Ok guys, help me understand this.

What's the relation between Canada and England?
Used to run around up there in the truck, and saw all kind of
British "domain" for lack of a better word.

Royalty on money, crowns on signs, reading here of "Crown Land" (who owns that?)

US was a colony and still tight with England, but we separated from
the royal thing. I don't see actual royalty in Canada.


Is it the way of separation?
We got pissed and fought 2 wars with England, maybe that's the difference.

Guess this highlights our education system or my bad memory.
But knowledge of our neighbor, and closest ally is pretty weak here.

In a nutshell, we carry a lot of baggage from the old days. The King's Highway signs. the Parliamentary system of government, British spelling. I believe that within the next 50 years, we will completely rid ourselves of our British ties. We are doing it using a long, legal process, unlike the US, who revolted and declared their independence.

A self-governing country

In 1931, England put Canada on equal footing with other Commonwealth countries through the Statute of Westminster, which essentially gave its dominions full legal freedom and equal standing with England and one another. However, Britain still had the ability to amend the Canadian constitution, and Canada took time to cut its legal ties to England. Meanwhile, it adopted its own national symbols, like the Canadian flag, featuring the maple leaf, which debuted in 1965.

An independent nation

It took five decades after the Statute of Westminster for Canada to make its final step toward full sovereignty. In 1982, it adopted its own constitution and became a completely independent country. Although it’s still part of the British Commonwealth—a constitutional monarchy that accepts the British monarch as its own. Elizabeth II is Queen of Canada. However, her role is essentially ceremonial, and she does not interfere in Canadian self-governance.

History.com

Dillonbuck;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day was a good one for you and all is as it should be in your world.

When Canada repatriated it's constitution in 1982 we became totally independent of Great Britain as far as any governance whatsoever is concerned.

We still have Queen Elizabeth on the currency and send the royal family roughly $50 Million per year.

The term "Crown Land" is a tad counterintuitive in that it does not belong to the royal family, but is owned by the people of that province. There are some rules governing access to Crown Land that is for instance leased for grazing or mining, but as a broad statement Crown Land in BC at least can be accessed by anyone for any lawful purpose.

While there are some federal lands here, in my travels on your side of the medicine line - admittedly mostly in western states - I'd suggest there is a larger percentage of US Federal Land there than we have land owned or controlled by our federal government.

Typically here, if the feds control it, it'll be a park or military facility of some sort.

Hopefully that addressed some of your questions sir? Please feel free to ask if I've left something unclear or you have further questions.

All the best to you this fall and good luck on your remaining hunts.

Dwayne

And if you want some fun, ask the people here about ridding ourselves completely of the British yoke.

https://www.monarchist.ca/index.php

This is the Monarchist League of Canada.

Steve and Dewayne,
Thanks, now I don't feel quite so dumb, things were changing while and after
my school days. And it's unfair as heck, but the world turns around the US to
some extent. We arrogantly don't pay attention to other countries, and this
country is important enough that they study it.

So, the $50 million. Why?

And as far as "fun" I will stir the Quebecois pot.

You all have a well deserved reputation for manners, look at Dewayne's
salutations. I found manners in Qubec also. Bad ones. Not all certainly,
but I think some there didn't like me.

Dillonbuck;
Good evening to you again sir, thanks for the reply and kind words, I appreciate both.

The issue of our relationship with the monarchy is, as Steve mentioned, a thorny one to say the very least. It might, I should note, be one of the few places where most of the west and Quebec agree in that we no longer require linking to any monarchy whatsoever.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I had to go to the inner webs to ask why it is we send the money to the royal family and the official reason seems to be stated thusly, "The sovereign similarly only draws from Canadian funds for support in the performance of her duties when in Canada or acting as Queen of Canada abroad".

Again to be clear sir, it's tough for me as a western prairie born and lifelong western Canuck to get too excited about anything related to the Queen or monarchy, so all that to say it might/could be a regional thing? There is no question that I am biased against it so it's tough for me to give anything other, you know?

The interesting thing about Quebecois folks who move out of their home province is that they're not happy with the folks back home as rule either. For all the years we had horses, I think 15 or 17 - our farrier was originally from Sorel, QC and had moved first to the Ottawa Valley shoeing hunter/jumpers and then moved west to work on cow horses and mountain horses.

