A Canadian Two Four, eh? (Survey)

Since it was a Canadian survey, I am pretty much obligated to fill this one out. I stole it from a favorite who took it from one her favs who created it. It was a good survey, so I am pretty eager to fill this out out and post it… enjoy it and I tag all my fellow Canucks to fill this one out as well!

Peter

1. In which province were you born?

I was born in Ontario.

2. In how many provinces have you lived?

I’ve only lived in two provinces. Ontario and Newfoundland.

3. Which provinces have you visted?

I have visited Quebec and Nova Scotia.

4. Do you have a favourite province?

Yes, I am very fond of and will return to Newfoundland.

5. Do you like hockey?

I love to watch it, but I don’t like to play it. I’m a very bad skater. Road hockey I can play but never with ice…

6. If yes, who is your favourite team?

The Maple Leafs of course… but if Hamilton ever gets a team I will jump ship and back them 100%

7. Do you feel that Canadians are too Americanized?

No, I don’t think we are. Our push to decriminalize pot and legalize gay marriage should be considered proof we differ with our neighbors to the south on a few big issues. We also said no to the war in Iraq and the missile defense project as well. While we enjoy the movies, TV, music and all that cool stuff… we still think on our own and differ a great deal whenever we want to.

8. What is your favourite Canadian band?

For me this answer is a no brainer: Blue Rodeo. I’ve been a fan of this band since 1990 when the album ‘Casino’ came out, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Leah wasn’t a big fan of them until I won two tickets to see them at a small, private ‘win to get in’ show hosted by CMT. There was only a little more than 100 people there, and the show lasted more than three hours and since then she too has been a huge fan, and we’ve seen them peform two more times since. We almost saw them again last year but missed out. Just in case my readers are not familar with their works, I have hit you tube to provide some video to show you the music that I enjoy listening to from this great band. Enjoy…

9. Have you ever seen a moose?

Yes, I saw quite a few when I lived in Newfoundland. I remember when I was working with the inventory company we almost hit one on the highway cause it was snowing and the moose was covered and was hard to see. We barely managed to swurve around him.

10. Have you ever eaten moose?

Oh yes… and I loved it. Moose ribs are to die for, and moose meat ground up into various meals are actually kick ass. My wife’s brothers hunt moose so for a while we had a steady supply of ground moose, and I used it to make moose burgers, moose lasanga, moose tacos, mooseburger helper and a whole wack of other stuff. I love moose meat, and I really miss it.

11. Do you like pure maple syrup?

Not really, too sweet for my liking… and I don’t eat the tame stuff that much either.

12. What is your opinion on the Robert Latimer case?

While I do support the idea of euthanasia, what I don’t support is people taking the law into their own hands and deciding for themselves what qualifies and what doesn’t. Even if a nation were to legalize euthanasia, it should be highly regulated and only admistered after going through a lot of legal loop holes. Latimer deserved his conviction because what he did was not legal… and in this case what his daughter was suffering from was not fatal either. I just have to wonder whose pain was he trying to ease when he killed her, his daughter’s or his own?

13. Do you remember December 6, 1989?

I’m not sure what happened on that day in the rest of the world, but on that day in Canada… it was the Montreal Massacre. Twenty-five year-old Marc Lépine, entered a college armed with a legally obtained semi-automatic rifle and a hunting knife. He proceeded to shoot twenty-eight people, killing fourteen (all of them women) and injuring the other fourteen before turning the rifle on himself. It was a horrific event for Canadians since shootings like this do not happen as often up here as they do south of the border.

The event however is also one of the most politically exploited in Canadian history. The feminist movement is periodically criticized for appropriating the massacre as a symbol of male violence against women. For example, Charles Rackoff (professor from the University of Toronto) compared the annual vigils marking the event to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. “The point is to use the death of these people as an excuse to promote the feminist/extreme left-wing agenda”, he wrote, adding that it is “no more justified” than the KKK using the “murder of a white person by a black person as an excuse to promote their agenda.”

Less provocative critiques argue that Lépine was a “lone gunman” who does not represent his entire gender, and that violence against women is neither condoned nor encouraged officially or unofficially in western culture. In this perspective, feminist memorializing is considered socially divisive on the basis of gender and therefore harmful by bestowing guilt on all men, irrespective of individual propensity to violence against women…

14. Is it your opinion that you feel safer living in Canada than you would living in the U.S.?

The murder rate per capita drops from 4 per 100,000 to 1.2 per 100,000 just by crossing the border. So yes, I feel safer living here than I would living in the US. I felt even safer living on the rock which is why I will likely return there one day.

