Canada Vs. The United States Essay, Research Paper
Growing up in Canada and growing up in the United
States for children these days is totally
different from how it used to be. The idea of
Canadian identity is an issue that not many people
think about, and that most people take for
granted. 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.