Congratulations Canadians for having such a beautiful contry.
The world's largest mall.
The world's tallest sctructure.
The world largest undergound City in Montreal.

For having vancouver, the world best place to live.

I have visited Toronto, Montreal, Niagara fall, Winnipeg, and Calgary.
I really love Canada, and I am sure it is the most beautiful country. I still have to visit Vancouver, Quebec city, Halifax, and Edomonton. I am sure I will like your country even more, when I visit Vancouver next year.

Go Canadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It is trully God's country.

No one ever visits St. John's. Poor Newfoundland.

No one ever visits St. John's. Poor Newfoundland.

can you show some pics of St John's ?

Thanks for the comments Fred. If you ever get the chance check out the Okanagan Valley of BC - from Osooyos to Vernon - it's one of my favorite parts of Canada.

I will keep discovering Canada, I was born in Latin America, but I have always love Canada, and I have family there. And now that I live in the USA it is easier for me to Explore Canada.

Congratulations Canadians for having such a beautiful contry.
The world's largest mall.
The world's tallest sctructure.
The world largest undergound City in Montreal.

For having vancouver, the world best place to live.

I have visited Toronto, Montreal, Niagara fall, Winnipeg, and Calgary.
I really love Canada, and I am sure it is the most beautiful country. I still have to visit Vancouver, Quebec city, Halifax, and Edomonton. I am sure I will like your country even more, when I visit Vancouver next year.

Go Canadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Unfortunetly we are going to loose the world'd largest mall and tallest structure to Dubai :bash: :bash: Knowing them, they will build the largest underground city!!

Lets hope we see a WEM expansion in the future. Until then... We will just have to settle with the fact that this country is far better.

I think a Canadian Developer (who teaches at Univ of Toronto) is co-leading one of those man-made island projects off Dubai (called the "Palms"). So, Canada willl share some credit for Dubai's superbuilding spree. huzzah!

by the way, you should put Ottawa on your destination list too...

Ottawa is beautiful it is on my plans too

I have found another record for Canada.

According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 27 km (16 miles) of shopping arcades. It has 371,600 sq. metres (4 million sq. ft) of retail space. In fact, the retail space connected to PATH rivals the West Edmonton Mall in size.

We also have the oldest company on earth, the number one ski resort destination in North America and I heard somewhere that recently we became the largest land mass. There are many more but I can't think of them.

Does BC Ferries own the largest fleet for public transportation?

Since we're on topic about Canadian Records: We have the largest Canadian Shield in the world...ok i'm being silly.

How about these

Canada has about 25% of the world’s wetlands – the largest wetland area in the world..

Canada holds 20% of the world's fresh water

Trans-Canada Highway length (using the Perth-Peterborough-Parry Sound route) is 7,604 kilometres. It is the longest national highway in the world.

Longest Street in the World, YONGE! From Toronto to Thunderday!

Longest coastline
Largest oil reserves in the world (including non-conventional ie- tarsands)
Highest tides in the world (Bay of Fundy)

In my opinion I would say Canada is the world's most sustainable country. I'm curious if it really is.

Canada truly is a unique country.

Yeah Canada! We live in the best country in the world!!!

Man, were such gloaters.

Unfortunetly we are going to loose the world'd largest mall and tallest structure to Dubai :bash: :bash: Knowing them, they will build the largest underground city!!

knowing them they will find someway to build the world longest coast line and worlds longest un-defended border hahaha!

knowing them they will find someway to build the world longest coast line and worlds longest un-defended border hahaha!
Hmm. some sort of fractal pattern could certainly create the length necessary in a small space but I wish them luck doing it with a straight line.

Besides, I thought the US had the longest un-defended border ;)

Man, were such gloaters.

ya its true we are...but can anybody blame us haha. We are the only G7 country to be running a surplus, we have 20% of all the fresh water on the planet, 2nd largest land mass, amazing standard of living, amazing cities, insane amount of resources including one of the largest oil reserves in the world which promises to pump BILLIONS more dollars into our already booming economy!!muahahaha

Hmm. some sort of fractal pattern could certainly create the length necessary in a small space but I wish them luck doing it with a straight line.

Besides, I thought the US had the longest un-defended border ;)

lmao...yes i guess they do lmao

ya its true we are...but can anybody blame us haha. We are the only G7 country to be running a surplus, we have 20% of all the fresh water on the planet, 2nd largest land mass, amazing standard of living, amazing cities, insane amount of resources including one of the largest oil reserves in the world which promises to pump BILLIONS more dollars into our already booming economy!!muahahaha

You mean Alberta's economy, right?

