American media on Canada

infatuous · Feb 20, 2009

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1107407.html

Fucking tools. It's a shame they hire journalists for looks instead of knowledge down there. They think we live in another galaxy or something.

Kaylahaha · Feb 20, 2009

Scott · Feb 20, 2009

just amazing eh!

Leroy · Feb 20, 2009

I'd be lieing if I said I can't believe it, but I suppose you don't need a lot of education to work in the American media.

Burrahobbit · Feb 20, 2009

That wasnt nearly as bad as I was expecting.

PitBull · Feb 20, 2009

Reminds me of the time I was connected to an American call centre, and she thought I loved in the providence of Nodascoshida. Well - I think she though Canada was the providence, and Nodascoshida was the town name. She was also confused about how I couldn't give my the zip code without letters.

arsehole · Feb 20, 2009

Canuck · Feb 20, 2009

Burrahobbit said: ↑

That wasnt nearly as bad as I was expecting.
Click to expand...

I was expecting worse as well...

Also, I'm pretty sure referring to the Prime Minister as Premier is actually correct.

unidentifiable · Feb 20, 2009

It reminds me of when that guy, from The hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer? Does that "Talking To Americans" and they know nothing about up here. Amazes me.

-D-R-E-A-> · Feb 20, 2009

Chelsey said: ↑

It reminds me of when that guy, from The hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer? Does that "Talking To Americans" and they know nothing about up here. Amazes me.
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I was just about to post the same thing! That show kills me

ouird · Feb 20, 2009

Goes to show how far their heads are up their asses.

Leviathan · Feb 20, 2009

I don't believe the USA school curriculum focuses a lot on Geography outside the USA (other than Russia and the other "Red" countries).

...and it doesn't help that that most sheeple Americans literally live in a box that pretty much isn't even reality to most of the world.

Maritimer · Feb 20, 2009

I know the senior producer of 22 minutes and I asked him about talking to americans one time.

Its insane how many of those people blindly believed what Rick Mercer was saying because he was standing there with a microphone and video camera.

Boots · Feb 20, 2009

Interesting read from Newsweek

http://www.newsweek.com/id/183670

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1--compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1.
Fareed Zakaria
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Feb 16, 2009

The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.

Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.

So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.

Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn't deductible up north. In addition, home loans in the United States are "non-recourse," which basically means that if you go belly up on a bad mortgage, it's mostly the bank's problem. In Canada, it's yours. Ah, but you've heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs—interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year—because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? It's 68.4 percent.

Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America's by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; "healthy life expectancy" is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America's largest car-producing region.

I could go on. The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. They can apply on their own for a Canadian Skilled Worker Visa, which allows them to become perfectly legal "permanent residents" in Canada—no need for a sponsoring employer, or even a job. Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities. If a prospective immigrant earns 67 points out of 100 total (holding a Ph.D. is worth 25 points, for instance), he or she can become a full-time, legal resident of Canada.

Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company's announcement noted that it would staff the center with "highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S." So the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada—where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.

If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbor to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach. This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative.
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Leviathan · Feb 20, 2009

Well, Canada is the prototype for what countries should be in the future. Capitalism mixed with Socialism mixed with common sense.

Why doesn't everyone see that the American system is highly flawed and is being dismantled right now......right before our eyes? It's been a long time coming. The "Founding Fathers" did not envision the America we know today.

Once the USA becomes part of the North American Union, it will begin to work again.......but only after it's citizens give up on the "Land of the Free/Home of the Brave/We need guns/"USA!!! USA!!!" thing.....which may take some work (like a complete financial crash or major event of some sort). It's going to take something major to get Americans to use money that isn't "USA money" (the Amero).....but if the alternative is no jobs/no health care/no future, they will buy in. They better, or it's gonna get messy.

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American media on Canada

infatuous
[OP]

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Kaylahaha
It's all good.

Scott

rawr

Leroy
@danackles29

Burrahobbit
Lebaneser Scrooge

PitBull
We want YOU! Join RC.

arsehole
Active Member

Canuck
Active Member

unidentifiable
meow

-D-R-E-A->
★~♥~★~♥~★

ouird
I'm Weird

Leviathan
It's all in your mind....

Maritimer
Active Member

Boots

www.reality-check.ca

Leviathan
It's all in your mind....

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American media on Canada

infatuous [OP] Well-Known Member

Kaylahaha It's all good.

Scott rawr

Leroy @danackles29

Burrahobbit Lebaneser Scrooge

PitBull We want YOU! Join RC.

arsehole Active Member

Canuck Active Member

unidentifiable meow

-D-R-E-A-> ★~♥~★~♥~★

ouird I'm Weird

Leviathan It's all in your mind....

Maritimer Active Member

Boots www.reality-check.ca

Leviathan It's all in your mind....

Share This Page

infatuous
[OP]

Well-Known Member

Kaylahaha
It's all good.

Scott

rawr

Leroy
@danackles29

Burrahobbit
Lebaneser Scrooge

PitBull
We want YOU! Join RC.

arsehole
Active Member

Canuck
Active Member

unidentifiable
meow

-D-R-E-A->
★~♥~★~♥~★

ouird
I'm Weird

Leviathan
It's all in your mind....

Maritimer
Active Member

Boots

www.reality-check.ca

Leviathan
It's all in your mind....