Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

darkbeaver

#31

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

We are a product of the boob tube and general popcult junkinfo it is no wonder that many of us do not know which state our nations capital Toronto is in.

CDNBear

#32

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by darkbeaver

We are a product of the boob tube and general popcult junkinfo it is no wonder that many of us do not know which state our nations capital Toronto is in.

Truer words could not be said about yourself DB.

VanIsle

#33

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

Which state our Nation's capital Toronto is in?????
Should this read something like - "Which province our nation's capital Ottawa is in"

darkbeaver

#34

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

What's on TV tonight?

Spade

#35

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

YouTube - O Canada

petros

#36

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by VanIsle

Which state our Nation's capital Toronto is in?????
Should this read something like - "Which province our nation's capital Ottawa is in"

Business address is :1746 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW WASHINGTON DC 20036

Spade

#37

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by petros

Business address is :1746 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW WASHINGTON DC 20036

Or dial 1-202-456-1414.

El Barto

#38

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by VanIsle

Which state our Nation's capital Toronto is in?????
Should this read something like - "Which province our nation's capital Ottawa is in"

Looks like you fell in the beaver trap

Polygong

#39

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 1st, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by EagleSmack

Thats a song from a good ol' band from the US of A! Depeche Mode...from Boston!

You are kidding right? Depeche Mode are from Basildon, England.

EagleSmack

#40

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by Polygong

You are kidding right? Depeche Mode are from Basildon, England.

I wasn't but I stand corrected.

darkbeaver

#41

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by El Barto

Looks like you fell in the beaver trap

I was surprised to catch one so late in the season.

bobnoorduyn

#42

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by aman12

I've lived in all 10provinces and 3 territories.Its an incredible country and many Canadians know so little about it. I've had Grade 10 students who did not know the name of the lake our town borders on.(Great Slave Lake).

Yer kiddin' right? Hey, did you know Merlyn Carter? Too bad about him, he was a great guy, helped me out of a few jams too.

#juan

#43

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

I don't think the ignorance is as widespread as reported. Like anywhere else, there is a segment of our society that are only vaguely aware of their own existance, I took the thirteen question test and got nine of them right. Not as good as I wanted to get, but surely a pass.

darkbeaver

#44

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

You only got 20% to 45% of you test write so how can we credit your ohpinyun? I don't think ignorance is reported as widespread.

JLM

#45

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by #juan

I don't think the ignorance is as widespread as reported. Like anywhere else, there is a segment of our society that are only vaguely aware of their own existance, I took the thirteen question test and got nine of them right. Not as good as I wanted to get, but surely a pass.

Where does one find this test?

bobnoorduyn

#46

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 2nd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by JLM

Where does one find this test?

I would assume these are the ones found in the newspapers. Our rag had a similar thing, and I might have got 40% right. But some are sports trivia questions too, like that's relevant.

What passes for history class these days is mostly local and sometimes has a political agenda attached to it. For more general history our kids have to rely on those "Part of out heritage" vignettes on CBC and CTV, that is if they watch anything else but Playstation or MuchMusic.

gopher

#47

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

''I've observed more Canadians know about George Washington than Sir John A. MacDonald.''

Judging from the ignorant posts on this forum, some Canadians think they know Yankee history & politics better than us Yanks. Never in my life have I ever seen Yanks try to tell anyone else that they knew politics or history better natives of their own country. What ever makes these ignorant right wing Canadians think they are so smart is beyond all reason.

JLM

#48

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher

''I've observed more Canadians know about George Washington than Sir John A. MacDonald.''

Judging from the ignorant posts on this forum, some Canadians think they know Yankee history & politics better than us Yanks. Never in my life have I ever seen Yanks try to tell anyone else that they knew politics or history better natives of their own country. What ever makes these ignorant right wing Canadians think they are so smart is beyond all reason.

Hey, that's not surprising, I think ALL countries have their know-it-alls.

darkbeaver

#49

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher

''I've observed more Canadians know about George Washington than Sir John A. MacDonald.''

Judging from the ignorant posts on this forum, some Canadians think they know Yankee history & politics better than us Yanks. Never in my life have I ever seen Yanks try to tell anyone else that they knew politics or history better natives of their own country. What ever makes these ignorant right wing Canadians think they are so smart is beyond all reason.

The whatever would be American right wing nuts and their greedy little god. Our elite (hahahaha) have frequently, in the last three decades, traveled to various magical places in the USA to break bread and quaff the koolaid of globalization. It's no fault of Canadas since our massterbating media successfully copied and or bought into your (american)pop culture time bomb. I don't want to discount the couple of hundred years of loonie limey rule, it may have played a small part in the developement of our mass madness, if in fact we have any other than hockey and grass.

Last edited by darkbeaver; Jul 3rd, 2009 at 09:45 AM..

bobnoorduyn

#50

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by JLM

Hey, that's not surprising, I think ALL countries have their know-it-alls.

And they come from both the left and right of the political spectrum, but then again, most people cannot accurately identify what is left and right.

