"But Canada is a bit of a different country than Saudia Arabia or Egypt."
not anymore
#reply-17449362
But you're missing the point, 75% of the country wants to join the U.S. You don't need to fight over it just do a noon fly-by over the parliament buildings in Ottawa with some big jets, raise the drinking age to 16 in Manitoba and legalize stripping in Saskatchewan.
Prior to the takeover please learn a little bit more about geography and how to spell potato(e).
the facts
In a series of voyages between 1534 and 1541, Jacques Cartier sailed St. Lawerence River as far as Montreal. On one such voyage, he reportedly went ashore to inquire as to his whereabouts. The Indians answered "Kanata", the Huron-Iroquois term for "settlement". Cartier returned to France and used the word to refer to the land he had seen and thus Canada gained its name.
Canada:
has approximately 28 million residents. is the second largest country in the world. population growth rate: 1.18%
life expectancy: average = 78.1 yrs (male = 74.7 yr; female = 81.7 yr)
literacy rate for total population (including children) is 97%.
government is a confederation with parliamentary democracy.
includes seven time zones.
Canada contains: mountains, prairies, badlands, sand dunes, boreal forests, rain forests, tundra, parkland, aspen forest, the Canadian Shield, borders three oceans, shares the world's largest lake with the USA (Lake Superior), has the worlds largest freshwater island (Manitoulin), and land access to the North Pole.
Ogopogo, a distance relative of the Lock Ness Monster, is said to live in Lake Okanogan, British Columbia.
90% of the Canadian population lives within 320 kilometers (200 miles) of the U.S. border.
In the early 1990s, the United Nations ranked Canada as the best country to live in.
The Province of Alberta has more United Nations approved Heritage Parks than any other Canadian province or American state, and includes Dinosaur National Park, home of Fred the hoodoo (a natural sandstone rock formation with an iron capstone - formed by erosion).
The Canada-U.S. border is the longest open border in the world.
Vegerville, Alberta, is home to the world's largest pysanka (easter egg).
Canada is a member of the British Commonwealth and as such recognizes Queen Elizabeth as monarch though the Crown's presence is purely that of a figurehead. Canada received independence from Britain on July 1, 1867.
The current Canadian flag was adopted on February 15, 1965. The earlier flag included the British Union Jack.
Newfoundland did not enter the Domain of Canada until March 31, 1949.
The Mackenzie River is Canada's longest river and the 3rd largest in the world, behind the Amazon and the Missouri-Mississippi.
Canada is officially bilingual: English (60.6%) and French (24.3%).
The CN Tower in Toronoto is the world's largest freestanding structure at 533 meters (1,815 feet).
In 1944, the province of Saskatchewan elected the first socialist government in North America.
The only diamond mine in North or South America is located in the Northwest Territories.
The Tar Sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta, contain more oil than the oil fields in Saudi Arabia.
Canada's largest export is wheat.
The Canadian Prime Minister is Jean Chretien, Liberal Party, who was elected on 25 October 1993. (Typical term is 40 to 50 years.)
People of mixed Native American and European ancestry are known as "Metis" (pronounced may-tee).
In 1858, gold was discovered in the Fraser River valley which lead to the formation of the province of British Columbia. In 1886, gold was discovered in the Klondike, which began the rush again.
Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic radio message at St. John's Newfoundland on December 12, 1901.
Canada produced the Canadarm, the space arm used by NASA shuttles.
WEIRD CANADIAN STUFF, eh...
-->The currency is different colours (harder to counterfeit; makes you wonder why the U.S. doesn't try it). There are no $1 bills - they were all pulled from circulation when the gummint introduced the widely reviled "looney" $1 coin. So called because (on most of them, anyway) there's a loon on one side, loonies are ideal souvenirs -- small, inexpensive, and uniquely Canadian.
-->Canadian spelling is British (usually), so there are "extra" letters in words like colour, favourite, and jewellery. They also like to use S instead of Z in words like civilisation.
-->And of course everything is metric, as in almost all other civilized (or civilised) nations on the planet except the United States. So get used to the thermometers saying 30 degrees when it's hot. (And I have to wonder how many jokers from the U.S. have tried to drive 100 mph on the expressways, where the speed limit is 100 kph.)
-->Canadians really do say "eh" a lot, eh. And, just like in "The Great White North" skits, the country is absolutely crazy for beer and donut shops. (If you're a donut fan, do not fail to visit Tim Horton's, which is apparently the Canadian version of Dunkin' Donuts and can be found approximately every three blocks.)
-->Canadian geographical trivia: Look at a map. The southern part of Ontario looks like an upside-down dancing elephant. It's true! Windsor is at the tip of the trunk, Sarnia is on the top of the head, Niagara Falls is at the bottom of the front foot, and Toronto is, uh, in the naughty spot. Would I lie about such a fascinating fact?
Basketball American??
Dr. James Naismith is known world-wide as the inventor of basketball. He was born in 1861 in Ramsay township, near Almonte, Ontario, Canada. The concept of basketball was born from his school days in the area where he played a simple child's game known as duck-on-a-rock outside his one-room schoolhouse. The game involved attempting to knock a "duck" off the top of a large rock by tossing another rock at it. Naismith went on to attend McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Naismith was faced with the problem of finding a sport that was suitable for play inside during the Massachusetts winter for the students at the School for Christian Workers. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill for the students instead of one that relied solely on strength. He needed a game that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. The first game was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals.
Face it Chris you're jealous |
