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What does it mean to be Canadian?


TimberWolf

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Been meaning to ask this and some thread on here (can't remember which one) reminded me.

Act like I am a guy from Ukuleleia and thinking of coming over or whatever and I asked you "What does it mean to be Canadian?" How do you personally answer a question like that?

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It means you have a flag in your window, but you will complain about other provinces if they don't make as much money. It means you will wear a Canadian flag on your backpack when traveling but really you should wear your provincial crest on your forehead. If means you're "Ra ra Canada" until someone mentions that policies in your corner affect Canadians in provinces across the nation.

Patriots verbally, whiny "me first" attitude in action.

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I’m just going to say how I see it and I’m prepared to feel the backlash.

To start with being Canadian means we’re some of the most privileged people on the planet who have access to roads, healthcare, education and relatively safe streets. I don’t think about it regularly, often taken it for granted that by being born here I really won the lottery of life and should be thankful and try harder to give back to the community. We have freedoms, opportunities, and lives and that a majority of the people in the world will never have access to and that only people in relatively recent history could have dreamt of.

All that being put aside the cultural identity of Canada is non-existent at best. What unites us as a country? Is it our love of hockey or our contempt for the way our neighbours to the south do things? Anecdotally I find that immigrants always identify with the place they come from and never seem to think of themselves as Canadian first. My mother moved here when she was four years old, she is now in her mid-60s, and if you were to ask who she identifies with she would respond with the country of her birth, the Netherlands.

I can’t speak for all of Canada but it seems like we’re a very segregated society based on economic, religious, and ethnic lines. Just the other day I heard that in Abbotsford all the white people live in the east part of the city (near the mountain) while the East Indian community live to the west. Perhaps this is unavoidable but such segregation I think encourages people to remain to not identify themselves as Canadians.

At work I had a Filipino co-worker who I consider a friend refer to me as a “real Canadian”. I’m Caucasian but I’m also a first generation Canadian while at least one of his parents were born here.

We’re a country built on the backs of immigrants who watches American television and celebrates a foreign monarchy on our currency. We only seem to come together when Men’s Olympic Gold in hockey or a Stanley Cup are on the line.

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I’m just going to say how I see it and I’m prepared to feel the backlash.

To start with being Canadian means we’re some of the most privileged people on the planet who have access to roads, healthcare, education and relatively safe streets. I don’t think about it regularly, often taken it for granted that by being born here I really won the lottery of life and should be thankful and try harder to give back to the community. We have freedoms, opportunities, and lives and that a majority of the people in the world will never have access to and that only people in relatively recent history could have dreamt of.

All that being put aside the cultural identity of Canada is non-existent at best. What unites us as a country? Is it our love of hockey or our contempt for the way our neighbours to the south do things? Anecdotally I find that immigrants always identify with the place they come from and never seem to think of themselves as Canadian first. My mother moved here when she was four years old, she is now in her mid-60s, and if you were to ask who she identifies with she would respond with the country of her birth, the Netherlands.

I can’t speak for all of Canada but it seems like we’re a very segregated society based on economic, religious, and ethnic lines. Just the other day I heard that in Abbotsford all the white people live in the east part of the city (near the mountain) while the East Indian community live to the west. Perhaps this is unavoidable but such segregation I think encourages people to remain to not identify themselves as Canadians.

At work I had a Filipino co-worker who I consider a friend refer to me as a “real Canadian”. I’m Caucasian but I’m also a first generation Canadian while at least one of his parents were born here.

We’re a country built on the backs of immigrants who watches American television and celebrates a foreign monarchy on our currency. We only seem to come together when Men’s Olympic Gold in hockey or a Stanley Cup are on the line.

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Anecdotally I find that immigrants always identify with the place they come from and never seem to think of themselves as Canadian first. My mother moved here when she was four years old, she is now in her mid-60s, and if you were to ask who she identifies with she would respond with the country of her birth, the Netherlands.

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The only part of your entire post I have to take issue with is the 'always'.

My mother is also from Holland. She moved here when she was two, and if you asked here who she identifies with, it would be Canada, without any hesitation. The same goes for her sisters and her parents.

My grandfather on my dad's side, came from Scotland. I would say the exact same thing about him.

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I’m just going to say how I see it and I’m prepared to feel the backlash.

To start with being Canadian means we’re some of the most privileged people on the planet who have access to roads, healthcare, education and relatively safe streets. I don’t think about it regularly, often taken it for granted that by being born here I really won the lottery of life and should be thankful and try harder to give back to the community. We have freedoms, opportunities, and lives and that a majority of the people in the world will never have access to and that only people in relatively recent history could have dreamt of.

All that being put aside the cultural identity of Canada is non-existent at best. What unites us as a country? Is it our love of hockey or our contempt for the way our neighbours to the south do things? Anecdotally I find that immigrants always identify with the place they come from and never seem to think of themselves as Canadian first. My mother moved here when she was four years old, she is now in her mid-60s, and if you were to ask who she identifies with she would respond with the country of her birth, the Netherlands.

I can’t speak for all of Canada but it seems like we’re a very segregated society based on economic, religious, and ethnic lines. Just the other day I heard that in Abbotsford all the white people live in the east part of the city (near the mountain) while the East Indian community live to the west. Perhaps this is unavoidable but such segregation I think encourages people to remain to not identify themselves as Canadians.

At work I had a Filipino co-worker who I consider a friend refer to me as a “real Canadian”. I’m Caucasian but I’m also a first generation Canadian while at least one of his parents were born here.

We’re a country built on the backs of immigrants who watches American television and celebrates a foreign monarchy on our currency. We only seem to come together when Men’s Olympic Gold in hockey or a Stanley Cup are on the line.

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That assessment of Abbotsford is pretty dang close to be honest. Most of the East Indians live in the west side of the city while the whites live in the east. Its just the way it is, seems like the all migrated over to that side more less for whatever reason, I got no idea why but thats the general consensus in Abbotsford.

To me being Canadian is a hard working individual who doesn't expect alot but is willing to work hard to get where he (or she) wants to go in life. Thats me personally, I grew up with a hard working personality and thats what I believe in. Its like an old soccer coach said to me one time.... "We are like plumbers, we get our lunch box, we get our hard hat and we go to work. Most people don't see what we do but we work our butts off every day"

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To me being Canadian is a hard working individual who doesn't expect alot but is willing to work hard to get where he (or she) wants to go in life. Thats me personally, I grew up with a hard working personality and thats what I believe in. Its like an old soccer coach said to me one time.... "We are like plumbers, we get our lunch box, we get our hard hat and we go to work. Most people don't see what we do but we work our butts off every day"

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? Anecdotally I find that immigrants always identify with the place they come from and never seem to think of themselves as Canadian first. My mother moved here when she was four years old, she is now in her mid-60s, and if you were to ask who she identifies with she would respond with the country of her birth, the Netherlands.

.

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