Machjo

#51

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by Spade

YouTube - O Canada

You skipped a little bit of history there. That's OK, I'll trace it back on the English-Canadian side:

God Save the Queen

YouTube - God Save the Queen Sing-A-Long

1867 (Maple Leaf Forever):

YouTube - The Maple Leaf forever original version

1906 (Richardson version) (English translation of the original and now official French version):

YouTube - WW1 Canadian Path Record

" O Canada! Our fathers' land of old
Thy brow is crown'd with leaves of red and gold.
Beneath the shade of the Holy Cross
Thy children own their birth
No stains thy glorious annals gloss
Since valour shield thy hearth.
Almighty God! On thee we call
Defend our rights, forfend this nation's thrall,
Defend our rights, forfend this nation's thrall."

1908 (McCulloch version):

" O Canada! in praise of thee we sing;
From echoing hills our anthems proudly ring.
With fertile plains and mountains grand
With lakes and rivers clear,
Eternal beauty, thos dost stand
Throughout the changing year.
Lord God of Hosts! We now implore
Bless our dear land this day and evermore,
Bless our dear land this day and evermore."

1908 (Buchan version):
" O Canada, our heritage, our love
Thy worth we praise all other lands above.
From sea to see throughout their length
From Pole to borderland,
At Britain's side, whate'er betide
Unflinchingly we'll stand
With hearts we sing, "God save the King",
Guide then one Empire wide, do we implore,
And prosper Canada from shore to shore."

1908 (Weir's version, to be published in an official form for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927, and made the official English version of the national anthem along with the original French version in 1980):

YouTube - Canadas National Anthem Accpella Style

"O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North, strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free !
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

You English Canadians really have changed the anthem like you change your underwear... and that's a good thing. The Royal Anthem, God Save the Queen, has undergone changes over the years too, according to the needs of the times. Baden Powel's version for the Boy Scouts, for instance, had cut out some of the more confrontational parts to make it more suitable for the peaceful objectives of the Scout movement, just as English Canadians have changed and modified the national anthem to reflect the religious diversity of the country (eliminating the explicti reference to the Holy Cross, for instance).

This, I think, is something we French Canadians need to learn. After all, as Quebec becomes more multi-Faith, it's natural that ever fewer Quebecers will be able to identify with references to the cross.

For an anthem to maintain its relevance, it must necessarily evolve alongside the society it pretends to represent.

Machjo

#52

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

And here a literal translation of the original French version, which is also the current official version:

O Canada!
Land of our forefathers
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As is thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights.

Machjo

#53

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

There's also the 1917 Watson versions, both for within Canada and abroad:

--

What I find to be quite original about this version is the fact that it does in fact have two parallel versions, one to be sung in Canada, and an alternative version to be sung abroad. Quite a cleaver idea.

Machjo

#54

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

And according to Wikipedia, there are even recommendations to modify it yet again:

Weir's original 1908 lyrics, consisting of three verses, did not contain the word "sons", instead using the somewhat archaic "thou dost in us command", and contained no religious reference.------ Weir changed the lyrics to "in all thy sons command" in 1914,-- and in 1926 added a fourth verse of a religious nature.--
In June 1990, the city council of Toronto voted 12-7 to recommend to the Government of Canada that the phrase "our home and native land" be changed to "our home and cherished land", and "true patriot love in all thy sons command" be changed to "true patriot love in all of us command." Councillor Howard Moscoe said that the words "native land" were not appropriate for the many Canadians who were not native-born, and that the word "sons" implied "that women can't feel true patriotism or love for Canada."--
-- such as Senator -- have criticized the English lyrics of the anthem as being --.-- In 2002, Poy introduced a bill to change the phrase "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command". In 2006, the anthem's religious references (to God in English, and to the Christian cross in French) were criticized by secularists.----

Machjo

#55

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Personally, though, I'd see no point in just making modifications to it. If we're going to change it, we might as well come up with a new version that's not likely to need any more updating for awhile, To do that, of course, we'd need to come up with a version that's universally applicable.

JLM

#56

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by bobnoorduyn

And they come from both the left and right of the political spectrum, but then again, most people cannot accurately identify what is left and right.

Right on Bob, like I've said a hundred times, this left and right is a bunch of nonsense - most people just try to do what is correct- most of the time, and the majority of people are only "political" on election day- the rest of the time they are involved in 100 other things to do with earning a living, caring for family, paying bills, weeding the garden, cutting the grass etc. etc.

ironsides

#57

Re: Canadians' wide spread ignorance of canada

Jul 3rd, 2009

Quote: Originally Posted by Cliffy

In order for there to be a land bridge at the Bering Straight the water level had to drop 400 feet. This would have opened the coast to easy access by foot or small island hopping boats. The ice free corridor in Alberta would have been a much more difficult route and really doesn't make sense. If the water lever dropped that much it would also open a route from Europe. DNA test of eastern aboriginal populations indicates European origins.

Findings in central and south America indicate Hawaiian and Aborigine (Australia) origins. The southern tip of Argentina suggest African. The standard story of the Bering Land bridge is falling apart. The site in Siberia where they formerly thought the Clovis point originate have been found to be younger than those in the US, so migration may have been two way street.

Marine Climate and Relative Sea Level Across Central Beringia (Land bridge at the Bering Straight)
--

DNA has shown that both European and Asian origins in N. America.

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