Nu ska allas vår nyfikenhet om Kanada stillas. Vincent och Farees har svarat på frågorna som alla har ställt. Dom har inte bara svarat utan verkligen SVARAT på alla frågorna, jag lärde mig väldigt mycket av svaren. Dom är verkligen värda varsin "reflixwest" som tack efter det här!! 

Jag fick in ganska många frågor och skrev ihop dem till totalt 35 frågor i 5 olika kategorier: "About Canada", "Family, food and traditions", "Politics", "Living in Canada" och "Canada and other countries". Idag kommer svaren till "About Canada" och är ni nyfikna på de andra kategorierna får ni kika in senare igen ;) Men dom kommer, var inte oroliga. Jag kommer inte översätta svaren för det tar för lång tid. Är man inte så haj på engelska är mitt förslag att kopiera in det i google translate eller också be någon annan översätta ;)

Här har ni Farees och Vincent (den tredje killen är Malte, han är ju istället Tysklandsexpert, men det får vi ta i ett annat forum någon annan gång  ):

First, tell us shortly about yourself:

Vincent Mai (VM): My name is Vincent. I was born in France but, as my parents and I came to Montréal, Québec, when I was 5, I am a lot more Québecois and Canadian than French. I’ve been living here for 15 years and I am now studying Engineering Physics at École Polytechnique de Montréal. I travelled a lot in the whole Canada when I was a child but I don’t remember much of it. However, I’ve been several times to Ontario and in the Eastern provinces (known as Maritimes) lately and I know Québec very well. Last year, I was in exchange in Lund.

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  My name is Farees, I was born in Toronto (yup, the place with the crack smoking mayor… save us), Ontario and I lived there for most of my life! My parents immigrated to Canada in the 1970s from Congo, and have happily made Canada their home since then.  I am currently studying Political Science at the University of Ottawa, in the capital city.  I’ve travelled pretty extensively on the east coast of Canada, and I’ll be heading out west this Christmas! Last year, I spent an amazing 6 months at Lund University (can someone take me back?  …anyone!?)

About Canada

1. Describe a typical Canadian

Vincent Mai (VM): A typical Canadian... is international! Canada is a country where immigration is very important and around 25% of the population has immigrated to Canada 25 or less years ago. Especially in the cities, you find people of every skin color, every religion, etc.

However, I guess this is not answering your question. I think the typical Canadian is welcoming and very talkative. They like ice hockey, maple syrup and good beer.  And they seldom complain about anything (actually, that’s often a problem, to my point of view).

2. What is the relationship between Québec and the other regions?

Vincent Mai (VM): Ahaa! That’s the best question :)

Let’s say it’s quite a tense relashionship. Historically, Quebec was French and got invaded by England. Then for around 300 years, the English speaking people were the dominating class, in Canada and even in Quebec. Some 40-50 years ago, the French speakers finally came out of the working class to form a large middle class and elite class population that did not exist before.  With those changes came the abandonment of religion, the feminist movements and the social advances that Quebec is still known for in Canada. It was called the “Révolution Tranquille”, or “Quiet Revolution”, as it was a huge society change, but without violence. As they did so, some separatist movements came up. Mostly non violent (even if one group of 4 people kidnapped and killed one federal minister, which actually led to a huge loss of popularity of the movement), those movements resulted in two referendums on independance, the first one rejected by 65% of the population and the last one, in 1995, where the NO won with a slight 50.5% of the votes.

Because of the differences between the vision of society (Quebec is more left-handed, especially with the conservative federal government we have now), the language barrier (obviously) and the multiple historical clashes, it’s no wonder the relationship is a little bit turbulent.

However, the separatist movements are starting to decline step by step, mostly because it would be economically very hard to get a country on our own.

If you want my own opinion, I guess I would just not go vote at the referendum, not because I’m not interested, but because I’m totally neutral on the question. I understand very well why we should separate, and why we should not. And frankly, both cases are okay for me!

(Oh, and also, we do like Canadians. Like, they are maybe the best people in the world. It’s just that... it’s two quite different nations in the same country. It just cannot work smoothly!)

Farees Nathoo (FN):  I think Vincent has hit the major historical points here.  I think the important thing to know about this issue is that it’s very sensitive and that we try to respect people’s opinions with regards to Quebec sovereignty.  People are often entrenched in some pretty emotional and ideological positions and we try to be respectful of that. 

While I was in Sweden, I used to joke that the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada is almost the same as Stockholm and Skåne.  The relationship almost always comes to the fore during hockey games!

3. Why is the flag red and white and why is there a maple leaf on it?

Vincent Mai (VM): The red and white come from the English colonial red and French royal white (I actually just looked at it on Wikipedia :P)

The maple leaf is Canada’s symbol as sugar maple only grow here!

Farees Nathoo (FN): Vincent beat me to the history again! The urban legend about the flag is quite interesting (or maybe this is a nerdy political moment).  The Prime Minister at the time the flag was revised from the old British model was a member of the Liberal Party, whose colours are red and white.  The legend is that he made the colours red and white so that all parties would have to use the colours of the Liberal Party when using the Canadian flag. 

In reality, you see the flag almost everywhere in the streets, particularly in Ottawa! On people’s clothes, public buildings and squares, even on cookies!