No, Russia is still the largest country, by far...and Hudson's Bay Company isn't the oldest company, it's the oldest retail company that is still trading under its original name.

yes... we all should be fortunate we were born here or moved here later on in life. i also like how Canada's pop. is so small kekeke... i'm a member of an exclusive club of only 32000000 people. =P makes you feel special doesn't it? that out of 6billion people... only 32mill can be lucky enough to call this place home.

oh yeah.. neilio, i've always wondered whether that face in your display pic is your real face =_='' lol.

Canada has the largest island on a freshwater lake.

Canada has more islands than any other country.

Canada has more lakes than any other country at 2 million which represents 60% of the world total.

ya its true we are...but can anybody blame us haha. We are the only G7 country to be running a surplus, we have 20% of all the fresh water on the planet, 2nd largest land mass, amazing standard of living, amazing cities, insane amount of resources including one of the largest oil reserves in the world which promises to pump BILLIONS more dollars into our already booming economy!!muahahaha

Countries around the world have political debates about how to reduce their deficits and how it got so large.

We have political debates about why our surplus is so large and why the government always says it smaller than it actually is.

LOL, that says it all!

^That's to make us think... Wow! These Liberals are doing a great job!

And they pretty much are.

What is the surplus at? And when will they spend it on the larger cities in Canada?

/\ When will anyone see that surplus? Or are they using it to pay off our debts?

Are Canada's debts that much that we cannot pay them off in like two months?
I want Canadians to be loaded off the government...state of the art everything from porta potties and sky scrapers to sidewalks and fuels.

We do have a pretty big debt. Something that cannot be paid off in the blink of an eye.

/\ No I under exagerated, but it's been years.
I'm sure we could afford it.

/\ When will anyone see that surplus? Or are they using it to pay off our debts?

Are Canada's debts that much that we cannot pay them off in like two months?I want Canadians to be loaded off the government...state of the art everything from porta potties and sky scrapers to sidewalks and fuels.

The debt is roughly 520,000 billion. We have paid down 40 billion in the past 5 years so it cant be erased just like that. Infact Canada will probably never be debt free.

The debt is roughly 520,000 billion. We have paid down 40 billion in the past 5 years so it can be erased just like that. Infact Canada will probably never be debt free.

No, I heard we were supposed to be debt free, but I forget what the time frame was... It was in my lifetime though.

Please don't make it political guys. It is the irony that is amusing. We are actually debating how big our surplus will be. We are debating whether the gov't is undercutting as a ploy. Other countries would kil for this opportunity.

Our debt btw is standing at $499 Billion. Long long way to go to pay it off. At $3 Billion per year (the reserve fund) assuming no extra surplus but no deficits either (in other words this estimation is a farce) it would take 167 years.
But keep in mind, the gov't is less concerned with paying off the debt than it is to have the debt-GDP ratio and the Interest-revenue ratios drop.
Dect to GDP means the total amount of debt as a percent of the total output of the countries economy.
Interest-revenue means the amount of interest paid per year as a percent of all taxes/revenues raised. I believe it now stands at 30%, but did'nt look it up.

Hey , bit off the new topic but , after Vernon , visit Kamloops ( canada's HOTEST city!) in Beautiful BC

Hey , bit off the new topic but , after Vernon , visit Kamloops ( canada's HOTEST city!) in Beautiful BC


Thanks for the advice, I am going to BC next year.

By the way, another record for Canada.

World busiest freeway the 401 in Toronto.
I have been there, it is Amazing.

Go CAnadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I even like the Flag, I will change my avatar to honor Canada.

We need an avatar with the Canadian Flag

this gloating is unhealthy.

Here's some St. John's pics:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=171759

this gloating is unhealthy.

awwwwww.....but if feels sooooooo good!
But your right, we're supposed to be humble and all that stuff.
But you can't help feeling good when someone gives you such a nice complement.
So Thank you Fredcalif!

Unfortunetly we are going to loose the world'd largest mall and tallest structure to Dubai :bash: :bash: Knowing them, they will build the largest underground city!!

damn those attention-seeking emirates :bash:

Congratulations Canadians for having such a beautiful contry.
The world's largest mall.
The world's tallest sctructure.
The world largest undergound City in Montreal.

For having vancouver, the world best place to live

I have visited Toronto, Montreal, Niagara fall, Winnipeg, and Calgary.
I really love Canada, and I am sure it is the most beautiful country. I still have to visit Vancouver, Quebec city, Halifax, and Edomonton. I am sure I will like your country even more, when I visit Vancouver next year.

Go Canadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa


ADD the WORLD's LONGEST SKATING RINK: Ottawa's RIDEAU CANAL! :D

No one ever visits St. John's. Poor Newfoundland.
St.John's gets lots of cruise ships every year.
http://www.downtownstjohns.com/index.html
http://www.stjohns.ca/visitors/cruise/index.jsp

We need an avatar with the Canadian Flag

Someone already has one: Ning :)

Our debt btw is standing at $499 Billion. Long long way to go to pay it off. At $3 Billion per year (the reserve fund) assuming no extra surplus but no deficits either (in other words this estimation is a farce) it would take 167 years.

yes, that's how we usually measure our debt load (debt to GDP). Assuming, annual GDP is around $1 trillion, I say it's reasonable relative to other developed nations.

