# Canadian Thanksgiving?



## Billvila (Oct 12, 2009)

Being American I have no clue of the world around me. I always assumed that the calendar had misprints on it. What's the difference between American Thanksgiving and Canadian, and what is Boxing Day?


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## Shawner (Oct 12, 2009)

I think the only difference btwn Thanksgivings is the date.

Boxing day is Canada's big shopping day, held the day after Xmas.  Similar to your Black Friday (?)


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## Billvila (Oct 12, 2009)

They don't put black Friday on calenders.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Oct 12, 2009)

In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second monday of each October.  In the US, because of the longer growing season in the south eastern US where the tradition started, it's celebrated on the fourth Thursday of each November.  In both countries, the reason for the holiday is to give thanks to the Almighty, Mother Earth, or whomever or whatever for providing a bountiful harvest.

I'm posting this from my sister's computer.  The whole family is at her house for Thanksgiving Dinner.  And, where I live, if a crop hasn't been harvested by now, then the farmer intends to plow it under in the spring.  We had an early snow a few days ago, and my mother pulled all the flowers out of her flower garden yesterday because they've all been killed by that early snow.  This is the end of our growing season.

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and is only celebrated as a holiday in Commonwealth countries.  That is, only predominantly Catholic countries that maintained the British king or queen as their ultimate monarch after the dissolution of the British Empire, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.  Boxing Day started in England during the mid-19th century (1850's).  At that time, churches would set up collection boxes called "Alms Boxes" where people could donate money to help the poor during the Christmas holiday season.  These boxes would be opened on the day after Christmas and the money distributed to the poor.  Today, Boxing Day in Canada is when all the stores have their "after Christmas sales".  People in Canada buy gifts for friends and relatives for Christmas, but they wait until Boxing Day to buy something for themselves at a reduced price.  Boxing Day sales are most prevalent amongst eletronics retailers in Canada like Future Shop, Staples, Best Buy and Circuit City.


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## Billvila (Oct 12, 2009)

Nestor thank you. You help to bridge the gap between US Canadian Relations, and I'm sorry in advance for the inevitable war that will spring up between our nations. What war you ask? Once the US realizes that canada is up there the next step is clearly invasion. Sorry?


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## travelover (Oct 12, 2009)

Billvila said:


> Nestor thank you. You help to bridge the gap between US Canadian Relations, and I'm sorry in advance for the inevitable war that will spring up between our nations. What war you ask? Once the US realizes that canada is up there the next step is clearly invasion. Sorry?




I thought it was the other way around. Here in Michigan, just over the border, I worry about these Socialists marching southward and forcing us to all have health care and say "eh" a lot.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Oct 13, 2009)

Billvila:
I think everyone in here knows that there has only been one war between our two great nations; the War of 1812.

I don't think I need to remind you that Canada won that one.    So, you might wanna think twice about trying us again.

Travelover:
     I honestly think that the private health insurance companies are behind all those protests at those town hall meetings in the US.  We have "socialized medicine" here in Canada, and it's not nearly the terrible thing that I've heard people in the US claim it is.  When I see those people protesting against "a public option" at those town hall meetings in the US, I can't help but think that the health insurance companies have to be behind those protests somewhere because they know they couldn't compete against a government run and funded health care program like they have in Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Australia and Canada.  Besides, why would presumably rational people be so dead set against public health care if they've never tried it?  If things were as bad under a government health care program as they're fearing it is, why wouldn't you guys be seeing documentaries on TV produced by the health insurnance companies showing how bad the public option works in all these other countries.  The reason why you're not seeing that is because the health insurance companies know that the government run health care systems in those other countries work relatively well and at a lower cost to the tax paying public than privately funded health insurance.  That's cuz a public system doesn't have to make billions of dollars in profits to give it's CEO a 40 million dollar bonus every year.

Besides, you guys already have lots of government run non-profit agencies that do a good enough job that no one is complaining about the work they do.  You have a government run non-profit post office, parks system, highways system, police, fire department, school and public library system, coast guard, etc.  Why would you assume that a government run non-profit health care system wouldn't work as well as any other these other government agencies?

Anyhow, I'm a foreigner, so I don't want to stick my nose in your country's business.  I just can't understand why people would be fighting mad over publicly run health care coming to America when it seems to work quite well in so many other countries.


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## travelover (Oct 13, 2009)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> ....................Travelover:
> I honestly think that the private health insurance companies are behind all those protests at those town hall meetings in the US.  ..............



Oh sure, next you're gonna tell me that Al Capone opposed the end of prohibition.


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## oldognewtrick (Oct 13, 2009)

Nestor_Keelby said:


> Besides, you guys already have lots of government run non-profit agencies that do a good enough job that no one is complaining about the work they do.  You have a government run non-profit post office, parks system, highways system, police, fire department, school and public library system, coast guard, etc.  Why would you assume that a government run non-profit health care system wouldn't work as well as any other these other government agencies?
> QUOTE]
> 
> Nestor, thats exactly the point! Everything the govt gets their hands on turns into colossal red tape and gross mismanagement. The Post office is broke, social security is broke, the highway system is at best marginal, our education system ranks at the bottom for dollars spent, the military spends a $100.00 for a hammer and 200.00 for a toilet seat. Library's are only open on certain days for lack of funding, parks system has reduced services and access due to funding, the Coast Guard has their hands tied to enforce smuggling. When seconds matter the police are only minutes away. Yeah, Govt control works beautiful. I don't see anywhere written that the govt is suppose to be the provider, be all end all to everything that anyone may want or think they need. I firmly believe that the answer is not govt control. There is an answer but keep the federal govt out of it.
> ...


