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An Introduction
Hi everyone, I’ve finally decided to become a member after years of being a podcast listener, thought I should do a quick introduction.
I’m a Canadian from central British Columbia (the part that Canadian stereotypes are based on, we still have some snow in June and I cross-country ski to work in the winter). I’ve been interested in policy for a long time, and have had some involvement in local political parties, as well as having written articles for a few Canadian papers on policy issues. Currently, I’m an MBA student at a university in Scotland through their online program, its been a great program despite my having never been to the university, or even to the UK lol :)
Work-wise I’ve done a strange and eclectic mix of jobs. I’ve worked doing policy research, home renovations, and as an artisan Italian restaurant sous chef (at the time I was an econ undergrad student with no culinary training. The previous sous chef had quit to focus on acquiring cocaine, his true passion, so I suppose my lack of experience was not a problem when compared to the value of my sobriety.) More recently I’ve worked in a natural-health start-up building customized lifestyle and diet plans.
Politically, I’m really interested in some of the cost of living and economic opportunity issues facing us right now. I’m looking forward to engaging with a community that can provide some informed and interesting perspectives on some of the same topics that interest me. Talk to you soon, glad to be a part of the community.
Published in General
Welcome FOF!
Welcome! As a native North Dakotan I grew up getting all the wind and cold Canada sent south, so I share your climate stereotypes. I look forward to hearing about Canadian politics, and what the character of the nation is like today. (If one can wrap such a large entity into tidy generalizations.)
Oh no, not anoth …
Welcome, FOF.
Welcome! Always good to welcome new members. Certainly lots to talk about in Canada these days.
Welcome. We hope to be allowed to get into BC again someday. Hubby refuses Covid shot so is anathema.
@RushBabe49 Thanks, and glad you guys liked BC, what region did you travel in? I’m sure they will be dumping the cross border mandate soon, they are just starting to allow domestic flights without a mandate and our tourism industry has been calling for open travel for the last six months at least. Even some of the liberal MPs have been leaking to the media that they think the travel restrictions are worthless at this point :)
We welcome any Friend of Freedom! By now, you’ve probably already noticed the member group The True North, Strong and Free. You’ll probably run into @misthiocracy and @torywarwriter. Even Utah resident @ltpwfdcm is a former Canadian.
A fascinating country, and America’s best friend in the world. Glad you joined us.
Welcome! I have deep ties in Canada, especially BC (west is best, they tell me. constantly).
I’ve lived in Southern California for much of my life; with the exception of a truly brutal winter in Scotland (and a couple of summers, come to think of it) so my weather stories begin and end with … it’s the same. Except for the day my youngest son got married and it was 117 degrees. I will complain about that day until I die.
Looking forward to hearing some of your insights about Canada; all my relatives there are painfully polite and refuse to engage in anything more complicated than a favorite bottle of wine.
On that note … cheers and welcome.
Welcome!
Welcome!
Glad to have you on board!
Welcome.
Welcome to Ricochet – we’re glad to have you!
Welcome aboard FoF! Sous chef. Looking forward to you sharing the occasional recipe as well as your thoughts on policy.
But he (or she) cross country skis to work!
We still have that special form the Canadians have to fill out before they’re allowed to join right? :) Welcome to Ricochet!
Duplicate comment, sorry.
Welcome aboard, FoF!
We live in Everett, Washington. Went to Victoria on our honeymoon in 2003, and periodically after that. We miss it.
Of course, fortunately my foreign opinion licence is up to date :)
I think the DREAM Act obviated the need for that form.
WOOT.
Mr. Charlotte and I honeymooned in British Columbia as well, also in 2003! And I’ve been skiing in Whistler several times. Big fan of BC. :-)
Welcome.
There are a few others I think: @bluenoser, @occupantcdn, @thegreatadventure (formerly).
America’s Hat!
Thanks :)
Glad you enjoyed the province, I learned to ski at whistler, its a good mountain.
I’ve never thought to ask any of the Canadians I know a question.
I worked with some Spanish people years ago and one day one of them asked me why we in the US acted as if we were the only Americans. He pointed out that America extends from Canada to Chile. I can hear his voice saying “They all live in America”. They had a name for us in the US that meant something like “citizen of the United States.”
I’m just curious if Canadians consider themselves Americans or maybe the Northest Americans.
And welcome to the inside or is it the other side, or perhaps the dark side at times, but nearly always the interesting side.
Welcome aboard!
I grew up in Southern Alberta. My last trip to Canada was actually to go camping for a family reunion in Kimberley. My dad spent a few months as an infant in Vernon while his dad was in basic training during WW2 and several of my dad’s family (and I guess on my mom’s side as well) ended up out in BC around Vancouver and on the Island. So glad to have you aboard!
Thanks for the comment :)
I would say that no, Canadians don’t identify with being American or North American. A big part of that is that American influence is so overwhelming in Canada that Canadians want to try to separate the Canadian national identity from the US and prove that it is its own unique culture and identity. There is a desire to prove the “Canadianness” of Canada in our culture, and that doesn’t really fit all that well with having a continental identity as described by your colleague. In my opinion this has been a real issue here, especially in politics where being different from the US often becomes more important than making good decisions. You can really see it whenever healthcare gets brought up, anyone who suggests any meaningful reforms is attacked for wanting to have an American system, even when that is not remotely true, and it is clear that our own system in desperate need of some major changes.
I, too, am a Canuck by birth. Ted Cruz and I were both born in Calgary, though he was a year ahead of me. We both graduated from the same college the same year.
Welcome aboard!
I remember seeing in the papers many years ago (early 1990s), the Canadian Government launched an initiative to investigate whether smoking was bad for you. They explained that while there were many scientific papers that made that claim, all were from the US, and therefore could not be trusted.
The inferiority complex is deep.