4. Name some famous Canadian brands. What are you most famous for (like Sweden and IKEA)?

Vincent Mai (VM): Canada Goose is for sure a big brand. We also have got Bombardier, Blackberry (even if they’re not doing very well...), Ubisoft, some banks and a lot of big mining companies nobody knows except people from the domain. But I guess what we are the most known for is maple syrup!

Farees Nathoo (FN): One of our most famous stores is the Hudson Bay Company, which was actually a big British company who helped colonize a lot of the country.  They are most famous for those famous red Canadian mittens that everyone was wearing during the Vancouver Olympics!

5. What are the society problems in Canada?

Vincent Mai (VM): This really depends on the province you are in I guess. In Quebec we have presently, like in a lot of countries, a big debate over immigration and integration. For now, everything works fine. Actually, we have a big advantage: nobody can come here without being allowed to. They must whether pass through the oceans, the Arctic or, even harder, the USA borders. So no illegal immigration. But we are asking ourselves how to keep our traditions and values in such a society.

Also, environment. This I think is more of a canadian problem than a quebecois. The oil sands in Alberta are a known to be the most polluting way of extracting oil and the federal government is shutting down environmental comittees and muzzling the scientists so they cannot say how terrible it is.

Finally, the native Americans. They are not a lot of them, and they usually live in the North. The problem is that they want to keep their culture, traditions and territory but also to be integrated. And this leads to a dramatic situation and conflicts with the “white” people. It is known that in those villages, alcoholism and drug dependance are very high, same as criminality, illitteracy... And they block hydro-electric dam projects because it is on their hunting territories. It is a very delicate problem and most of the people just don’t know what to do about it.

Farees Nathoo (FN): I think we have a couple of issues that are pretty pressing.  The first is definitely the environment.  The debate over the Keystone XL pipeline is quite intense as it involves a massive oil pipeline that spans quite a bit of the country and would provide oil to America.  There’s a huge concern over destroying forests and communities to create this pipeline, as well as the extraction of the oil from oil sands.

Aboriginals are not only a societal problem, but a huge failure on the part of Canada.  The historical treatment of these indigenous people as well as modern treatment is a pretty bad mark on our record.  We still have quite some ways to go before we can make amends and help recognize the Aboriginal cultures as a part of the Canadian culture. 

6. How does it work with insurance if you get sick? Do you have to pay high fees for insurance? How much tax do you pay (percentage of the salary)?

Vincent Mai (VM): Health is a provincial responsability, but I think it is the same in all provinces: we do not pay healthcare ourselves. It is all in the taxes. It’s actually something all the Canadians are proud of and that we always underline when we discuss with our southern neighbours!

The taxes are both federal and provincial, so the total actually depends on where you live. Federal tax is around 25% of your revenue, plus 7% on your buyings. Then you have to add around 20% of provincial tax (in Québec) and 8% on your buyings. You don’t have a lot left in the end!

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  The federal government delegates some governmental responsibility to the provinces, healthcare being one of them.  We don’t have to pay for healthcare, but there are growing concerns over the quality and efficiency of the healthcare system in Ontario, though overall it’s quite effective.

Federal and provincial income tax in Ontario adds up to about 35 percent, while sale tax is 13%.

7. What do Canadians, in general, consider are the major problems in the world today?

Vincent Mai (VM): A good question. My guess would be the climate changes. Most of Canadians are nature lovers!

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  I would add a host of international affairs to this, particularly Syria and Libya.  Canada has historically played a big peacekeeping role on the international stage and these humanitarian crises are definitely debated here. 

8. Do people mostly use cars or public transport?

Vincent Mai (VM): Of course, it depends if you are in a small town or in a big city. If you’re not in a big town, everything is so far away that you don’t have the choice: you take the car. In cities like Montréal, Ottawa, Vancouver or Toronto (and I guess the others), it is easier to take public transport. Compared to the US, I’d say we use more public transport. However, compared to Sweden, it’s cars, for sure.

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  I think we’re quite reliant on cars, mostly because of the large size of our country.  This is definitely true if you live outside of the core of a city, where public transit and metro lines are less accessible.  It’s not at all uncommon to drive ~1.5 hours to work each way in Toronto!

9. What are the biggest job openings in Canada in the future?

Vincent Mai (VM): I’m not sure to completely understand the question nor to be an expert in job openings, but I think Canada is doing quite well. It is not hard to get a job and it seems that it will last for a while.

Farees Nathoo: (FN):  I think the oil and gas sector and the business supporting that line of work is definitely a growing area. 

Det var första kategorin! Ni som tog er igenom allt ända hit har förhoppningsvis lärt er en del nytt ni inte visste :)

To be continued...

Förrätt: Grönkålssoppa med sirop d'érable

Huvudrätt: Risotto med trattkantareller, sparris och räkor

Efterrätt: Flytande lussekatter (nej men nästan: vit chokladmousse med saffran och tranbärsröra)

Dryck: Massa vin!

Sällskap: Svenskarna och Mattia

Kontentan: En trevlig kväll som kantades av språkdiskussioner och snack inför morgondagens extremt viktiga match mot Portugal

Malin, Erik och Johan

Mattia och Emma