He was always good for a chuckle when the subject of what Quebec was up to nationally came up. He'd look at me with fire in his eyes and over a lit smoke say, "Where do dey tink the money from de Unemployment Cheque comes from? Idiots!!"

Interestingly though, when our eldest and her husband did a cross Canada trip, they had good luck in the more rural parts of Quebec as far as being made welcome, so hopefully that's changing for the better now? I don't know and can't say for sure.

Hopefully that was useful and if you think of any more questions, please feel free once again.

All the best to you all this fall.

Dwayne

It's not only the west that feels the monarchy is way past its 'best before' date.

I was quite happy when Harry and Meghan decided to head for California. They are welcome to keep them.

I remember crossing the border in sweet grass. My daughter went into the checkpoint with me while I declared a couple firearms. Their it was in all its mighty picture of the queen. My daughter asked questions for 10 miles why did Canada have a pictures of the queen in their buildings.

Different people seem to have different experiences when travelling in Quebec. Years ago we (the wife and I) were travelling in Quebec and had a very poor experience in one of their restaurants. We left very soon thereafter and have never returned.

One of our daughters and her new husband travelled into Quebec and were so impressed (?) they left the Province (I believe the same night) and have never returned.

While camping in Texas one winter there were a group of French -Canadians staying in the same campground. I was told the majority of them were from Manitoba. In any case none of them would even return a greeting when we walked through the campground in the evenings.

I have a friend who was a sales manager for a major company and very accustomed to dealing with people. His last name would seem to identify him as French background. He kept a large power boat docked in south Florida. He said when new people came to the marina and went for a drink he only introduced himself by his first name. He said this was because the French were so disliked in that area.

I'm sure there must be some good ones there but the reputation they have is one they have earned themselves!

Jim

Jim,
I was like a vagabond traveler as a trucker. We weren't even allowed to
haul within Canada, only deliver a load that originated in the US, the pick up one that
had to go back into the US.

So my interactions were with a good many people, for a short time.
I had good interactions with some in PQ. But it seemed they were overall,
worse than our Northeast City Dwellers.

And they dam near got me once.
We started hauling paper from Trois-Rivieres, and they didn't like American companies
pulling that freight. I was sent for a loaded trailer, and went to get it. The rolls were
6-7k# each. Too big around to sit side by side in a 102" trailer and over 8' high.
I could only see the two in the back.

Coming into Montreal, I noticed it felt real bad in a right turn, then noticed tire smoke
going around ramps. Pulled over, and rechecked the suspension, it was fine.

Limped into Massachusetts for the morning, the forklift guy pulled the first roll off
the right and the trailer almost flipped over. That roll and one in the front were
the only ones on the right side, there were 4 or 5 on the left. No wonder it wanted
to roll in turns. That guy took his paper, then reloaded my other stops to make
it safe.

I notified our safety department to hopefully avoid another driver getting a
load like that. Safety thanked me and stated that they believed it was intentional
"boobytrapping" to cause the trucking companies trouble and get rid of them.

Most Quebecois wouldn't do such a thing I'm sure.
But it was done largely due to their ideology.

That's a good question. According the the Monarchist League and the feds, the royals are costing each Canadian a paltry $1.63 each. That's staff salaries, bldg maintenance, office operating expenses, etc. That's your $50 million - $1.63 x 37.6 million, which is actually closer to 61 million annually, but hey, it's not like the politicians themselves are paying the bill!

I do not believe that this is a correct figure. We have a GG and 10 Lieutenant Governors - one for each of the provinces. I do not believe that this takes in the real estate. The 1.63 cost includes maintenance, but what are the values of the official residences, offices and land?

Like the CBC, who syphon off almost 1.4 billion dollars of our tax money every year, the buildings and real estate are worth a lot of money. The Monarchist League argues that we would keep all the CBC (and royal) buildings and real estate. A few perhaps, but most would be sold off. Many of these places are prime real estate. If they were sold off, sales would generate 100s of millions of dollars. Perhaps more.

This recovered money from the CBC, and the savings from not supporting the royals, would go a long way towards better education, health care, and other things that Canadians have to deal with. Like the expenses that resulted from COVID-19 for example.

