Salon: Welcome to Canada! ("but we're not as blue as you think.")

[kskiska]

We've got same-sex marriage, medical marijuana -- and, hey, 80 percent of us think Bush runs a rogue nation! But I'd better warn you -- we're not as blue as you think.

Nov. 15, 2004 | VANCOUVER --

Dear friends back home,

Hey, sure, no problem, the couch pulls out and it's yours whenever you show up. But so many of you are dreaming of leaving America for the biggest, bluest state of all, Canada, I figured I'd offer a little orientation. I know, we've been out of touch too long. Can you believe it? It's been more than a dozen years since my partner landed that cushy professorship in Vancouver and we transplanted here from San Francisco. But sometimes it takes a little thing like an electoral disaster to put old friends back in touch.

Anyway, your sudden interest in your northern neighbor has not gone unnoticed up here. We've all seen that cute map showing "The United States of Canada," combining your blue states and Canada and cutting loose the red states of "Jesusland." We did note that Canada's main immigration Web site got swamped by U.S. traffic when Bush won. And just yesterday the CBC (sorta like NPR) reported that a local law firm, its phone ringing off the hook, is "planning how-to-come-to-Canada seminars" for "Bush refugees."

Prepare to be welcomed with open arms. Literally, in the case of Marry an American, a wry Web concoction by the editors of Toronto-based This Magazine. Sample: "If George W. Bush is re-elected, single, sexy, American liberals -- already a threatened species -- will be desperate to escape. These lonely, afraid (did we mention really hot?) progressives will need a safe haven. You can help. Open your heart, and your home. Marry an American."

Before you pack up the Prius for that endless ski vacation, though, I should warn you. When it comes to political struggle up here, it's not like you're going to get a lot of R&R. But more about that in a minute.

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/11/15/whoacanada/index.html

[JohnLocke]

1. Can you post a bit more of the article? I don't get Salon (nt).

[mzmolly]

2. More here...

Before you pack up the Prius for that endless ski vacation, though, I should warn you. When it comes to political struggle up here, it's not like you're going to get a lot of R&R. But more about that in a minute.

No doubt, Canadians feel your pain. Two-thirds of them, according to a Time magazine Canada poll, believed your choice of president would affect their lives at least as much as the election of their own prime minister. And two-thirds were pulling for Kerry versus 19 percent for Bush.

So now that the deed is done, no need to be polite about Dubya around Canadians. Nearly eight out of 10 here say he runs "a rogue nation," and most adults under 35 believe America has become "a force for evil in the world," according to another October poll (this one conducted by the Dominion Institute and the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, and reported by the Canwest news service). Global warming, AIDS, even SARS, are more scary to Canadians than terrorism, the survey found. The vast majority would rather spend new tax money on healthcare and education than the military, and 40 percent think Switzerland has it right: "focus on being a great place to live rather than working on international issues."

How blue can you get, eh?

Can I mention a sensitive name? Ralph Nader likes us so much he wrote a book called "Canada Firsts," chockablock with Canadian achievements. Guess who invented the first publicly owned utility, the first credit union, the first social club, the variable pitch propeller, pabulum, standard time and the first rotary snowplow? Better believe it.

You can get a free day pass too. :hi: That's what I did.

[kskiska]

3. Against the rules.

Go to Salon and go the Day Pass route. All you have to do is sit through a brief commercial.

[NurseLefty]

4. It's the one thing that bugs me about Salon

But they have to make money, I guess.

[ElectroPrincess]

7. They're too trendy for my tastes ... I respect the free, grass roots

and hell, even blogs more. Saaaa-Lon is too fu fu :P

[Politicub]

9. Then subscribe!

I've been reading Salon since 1997. I couldn't live without my subscription.

[Maple]

5. Well I searched to see why 'we're not blue'

and darned if I can find it. And I've lived in Canada all my life.

Other than mentioning we have a few wackos - doesn't everybody?- it mentions how it can get cold in Canada.

Not in Vancouver where this writer is, and not where I am.

And in other places here, no colder than it gets in the northern US - unless you're planning on living at the North pole, in which case you'll be alone.

Maybe this person, David Beers, just doesn't want to share?

[midnight armadillo]

6. Nova Scotia & Newfoundland always seemed neat

One of these days I'll get around to visiting St. Johnsbury. It looks like a pretty neat little city. Interesting winter weather, too...

[northamericancitizen]

8. I know a "bluer" province

Québec. I am bias thou. I am french-canadian. But it is well known that Quebequers are the most liberal in Canada. Socially and politically.

If you decide to come and live here language doesn't have to be an obstacle. In Montreal you can live in english almost everywhere.. in some parts of the Eastern township too.

In Québec city its mainly french . The most European city in north-america.

All of you are more than welcome over here.