Debt is not a huge concern as long as the burden is acceptable. Since we've been in surplus for almost a decade, it bodes well for the Liberal free-spending lefties in our government. The oil sands windfall would also keep us in surplus. Now, we should use this windfall to invest in other sectors so that we don't rely too much on our natural resources. We gotta diversify man!!

Take US example so wat if debt or deficit is climbing,just dont pay it,who has guts to challenge US on anything

You mean Alberta's economy, right?

No Canada's. THe benefit will be for all Canada as people move to Alberta send money to NewFoundland for instance. Hire consultants from Ontario etc. Plus the single largest collector of wealth from the Oilsands developments is the Federal Government (yes the Alberta government will be second and third largest benefactor is Ontario)

The debt is roughly 520,000 billion. We have paid down 40 billion in the past 5 years so it cant be erased just like that. Infact Canada will probably never be debt free.

Nope from the last budget is was just under 500 billion. SO it can be paid off in say 25 years if the feds continued to work at it. But they seem to want to follow in Kliens scheme of giving money back to citizens. The difference is Alberta has no debt while the federal government does.

yes, that's how we usually measure our debt load (debt to GDP). Assuming, annual GDP is around $1 trillion, I say it's reasonable relative to other developed nations.

Debt is not a huge concern as long as the burden is acceptable.


Yes thats true, but my issue right now is intrest payments on the debt is still the largest expense of the Federal government. I would love to see the Feds continue to pay down the debt until its completely paid off in my lifetime. Then split the intrest savings 2 ways, spending on one time projects like mass transit infrastucture and debt repayment. That way with compounding the debt could be paid off in 25 years and we would still not be short changing Canadians in the mean time. Once the debt is gone we can do all sorts of investments and tax cuts. Remember a third of the budget is for intrest payments. If that was gone we could so some major work for Canadians and in helping out the rest of the world.

I'm one of these Americans who absolutely loves Canada. I know a lot of you guys think we're obnoxious, but whenever I'm up there I just get this feeling that everything is gonna be OK with the world after all. Canada has all of the great things the US has without many of the bad things. There is so much anger, fear, and conflict in American society, and from an outsider's perpsective Canada seems so .... functional. The fact that Toronto (pop 3 million) has a murder rate nearly half that of my city, Milwaukee, WI (pop 600,000) is really saying something. The fact that the first law and order to arrive on the scene in New Orleans after Katrina was the RCMP is also saying something. I wish more Americans would look to our northern neighbor as a model, or at least be halfway aware of its existance. I do think that the recent hurricane disaster, and the debacle in Iraq has opened the eyes of many Americans, and has tempered our arrogance somewhat.

I guarantee you if I expressed this sentiment in a forum frequented by other Americans I would be shouted down in no time by an arguement that can be best summed as "USA! USA! USA! USA!" And, that, my Canadian friends, is so much of the problem with American society. We think the rest of the world should just bow down to us without a thought, and get angry and defensive when anyone, even other Americans, dare criticize how we do things. If I expressed these views in an American forum I would called "French," as an epithet.

Don't worry, I'm not planning to move to Canada anytime soon. I feel that the US needs people to stay and improve things, now more than ever. I guess what I'm trying to say here with this rambling post is that while I'm proud to be an American, I also secretly wish I was Canadian. And also, to say thanks. Thanks for being there, Canada, and putting up with us.

A real classic!

:grouphug: :applause:

I would love to see the Feds continue to pay down the debt until its completely paid off in my lifetime

It could happen. The 2005 budget expects the ratio to hit approx. 40%, and the goal is to see the debt/GDP ratio drop to 25% by 2014.

Some interesting federal revenue/expense figures for 2003-2004

Sources of Revenue:
$85 B - personal income tax -net amount after Child Tax Benefit, & GST credit
$28 B - GST (holy freaking cow!)
$27 B - Corporate Income tax
$16 B - Other Taxes
$18 B - Employment Insurance (another "holy freaking cow!")
$12 B - Other Revenues
$186 Billion - Total

Expense allocation:
$36 B - Interest Payments
$94 B - Transfer payments to provinces & people (healthcare, old age, EI, arts & culture, etc.)
$47 B - Operating costs of Government (mainly to defence, public security, and Canada's revenue agency
$177 Billion - Total

Surplus - $9 B, all this went to debt reduction in 2003-2004. Over the past seven years, the surplus helped reduce debt by over $60 Billion.