Whether it's the CBC or the royals, the debates continue. The Monarchist League is losing their argument. Support for the Queen and the royal family continues to erode. The percentage of people who don't care for the monarchy fluctuates, but continues a downward spiral. These are a couple of recent polls.

From Wiki:

A 2005 poll by The Strategic Counsel reported Canadians to be uncertain "about the legitimacy and role of the British monarchy remaining as Canada's head of state". The poll found an equal number—47% supporting and 47% opposed—to retention of the "British monarchy".[73] Two years later, Angus Reid Strategies reported that 53% of respondents to its survey felt "Canada should end its formal ties to the British monarchy", while 35% thought the contrary and 12% were unsure.[74] Angus Reid stated in March 2008 the majority of those it polled believe "it is time to end the country's official relationship with either the British monarchy or the monarchy."[75]

Also in May 2010, an online poll by Leger Marketing for QMI Agency found that a majority (59%) of Canadians said that they had little or no interest in the Queen's visit to Canada, while 39% did. The poll found that 32% of 18- to 34-year-olds had an attachment to the crown. In the 65-and-over group, 46% reported an attachment. One fifth of Canadians said the Queen should stay home, and that furthermore, "Canada should sever its ties with the British Crown".[3]

Wiki - Support for royals in Canuckia

As an ignorant Yank looking in from the outside, if you'll pardon me, the only problems with Canada I see...stem from French speaking socialist bunch. Any burden imposed by the Brit monarchy is pretty minor compared to past decisions of the socialists and their deep and abiding love for the one world government EU mindset.

We have, for the most part, contained the problems with Quebec.

One ongoing concern we have with Quebec is their never ending demand for more power and more money. They might feel that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I do not know what amount of money flows from Ottawa to them, but many argue that it is out of proportion with the rest of the country. I will have to look into that some time. On balance, we haven't had that many problems with them the past few years. It will probably flare up again though.

In the 1990s, when I was living on Vancouver Island, a job posting came up for a postmaster at the Black Creek post office. One of the requirements was that the manager had to be bilingual. The position was filled, but several more qualified people were rejected because they only spoke English.

And, as everyone knows, Vancouver Island is full of French speaking people (insert sarcasm here). The need for a French speaker is vital!

Steve;
Good afternoon to you sir, I hope the week has been treating you well and you and yours are where you'd like to be on this first day past half of October.

Thanks kindly both for your clarification that all Canadians east of Winnipeg don't crave supporting a Queen and for the chuckle as well.

While it's been a decade and a half at least, the last time I was in Black Creek was picking up boat gas and groceries as we were staying at a campsite on the Oyster River.

Honestly Steve, unless I'm way, way off, if I was to be forced to bet money on how many residents of Black Creek AND surrounding area are fluent in French, I'd think I'd lose no money saying less than a double handful. As well, if we were to further make it how many spoke only French so as to require bilingual service, I'd keep my hands in my pockets, you know?

We get a fair few young Quebecois kids out here working in the orchards, vineyards and farms in summer as farm labor and it's been that way for at least 40 years.

However, that said and all, I recall one time making the mistake of complimenting a couple young fellows throwing bales onto my pickup at how hard these Quebecois kids could work.

They both quickly assured me they were from the ONLY bilingual province in Canada - which obviously was New Brunswick - and thanks very much but they stated they could work any 3 Quebecois farm kids under because of it!

All the best to you this fall Steve and good luck on any remaining hunts.

Dwayne

Steve, you suggest that if money were to be obtained from disposing of the Monarchy and the CBC many things like health care, etc. could be improved. I think this is a questionable assumption since when have you known a government to handle any money properly. While a bit of good might be done I'm sure most would be frittered away.

Jim

And there's the rub.

The only thing that I can hope for is we would still save some money. Instead of wasting what they have left after funding the CBC and the royals, they would feed some of the savings into needed programs and fritter away the rest. It's too much to ask any government not to spend responsibly. After all, it's not their cash!