15. Do you think Canada should allow privatized health care? Please make an argument for your response.

No, I do not believe the government should allow any private health care. The health care act is in place for a reason and it forbids private clinics and hospitals for a reason, so that every Canadian gets equal treatment and no one is given preference based on what is in their wallet. If we allow private clinics to open that will create a two teir system and that will create a health care system for the haves and a health care system for the have nots. Then the fat cats will influence government to cut the lesser of the two since they no longer need it and then before you know it… the poor have no healthcare. That’s not a slippery slope I want to go down, soI say no to any private health care at all. Anyone tries to open one, send in the cops… shut them down and take away the lisence of the doctor not following the health care act. Any provinces who don’t fall in line should lose their funding transfer.

16. What is your favourite Canadian movie?

One film that really got to me was Atom Egoyan’s ‘The Sweet Hereafter’. A haunting film that will stick with you long after you watch it.

17. What do you think of Red Green?

He’s great. I’ve been a fan of his work since the very, very beginning when his show was first on Hamilton’s local network. I’m glad his gig managed to last as long as it did…

18. What does being Canadian mean to you?

Interesting question, it’s something that I never really thought of that much until recently actually. Technically, part of me knows that being born in this nation (that being one of 30 million plus people out of six billion…) is almost like winning a lottery when you’re born. I really didn’t realize that and took it for granted until I travelled the world a bit and began to see and meet people from other parts of the world. I take for granted the fact that despite lineups and other quibbles people have that if I fall and break my leg or get in a car accident, I’ll be tended to quickly and won’t be charged a dime for it. While I like being Canadian and love living here, we are far from perfect (need to toss out the current government from office for example). I’m not going to get preachy or patriotic about it, but I feel privledged to be here, and it’s something I value a lot more than I used to now that I’ve travelled a little more beyond the borders a bit more.

19. Multi-cultural vs melting pot. Which one do you prefer and why?

Unless you’re an aboriginal native, you really can’t complain about people coming over and tossing their two cents into the nation… but at the same time I like the idea that other cultures can come together and make what we have better than it already is. As a former student of folklore, I can assure you there is no such thing as too much culture, but when people break out their religious books and ask for new laws… that’s when we need to put our feet down.

20. Do you feel we should side with the U.S. on the war in Iraq?

One of the best decisions Chretien ever made was to tell King George where to go with regards to the Iraq war. And it wasn’t Kokomo. Our Prime Minister at the time knew the evidence was phony, didn’t buy the bullshit and refused to take part. Years later it was the right move and I’m sure a lot of people in this nation agree.

21. Have you ever felt afraid of living next door to the U.S.? If yes, why?

I’ve felt more afraid a little more since a drunk Texas Governor took over in 2001… but hopefully he’ll be replaced in the fall by a very articulate and sound thinking Senator from Illionis.

22. Is Stephen Harper a good leader?

No, I don’t think he is. He reminds me of the qualities that I hate in Republicans… which is the reason why I will not vote for him on Oct 14th. I don’t like the Liberals either so I’m going with the NDP come election day.

23. Do you agree with Canada’s decision to allow same-sex couples to marry? Discuss your argument.

I happen to agree with the government’s decision. If a same sex couple wants to marry, we have no right to tell them they can’t. Not allowing one group of people to have the same rights that others have is discrimination no matter how you try to slice it. If a church doesn’t wish to perform the ceremony because of their belief, that’s fine but churches that do and the government should be allowed to and I’m proud that my nation took care of this issue fairly earlier than most nations.

24. How do you feel about the change in security over the last while, and now having a closed boarder to the U.S.?

That new law about needing a passport instead of a birth certificate to cross the border is very annoying, but it gives me an excuse to keep my passport updated so that’s not a bad thing. Sure, they tightened security at border checkpoints, but there are still some parts of our border that are unguarded like in Saskatchewan, so don’t tell me we have a closed border. A pylon is not a closed border.

If you really think the border is closed, I have a bridge in Alaska I’d like to sell ya.