so badly (by the NDP) in British Columbia in 1990 that they ceased to exist.  The Alberta is probably the most conservative province in the country.    If you're looking for a right wing conservative life in Canada, you're not going to have much success.  

Answer 4

That's a lot of questions; just for 2 points (or potentially 10).

First, Canada is a great country to live in, I've been here since 1951.

I finally took out my citizenship, I think I'm going to stay here.

I go to Florida for 4 months every winter, but would not live there.

Canadians only appear polite, when compared to Americans.

Vermont has maple syrup too, we can't claim a monopoly.

But we do have much better beer, & something called Ice-Wine.

Cold is a relative term, & has to do with latitude not the country.

Toronto is the same latitude as Boston, we're not all frozen.

Accents are in the ear of the beholder, or is that the listener?

Some place-names are French, & some are aboriginal;

while you had Spanish & aboriginal (we don't say Indian any more.).

We do have a great national health-care insurance program.

But the UK include dental. That's why our taxes are so high.

Most of our pollution is created between Detroit & New York.

North of that is still pretty clean & green.

Hockey is one of our major exports.

Politicians are the same everywhere; out of work lawyers.

But we have 3 major parties: Liberal, Socialist, Conservative.

It makes for minority government, so they have to co-operate.

Answer 5

they're overly polite: h**l no. it is a stereotype but funny enough people here can be quite rude sometimes.

it's cold: in the winter. in the summer it's warm. right now it's 92 degress farenheit outside my window.

they have funny accents: nah we talk the same as americans. unless you go to the east coast. but it's pretty much the same.  We do not say aboot.

their city's have funny names; toronto? ottawa? edmonton? okay compared to US names like. Tonawanda, and Cheektowaga?  Every country has some cities that have funny names

they have national health care, which I've heard is better than that of the U.K.'s

personally, I think the UK's is better. but yes our health care is good.  Only problem is sometimes you have some wait times. last time I went to a walk-in clinic I had to wait 2 hours. (that's without an appointment) but Iw alked out of there with my wallet full still.

there is beautiful landscape and clean air: true and false.  We have our smog and gross air quality in the major cities on some days. But mainly YES is the answer to this question.

and of course hockey.  yup we have hockey

now for your average American republican who thinks taxes are a necessary evil, = I don't mind our taxes cause well...we get free health care, no tolls, good education etc etc.I actually thought it was really stupid when our current (conservative) government cut federal taxes by 2%. worst move ever

that all major politicians are generally retarded and a big bag of conflicted interests, = ya that pretty much sums up our politics.

and that the government should be ruled by the people not vice verse ( V for Vendetta is probably my favorite movie), = too bad no one stands up to their government anymore.  The politicians can do what they please. *sigh*

and that we stick our nose in way too deep sometimes, is Canada a good place to live?

yes Canada is a good place to live, if you don't mind that your party is full of idiots (but hey the liberal party is too, so you aren't alone)

in other words, are there as many left wing nuts up there as there are down here?

I like how you call all liberals "left wing nuts".  Kind of ridiculous of you since you just spewed off a whole load of ignorance about this country, making yourself look like a "right wing nut".  to answer your question.  yes there are liberals in Canada, it is not 100% conservatives. and the last 10 years were run by a Liberal government, and as soon as another election is called they will be back in power because the conservatives have screwed up so much in this country and unfortunately, it is a 2 party system (although the NDP are sneaking their numbers up...thank god)

also, are there certain goods, services or technology's that americans are used to that are not available up there?

We don't have electricity in every home.  mostly because electricity gets to hot and melts our igloos. (I found a ridiculous stereotype you forgot).

Everything is the same.  It is so clear you are from texas, I heard they don't have schools down there, and that everyone drops out of homeschooling in grade 6 to work in the oil fields and farms.

OH YA! And we like to eat beaver tails (this I am not lying about).

Answer 6

We're polite but generally more reserved than Americans.

Yes, we do export a lot of maple syrup. I wish we didn't. Maybe it would be cheaper here and I could have more of it.

It's cold in most parts in winter but no colder than many US cities such as Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis. Summer can get pretty hot in those same parts.

Funny accents? Look who's talking! I can guarantee there are no Canadians with accents as funny as some of the US ones I've heard. Canadians on the whole speak quite good English in terms of grammar and pronunciation. Can't say the same for some people I hear phone in to US radio shows. A lot of them sound like they didn't make it past grade 8.

And cities with funny names too. Oh, come on. The US has some darned peculiar names too.

Our health care system is pretty good though naturally there are complaints. I don't believe it's as comprehensive as Britain's. One thing it does do is pretty much guarantee that you're unlikely to have to sell your house to afford major medical treatment.

Beautiful landscape and clean air we do have. Not everywhere, of course--big cities can be fairly polluted. For some reason I don't understand, most Canadian towns and cities are better-looking than most US ones. Houses and buildings are tidier, streets haven't much litter. This difference is very noticeable in small border cities. The Canadian side always looks cleaner even though the cities are essentially the same size and have similar economies.

Yes, there's hockey. We're not all hockey nuts but in smaller places that get decent winters for it, it's a big part of winter activity.

Canadian politics doesn't seem to have the extremes that you seem to get in the US. I can honestly say that I have no idea what the ideological differences are between the two major parties--not much is my suspicion. Canada as a whole is more left-leaning than the US but we don't make a big deal over it, it's just there. I think our attitude is at once more laid back and more rebellious than that of the average American, more like what the attitude of many Britons is. We support the government in general but reserve the right to criticize freely though quietly and tend to go about our business as we see fit, regardless of how the government tries to stick its nose in. It was our Pierre Trudeau who said that the government has no business in the bedrooms of the nation. No, we don't have many left-wing nuts, or many right-wing ones either. A few but not many.

You will probably find just as many services and technologies here as in the US but since we are a much smaller country population-wise, you may find you have to go further to get them and there won't be as much choice of who you get it from. Same for any consumer goods, and that lack of choice might be what leads to poorer customer service in Canada than you get in the US. We just don't have the numbers to support the choices you have in the US. In terms of daily life, it makes very little real difference. Unless, of course, all you eat is fast food. Most Canadian cities have nowhere near as much of that as you do. I marvel when I am in the US at the multitude of restaurants, none of which are all that good by my standards, and at the entire aisles of junk food in the supermarkets. Canadian food is better on the whole.