I've always enjoyed the quaint connection between CA and the UK, for that matter between the US and the UK, as well, to include deference toward the royal family. In spite of modern global politics and governance I don't regard the monarchy as a worthless relic. Historical roots are best mended in modern times to keep hold of valuable history, nationalism, and contemporary alliances, within reason. Not sure that would put me in the mindset of the 'monarchist' group, but perhaps it does. I am not sure it is worth the 50 mil annual price tag, but, that is for the Canadians to decide.

I can certainly understand the erosion of support, which is clearly evident even within the UK, but there are many things we don't hear about that the royals in England do, perhaps more out of self-preservation than altruism, whatever. The fact is they still hold sway in many parts of the world, and with that they can, and have, made good things happen. Even though the relevency is diminished, I think the remaining benevolent monarchies around the world are institutions to be preserved within the modern context, and the concept is not nearly lost as much outside the West.

love it

In other parliamentary democracies that don't have a monarch , they have presidents, often elected. This does sometimes becomes messy. The position is a ceremonial, and what better way for stuff like that than some crowned head. It works.

Understanding English Canadian and French Canadian relations takes books in volumes to understand , if it even possible to.

I think it's fair to say that any government can be messy. Certainly, the citizens have to keep a watchful eye on them. I remain hopeful that with the savings realized by no longer funding the royals, the CBC, and selling off most of their assets, we can improve the lot of average Canadians. Call it a more responsible way of spending taxpayer's money.

Or we could just say Adios Amigos to Quebec !

🥴

Ok guys, thank you!


One more question, and we will see how this goes...

I was going to post this question in the Australian forum also.
Although I quite obviously never drive across that common border😁.

Think our funny talking cousins will respond as you have?

WRT dumping the royals, yes.

They are pretty much irrelevant here...except in women's magazines.



...and to be frank the only reason we haven't given them their marching orders is that we trust our politicians even less.

Interesting cultural study. Here in Louisiana, we have our Anglo and French interaction, probably a watered down version of what your guys have in Canada. I was raised near the Anglo, French border here in Central Louisiana, witnessed this interaction.

Cajuns tend to be a bit clannish, enjoy speaking their version of French when they don’t want Rednecks to know what they’re saying. That’s mostly the older bunch, younger ones hardly know the language. French speaking was strongly discouraged in schools for years. Then the state realized that mistake, brought in French teachers from France and Belgium. But Cajuns don’t speak “French”. I was in Paris with a Cajun some years ago. I could understand locals from college French better than he could. So that program to reintroduce French in LA was largely a bust.

The arrogance of the British up against the pride and clannishness of the French, sorta explains Canada in my mind. If it’s like here, all that sorta fizzles out over time. But add the socialist factor and it becomes more like what we’re experiencing here in the US, Marxists trying to take over. That’s more than cultural and much more of a threat.

I hope we all can throw off this leftist assault on our democracies. Our best to you guys. Say a few prayers for us.

DF

The French - English thing isn't really a problem right now. COVID and having a minority government is the problem.

WRT governance, it doesn't matter who is in charge, the job of the opposition is to continually poke at the governing party to make sure things are being done correctly. In the US, the constant bickering between the Dems and the Republicans is business as usual. With the increased media coverage of the past 20 years or maybe a bit longer, the public sees and hears about it more. Remember the old days when you got a short blurb on the radio at the top of the hour? You had to go home and read the paper to get more of the details. That's changed.

Here in Canada, the Liberals are at the helm and some people believe they are buggering things up worse than they normally would. COVID is making things hard to control and budget for. Probably not for the rest of the world, but for us at least, we realize that Justin Trudeau was not qualified to be the leader of a political party. He was woefully inexperienced, but he had the right last name. The Liberals banked on it and parlayed that into a Liberal win. They played the hand and it worked. The trouble is, COVID, corruption and incompetence have caught up with them.

We are trying to deal with COVID and the feds. That is more worrisome right now than the language you speak.

According to the latest Angus-Reid poll, his approval is dropping again. But it bounces around.

I've loved the great nation of Canada since 1949 man, and boy, I've loved he in the Unionjack days

The Aussies are much more closer to kicking out the royals than Canucks.

I suspect we may see more of a movement to separate ourselves from the royal family after the current Queen passes away!

I think so. I believe that it is long overdue.