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## oldognewtrick (Oct 13, 2009)

uh, Nestor, The Treaty Of Ghent was an agreement to return to the  status quo of before the war. Don't think there was ever a winner declared.


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## funetical (Oct 13, 2009)

The only problem I have with Canada is Quebec. What's the deal with Quebec Canada?


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Oct 13, 2009)

funetical said:


> The only problem I have with Canada is Quebec. What's the deal with Quebec Canada?



Funetical:
     It all goes back to 1759 when the English army won a battle at the "Plains of Abraham" against the French army over control of what was then called "New France", and later became Lower Canada, and finally became part of Canada.  The English, having won the battle, wanted to win over the support of the French speaking civilians.  So, instead of assimilating the French and requiring them to speak English and send their kids to English speaking schools, they let the French speaking people of New France keep:
1. Their Catholic Religion (this is when England was Anglican)
2. Their legal system (the French Civil Code is different from the British Common Law), and
3. Their language for all matters concerning their own purposes.

So, for 200 years, the French speaking people in Canada (mostly in Quebec) formed a separate "nation" within a country.

In the 1950's, there was a move by some Quebecois to separate from the rest of Canada, and form a separate country.  That movement grew, and there have been two referendums in Quebec so far as to whether or not to separate or remain within Canada.  Both referenda have failed, but the last one was a 49.9/50.1 percent vote.

There are a lot of problems inherant in Quebec separating from the rest of Canada:

1. Western Quebec is almost entirely English speaking.  If Quebec separates from Canada, then those western regions in Quebec are going to want to separate from Quebec and rejoin Canada.  Quebec's position on that is that Quebec can separate from Canada, but Quebec is indivisible, so the western regions cannot separate from Quebec.

2. The biggest city in Quebec, Montreal, is predominantly English speaking.

3. The French language and culture have a safe haven within Canada as we acknowledge our multiculturalism.  However, if Quebec separates from Canada, then they will form a group of about 9 million predominantly French speaking people in a continent of 400 million English and Spanish speaking people.  Their language and culture are better protected within Canada.

4.  If Quebec separates, then it won't be a total separation like you have between Israel and the Palestinians.  There are enough family and business relationships across the Canada/Quebec border that the resulting country is more likely to resemble a federation of separate countries, much like England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.  So, Canada would essentially then split into Quebec and "New Canada", and we'll carry on much the same way as before.

5.  English speaking people in Canada basically are of the opinion that if Quebec wants to separate, we're not going to have a civil war to keep the country together.  We'll let them leave, and will figure out what we're going to do as a country without Quebec.

The worst case scenario of Canada splitting into separate regions, with each province or couple of provinces each forming it's own country is unlikely.  But, if it came to that, I really wouldn't know what would happen to the northern territories of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.  Those regions are vast but hardly populated.  For an area the size of Australia, they have less than 100,000 people between them, and most of them speak Inuit, not English.  But, that's the least likely scenario.  Almost certainly Quebec and the rest of Canada will carry on much the same way as before separation, and there's certainly no reason why things wouldn't continue to work out reasonably well that way.


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## funetical (Oct 14, 2009)

No I meant poutine, what's the deal with poutine in Quebec Canada? Feel free to ask any general purpose accusatory questions of America and I'll do my best to answer.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Oct 14, 2009)

funetical said:


> No I meant poutine, what's the deal with poutine in Quebec Canada?



That was good.
:


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## oldognewtrick (Oct 14, 2009)

and whats the deal with Canadian bacon. Whats wrong with regular bacon? I just don't understand or like Canadian bacon....


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## oldognewtrick (Oct 14, 2009)

and if Quebec succeeds from Canada will it be new Canadian bacon or old Canadian bacon. I don't see me eating no old Canadian bacon.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Oct 14, 2009)

Oldog/Newtrick:

I don't know how it came about that Americans seem to know it as "Canadian bacon".







We call it "back bacon" here in Canada.


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## mudmixer (Oct 14, 2009)

Quebec is not all that bad.

I went to a very fine restaurant there, but it was quite dark inside.

I commented to my host and he said "don't worry, your eyes will naturally adjust".

Our waitress was dressed in the traditional French sisters (nun) habit (dress) complete with the "wings" on the headpiece.

As we adjusted to the darkness, we realized the nun's habits were see-through and they were nude underneath. We never seriously complained, but we did have a lot of American questions about what we were eating.

She even refused to say anything in English except "Thank You" when we left, but she did insist on using French exclusively, while my French friend (from Paris) was chuckling and enjoying the tackiness.


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## funetical (Oct 15, 2009)

Canadian Bacon is from the strap. There's less of it, therefore it cost more. Designating it canadian drives up the price creating a global market for somting that's just ham. People not realizing it invest all there money away form ham and into CB there by causing a lapse in the ham market. The ham market crashes forcing CB dependent countries to go to the global community in search of bailouts. Canada having the control of there bacon decides not to sell and forces a global depression. If we start telling people it's just ham now maybe we can stop it. Where on to you Canada. And is ya'lls mist really that alcoholic that stuff gets me lit right up. I couldn't imagine it being everywhere every morning.


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