Canada Vs The United States

What you may not know, is that some of these differences in our mannerisms and culture could effect our society so much that we could go from 10 provinces and 3 territories to 4 provinces and 3 territories in a time frame of a few years. I will explain this point later in my essay which I hope you will enjoy, and I hope you will think about the reality of struggling to keep our country together, so close to the all mighty US of A.

One of the things that I feel separates a Canadian from an American is the role of culture and heritage. When immigrants come to Canada from another country, they are encouraged to remember their other identity, and their roots in their country of birth, while Americans tell them to forget their old life because they are Americans now! For example the Canadian government might give a Portuguese community funding to create a Portuguese community centre, so that when these people have children who are born in Canada, their culture and heritage will not be forgotten. I think that encouraging cultural diversity is a good idea because it makes our cities more interesting. We don't just have cities filled with Anglo-Saxon Canadians, but cities filled with Portuguese-Canadians, Chinese-Canadians and others, who are true to Canada, yet still remembering their old homeland. Unfortunately this same diversity can, and may, cause problems for our society. Quebec is the biggest region in Canada where ethnic culture and study of heritage is very important. This was why Quebec was thinking of separating from Canada, because they have taken the statement, 'Do not forget your true culture and heritage,' to a whole new level. They believe that their culture is being lost, and that no one wants French speaking people in Canada. This is obviously is not true. Unfortunately, they think it is, and in 1998, when they held the referendum on sovereignty association, the votes were dangerously close. If a few hundred people had voted yes, and Quebec had separated, there would have been, in effect, a wall separating Central and Western part of Canada from the Eastern. The Maritimes would be isolated. We know how Maritimers take their culture very seriously, well, this could prove dangerous because since they would be isolated, they would feel it necessary to join the States, as the Maritimes in general are much more akin to New England than they are Ontario. We would now be down to 5 provinces.

BC is one of the most industrial provinces in Canada and has everything from excellent natural resources, and local governments, to beneficial trading opportunities with the western United States. These things make BC a great place to live. However, the West Coasters believe that they are shut off from the rest of Canada and that Ontario, in central Canada, receives every bonus, opportunity, and extra money the Federal Government has to offer. The BC provincial government has come up with the idea to adopt another currency. Of course it would be an obvious decision to adopt the American dollar, because they trade with them the most. Surely you can guess that it would be logical for BC to join the United States for now they would share a currency and the western U.S. is more in tune with their way of thinking than the other provinces and territories of Canada. Now, BC would be gone, and so would the reputation of our 4 province 3 territory country, as we would be falling apart.

Have you ever seen a Canadian movie? One, maybe two? Canadian movies are out there, in theaters and in movie stores, but if you think you'll wait a few weeks before going to see a Canadian movie in the theaters, try again. After an average of two weeks, Canadian movies are already out of the theaters due to poor ticket sales. Canadians feel they only need to see big Hollywood Blockbusters like 'Saving Private Ryan', and 'The Blair Witch Project', not movies like 'The Sweet Hereafter'. I bet you've never even heard of that last one, right? Let the truth be known that Canadians believe that Americans make better movies. Why? Who knows. Most Canadian citizens believe that our culture is too boring and we have nothing to say in our films. Have you ever seen a Canadian movie up for best picture at the Oscars? No, neither have I. We don't have the big stars to draw the crowds and therefore no 'big bucks' which means no power. What I'm basically trying to say is that, in general, we Canadians rely too heavily on the US for our culture, including movies, great TV shows, and so forth. Only most of them aren't so great and don't portray our Canadian identity, and we are different! I only hope that soon, Canadians will realize that they make films that are just as good, if not better than those of the Americans.

As you have heard from the above information, our Canadian identity is slowly diminishing as we are being assimilated into the United States of America. We should be proud of our culture, heritage and country and embrace it as one. Let the Americans make their movies, have a different culture and be the All-American country. The Canadian image is one to be proud of, therefore we shouldn't attempt to follow our neighbours' path, we should follow our own.