I first saw the queen when I was 9 years old. It was in Indian Head, Saskatchewan. It was 1959, and I got to within 8-10 feet of her, and as a young lad I was suitably impressed. She was a classy lady back then, and she still is today. I spent just over 30 years in the employ of Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of the Province of Ontario. Our parliamentary type of Government is quite similar to the English. One of the things we could afford to lose is that moth eaten crew called the senate. Someone should wake them up and send them home. (And take Trudeau with them.)

Hopefully, the Senate will go, along with the queen. She will be dead when that happens. All the expenses and trappings can be put to much better use. The royals can visit as tourists. They can also pay the Mounties for security services. We might as well make some money if they drop by for a ski holiday.

I have no doubt that she's a nice person, but the antiquated system she represents must end.

[quote=the_shootist] I spent just over 30 years in the employ of Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of the Province of Ontario.


What exactly does that line mean, Her Majesty......Ontario.

Again, showing my ignorance.
Please forgive it and help the curiosity.

The relationship between the Crown and the Citizen's of Canada is a multifaceted one. Some have no need for the Crown, some have an opinion, yet have never lived nor experienced the honor of the British Crown.

Here is what I see, I see Canada's indigenous who want to kick the Crown to the curb and dump Colonialism, but they have short memories, selective too.
The honor of the Crown is the very reason they still exist in this Country, the Crown preserved land for them, rights were included into the Constitution and implemented, therefore saving them and the Culture's therein. When I hear Native people whine about the King of England I offer a few details of how they/we got here. My Cultural roots owes everything to the King of England, we wouldn't exist if it were not for the King's grace.

If anyone should be unhappy with the Crown it should be the Citizen's who are loosing freedom's because of the Treaties and giveaways the king is in the middle of honoring.

The reason alot of people want to dump the King is so it will make it easier to dissolve the Country in favor of a one world government, remember Trudeau said...."The worlds first post national state".
This is what its all about.

If it were not the British Crown it would of been another.

Everybody follows American politics and I see it as less transparent than the parliamentary system.( it needs tweaking)
Our federal , provincial and local politics work poorly when voters show indifference to these lawmakers.

Good government requires the electorate to vote in great numbers. The system is a good one but individual Canadian's don't use it to its fullest.
and Canadian's get substandard Government
The Queen is not the problem, she is a figurehead and a good one- for these times.
I am no Brit expatriate, but a stoic and Patriotic Western Canadian- born and raised in British Columbia- Cheers & God Bless.

673, we don't have a king. We haven't since 1952.

I am aware of that, I use the term "king" as a reference to the historic. Historic to the Native peoples of Canada.

I see.

So you see the relationship between the Crown and the Citizens of Canada isn't a simple one, I also think the western view is different than elsewhere in Canada, after the "royal proclamation" a splintering occurred and the "kings" original intention has been skewed and frankly, taken on a new interpretation which is alarming.

There is no complex relationship. It is an outdated one. A situation which is slowly going away.

You are attempting to introduce two extraneous points into the discussion. The first is the west. How the west thinks has nothing to do with the monarchy.

The second is "royal proclamation".

The original question, what is the relationship between Canada and England, can be answered simply.

The relationship between the two is good, but the monarchy is on the way out.

Your point of view is precisely the problem, you don't see it outside your own Province, which makes you sound like a conceded prick, which you likely are.
You can't change history, the relationship between Canada and England is complex, Canada's relationship with France is a simple one.

The question concerned the whole country - not just BC or Ontario. The question asked about the relationship between the two countries - not England and BC, or England and Ontario, or BC and Ontario. It doesn't matter where we live.

I was a member of a crown police force within the province of Ontario. Not all police forces in
Canada are "Crown Forces." The RCMP is another one. Not a big deal. Our patrol cars were registered to Her Majesty the Queen in the right of the province of Ontario. Maybe the insurance was cheaper.

I tried to participate in your thread, sorry if it didn't fit your narrative. I answered as honestly as I could by simply pointing out the differing relationships and viewpoints from within the Dominion.....carry on.

We joke about the Toronto centric view, but there is more than a little truth to it. There are regional differences, such as, all Canadians are good at partying, the Maritimers are very good at it. I'm from BC and I say that.

There is no doubt that regions of the country have their differences. But any regional differences have no bearing on the question,

"What's the relation between Canada and England?"

