Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada "Canadianisms" that confuse the world...LOL

Most of those things are regional in origin. Like pop versus soda in the US.

Canada began losing its identity at a fast pace in the 1960s. The most telling proof is the observation that Canadians have to keep repeating over and over that they are not the same as Americans. The harder Canadians try to remain different, the quicker they are absorbed by the US

It hasn�t been the same since cable television and satellite broadcasting came to Canada. The world started getting smaller. It was triggered in the late 1950s down south; a fire was lit that brought the telecommunications age to the fore. It really accelerated with the commencement of the The Space Race. The US had every intention of beating the Russians. NASA needed solid state transistors, truly functional computers and Tang breakfast drink. Life on this rock would never be the same.

Most Canadians had been watching the Vietnam War for a few years, but 1968 was a game changer. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were killed. Woman's Lib and the gay rights movement were charging ahead. Blacks no longer had to sit in the back of the bus. Canadians took notice, and they were a bit scared.

In Canada in 1968, the CRTC was born, in order to protect us from losing our cultural identity. 40 percent of all movies, TV shows and music played on the radio had to Canadian made. Yuck! It was a sad time for music lovers in the Great White North.

Quebecers were afraid of losing their language and for a time, became more militant. They were merely copying what had been happening in the US for years, but the October Crisis in 1970 shook up the country. Before that, we just were what we were. It seemed that the American folk singer Bob Dylan was right - the times, they were a changin'.

Once upon a time, we made television shows for people to watch. We didn�t care who tuned in. In the late 1960s however, we tried to make television shows the Americans would watch. We had to make them with no reference to their Canadian origins, lest the US audiences discover they were made north of the border. Was there anything north of Buffalo? US weather maps showed a big empty white area above the border...

The numbers of Canadian musicians, television and theatrical performers heading south increased dramatically. There was more money and recognition there. The climate was better, as were working conditions. Actors like Raymond Burr, Lorne Green, Tommy Chong, Hume Cronyn, William Shatner and hundreds of others had left for greener pastures.

We started importing more clothing, hardware, movies and music from the US. We brought fewer European goods. The trade agreements had not changed; we just wanted to be like our big brothers to the south. Inexorably, Canadian children began to take on the speech patterns and mannerisms of their southern neighbours.

Sesame Street. PBS. Disneyland. TV aerials became antennas. God Save the Queen was no longer sung in schools (or the Lord�s Prayer recited for that matter).

The language changed. It's easily noticed these days. Our old fashioned Oxford Concise references � colour, neighbour, odour, etc � had given way to the US spellings. Words that could be verbs or nouns used to be differentiated by slighting spelling changes. Not anymore.

�I practised the clarinet at music practice today.� became, �I practiced the clarinet at music practice today.� Can you see the difference? Do you even care?

Tommy Hunter, Don Messer and the Friendly Giant were replaced by Nashville and Jim Henson.

Kokanee and Labatt�s Blue have been displaced by Coors Light and Budweiser. Molson Breweries and Coors are allegedly equal partners, but I think we all know who�s the boss.

Few Canadians know exactly what the Junos, Geminis or the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television awards are, or why they are given out. But every Canadian knows about the Grammys and the Oscars.

Trousers have become pants. Blazers became suit jackets. Running shoes have become sneakers. Almost every hamburger served in Canada comes with mayonnaise now. Saskatchewan born Gordie Howe will die in Texas.

The world has changed. It has gotten smaller. I am not angry or dissatisfied with the shift. I only point them out. As the world ages, as the Internets, satellites and technology advance, all the planet�s differences will continue to shrink.

Now comes the interesting part - the defence. Canadians younger than forty-five will try to defend their �unique� heritage; their inherent differences, if you will.

Those older than forty-five will take pause to consider how much has changed since they were young. They will realize the monumental transformation that has occurred over the last forty years. As hard as it will be for most to admit, Canadians are fast becoming Americans.

With every breath, the distinctions fade.