There might be regions that like or dislike England, but the relationship between the two countries is a good one. Where the arguments start is with the royals.

No doubt, Quebec is probably not happy with the UK. I cannot speak for southern Ontario, but northerners don't particularly worry about the UK.

I don't care about what Toronto thinks.

The East seems to like royalty and the UK more than the west. The country as a whole has a good relationship with England, but as the years go by, fewer people care about the royals.

Debate on the monarchy in Canada

It seems support continues to erode for the royals in Canada. This has little to do with the relationship between Canada and England, but inevitably, when Canadians talk about England, they talk about the royals.

From the above link

2020
In a poll conducted in February 2020 by Research Co., 32% of Canadians (down one point since 2019) would prefer for Canada to have an elected head of state, while 27% (down four points) would rather keep the monarchy. The proportion of Canadians who say they do not care either way increased by eight points to 28%'.

Conceded or conceited? If you don't know English consult a dictionary. Or be quiet. Notice I didn't say quite? But Be Well, I guess I'm conceited, RZ.

Historically, you folks fought to sever ties to The Crown whereas we chose to be United Empire Loyalists.

What may not be so well known is that there were plenty of United Empire Loyalists in the USA in revolutionary times, too. Daniel Boone and family, being English, having some strong leanings in this direction, if i recall correctly. And taking some community heat for the fact.

Our loyalty to England may in fact have much to do with our reputation for being level-headed and mannerly compared to the USA, generally speaking. In fact i heard it explained somewhere that the regions of the USA itself that do have a reputation for good manners (the traditional South for instance) can thank their largely English regional heritage for this. And that the contrasting brash rudeness that may prevail elsewhere and which the USA has a reputation for internationally is to be blamed on the Germans who dominated in these other regions.

Before I retired, I travelled widely in Canada on business. A couple of observations:

Signs in BC are bilingual. Signs in Quebec are in French only.

The Quebecois were always friendly toward me.

The Royal family: I don't understand why even the UK supports the Royal family. All the ones younger than Elizabeth and Philip act like trash.

Americans by and large are ignorant of Canada. A favorite trick is to ask an American what is the capital of Canada. 99% can't tell you. From our news reporting, you'd think that Lake Erie was the Arctic Ocean, with nothing on the northern side.

From what I can tell, Justin Trudeau is a worse jerk than Obama. That's sad because I always thought Canada was sort of a brake on what we did down here foolishly. For instance, you were smart enough to not get caught in the Viet Nam tar baby.

You've got something great up there, maybe, in part, because you're not as crowded as we are. Just don't blow it.

The French are not the only socialists here in Canada. The bloody country is full of them, mostly city dwellers who command the vote and thus the elections.

To imply to any Acadian from NB that they are Quebecois or even close is a huge insult. Most Acadians have a strong disdain for the those folk.

Me too.

Trade and political relations will stay the same, or may even improve, once the UK tosses the monarchy.

According to Cdn polling, the monarchy is a devolving situation here. And we have Justin, so we have more pressing problems. The UK too has more pressing problems. With Brexit looming, and the ongoing trade problems associated with it, the monarchy is of little concern right now.

I honestly believe that Harry and the rest of the royals figured that Canada would foot the security bill for them. They quickly learned that the word was no, you can pay for your own. Vancouver Island really wasn't the place for those two anyway. I was glad to see them bugger off to the States. You never know, some crackhead might take a shot at one or both of them.

Actually, I believe Harry is henpecked. Meghan wanted to go home to the US and got her way. She's a California girl, I think. We know that Harry won't be king. He's sixth in line and the odds of him being called up are slim. I doubt he wants to sit on the throne anyway. The only thing that might be of interest is if they divorce.

In some respects, this is playing out much like what happened to his great grand uncle, the Duke of Wind-Sore.

I don't wish him or Meghan any ill will. In the end, if he can settle in and live the life of a commoner, albeit a privileged one, things might work out. I suspect that if and when the divorce happens, he will move home, and hang with his brother Wills and their old friends.

Never happen..

i do believe that there was no small number of loyalists in the colonies who later became loyalists populating Canada

By any interpretation i think that is a gross misunderstanding. Very liberal up there, reflected by election outcomes, with the possible exception of Stephen Harper, a few others.

sse;
Good evening and Happy New Year to you sir, I hope that the day treated you acceptably and you and those who matter in your world are well.

With the understanding that I'm not attempting to argue the point that we're overpopulated with left leaning individuals up here, I'd perhaps offer a few clarifications as to why the election outcomes up here don't really reflect what you think they might.

The country is set up with regional ridings, which are as you'll soon see the size of which are hotly contested. What the current system ends up doing is having for instance the lesser populated but still politically powerful Atlantic provinces have more seats in parliament and ridings than we do out west.

One western MP put it this way, one vote in Prince Edward Island is worth 4 votes in Saskatchewan, Alberta or BC..... neat, eh?

Up until the beer flu hit us, BC had a larger GDP than all of the Atlantic Provinces combined, but are still viewed as a "have" province and so pay into the federal transfer tax system and don't receive like they do way out on the east coast.

Then there's the multi party system we've got, where the Parti Quebecois - whose sole purpose is to take Quebec out of Confederation and bleed as much federal transfer money out of the rest of Canada in the meantime, are given national political party status even though they're a strictly regional party. There is then the Progressive Conservative party - Stephen Harper's - the Liberals and the New Democratic Party which are in a full on race for most woke and left leaning and in some areas such as Vancouver Island the Green Party has made inroads.

When current Prince Sparkle Socks was recently elected, he got only 33.12% of the popular vote, while the leader of the PC's got 34.3%, but wasn't able to form a government because the NDP formed a bit of a coalition with the Crown Prince - bringing their 15.9% of the vote along with them.

Please note that as far as I can recall, there were no - that is none, zero, zip - Liberal MLA's elected west of Manitoba..... neat once again, eh?

Anyways, I share all this not to send sour or any other grapes out into the ether space. Rather sir, my wish is to make the point that Canadian election results and the comparative liberal or left leaning tendencies of Canadians aren't necessarily related.

Thanks for reading this far and all the best to you in 2021.

Dwayne

You've more patience than I, Dwayne. I have no time for trolls. You are wasting your breath.

Thanks, Dwayne, and greetings to you, as well. I’ll defer to your considered explanation on the point of conclusions drawn from a given election result, most enlightening.

When I lived in Ontario, the overwhelming feedback toward the US was anti-Republican/conservatism, if not veiled anti-American. Time spent in the west has been simply as a tourist.

This last election cycle in the US saw quite a bit of the same coming from Canadian news outlets, media, and social media, at times quite vitriolic against Trump. I understand the same sentiment is less common in the west, but one could not tell that from how the state of Canadian politics is portrayed south of the border.

sse;
Thanks kindly for your reply sir, I appreciate it.

For sure and certain or better said - in my opinion- for sure and certain, most of the media in Canada is left leaning to various degrees. There is Sun News and Rebel Media which usually are less left leaning, but that doesn't make up for the state sponsored CBC - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation doing their best imitation of the Liberal and/or NDP parties propaganda arm.

Added to that, I'd suggest that most Canadian media is to some degree anti American, but were less so with the previous president as they went out of their way to ensure they were not perceived as having bias based upon race or people group.

Much of the news is indeed anti Trump, but as I've mentioned in other posts, Trumps trade policies combined with the ineptitude of our current federal government has not always had a positive effect on our Canadian economy. To be clear here, I'm not saying that Trump was in error doing that as he was gaining an advantage for those who elected him - which wasn't Canadians and I get that.

There is I believe some recent awakening to how left of center much of our media has become up here and in my view they've lost credibility because of it, but what all that will mean in terms of positive change or any change remains to be seen.

Thanks again for the reply and all the best to you all this upcoming year.

Dwayne

Thanks for the follow-up, Dwayne.

I'll relate an interesting historical connection. My ex's father's name was William Henry Gardner Foote. An ancestor of his, having the surname of Gardner, is listed on the manifest of the Mayflower. Over the generations the extended Gardner family evidently reached some prominence, and recent descendants have visited a section of a cemetary on Nantucket dedicated to them.

About the time of the revolution, a branch of the family identifed as loyalists broke away and fled to Upper Canada.