Source: http://www.fin.gc.ca (Gov't of Canada - Dept. of Finance)

Canucks are like Americans: study

Sheryl Ubelacker
Canadian Press

October 7, 2005

TORONTO -- Ask any Canadian to define the typical Canuck and among the descriptions proffered is sure to be: "We're not like Americans."

After all, Americans are brash, arrogant and aggressive. We Canadians, on the other hand, are polite, modest and somewhat introverted.

We're as different from our neighbours to the south as, well, beavers are from bald eagles.

Aren't we?

Not according to a study of national personalities, which found that this time-honoured perception of our oh-so-unique Canadian psyche -- and other cultures' stereotypes of themselves -- are in fact just so much hooey.

"These stereotypes are as Canadians see themselves and Americans as they see themselves," said Robert McCrae of the U.S. National Institute on Aging, a principal investigator of the study on national personalities around the world.

"Canadians think they're extremely agreeable; the Americans think they're very disagreeable," he said. "Canadians believe that they're very calm and not irritable, very even-tempered, whereas Americans think they're more anxious and hostile.

"The fact is Canadians and Americans have almost identical average personality traits."

In a measure of five main areas of personality, covering a total of 30 traits, Canadians and their U.S. cousins fell roughly in the middle. Not only that, but they weren't all that different from other cultures around the globe, researchers found.

The study, published in the latest issue of Science, collected data through personality questionnaires given to thousands of people living in 49 countries.

Over and over, stereotypes about different nationalities emerged, but all were left wanting.

"These are very interesting sociological phenomena," McCrae said. "They get made into myths and they turn up in literature and in songs and in jokes and kind of have a life of their own."

Take the Brits, for example, whose national character is typically viewed as reserved and stalwart.

"The English showed the worst agreement in the entire set between the stereotype and the measured personality," said McCrae. "The stereotype of the English is that they're very reserved, whereas as in fact English are extroverts.

"And English think that they're relatively conventional and closed, but compared to most people in the world, they're pretty open to experience."

Germany was one example in which at least part of the stereotype matched reality, he said. "Germans think that they're conscientious and industrious and they measured out as conscientious and industrious."

Argentines believe they're a nation of disagreeable folk, and that reputation is pervasive throughout Latin America. But Argentines scored as average on the agreeableness scale.

McCrae noted that one Canadian researcher, upon seeing the results, said: " `Well, the Canadians are not going to like this story, because they really want to believe that they are much nicer than Americans.'

"I think that shows that at least one of the functions that stereotypes serve is to assert a national identity. We want to distinguish ourselves from Americans, so we'll invent some kind of difference and exaggerate it, and in this case it has to do with things like agreeableness," he said of the so-called Canadian identity.

Paul Trapnell, a professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg, agreed that claiming particular national character traits can support certain motives: differentiating a population from other cultures and building its self-esteem.

"So we'll try to see ourselves as different from Americans and the differences we'll latch onto are the differences that also serve our desire to think good about ourselves," said Trapnell, one of three Canadian researchers who contributed data to the study.

What he found interesting was how homogenous the notion of the "typical Canuck" was across the country.

"The views that persons in Vancouver have about Canadians are very similar to the views that Nova Scotians have about Canadians," Trapnell said. "So we do possess a somewhat loosely organized but shared perception of what our national character is like, even though that shared perception doesn't turn out to be a real one."

What another country does on the world stage or on home soil may also contribute to national stereotypes, suggested psychologist Delroy Paulhus of the University of British Columbia, who also took part in the study.

"Canadians confuse typical Americans with their country's foreign policy, which seems belligerent," Paulhus said by e-mail. "Or Canadians extrapolate the higher rate of crime in the U.S. to infer typical character."

Whatever the reasons, typecasting an entire people can be dangerous, the authors say, leading to prejudice, discrimination and persecution.

"Clearly it tells us that we need to be very cautious about making generalizations about groups of people, any kind of groups of people," McCrae said. "Because often those generalizations are unfounded.

"Instead, what we have to do is remind ourselves that we're dealing with individuals, and regardless of what their nationality or their age or their gender, we should look at their personality as it is in themselves."

© Canadian Press 2005

It could happen. The 2005 budget expects the ratio to hit approx. 40%, and the goal is to see the debt/GDP ratio drop to 25% by 2014.

Some interesting federal revenue/expense figures for 2003-2004

Sources of Revenue:
$85 B - personal income tax -net amount after Child Tax Benefit, & GST credit
$28 B - GST (holy freaking cow!)
$27 B - Corporate Income tax
$16 B - Other Taxes
$18 B - Employment Insurance (another "holy freaking cow!")
$12 B - Other Revenues
$186 Billion - Total

Expense allocation:
$36 B - Interest Payments
$94 B - Transfer payments to provinces & people (healthcare, old age, EI, arts & culture, etc.)
$47 B - Operating costs of Government (mainly to defence, public security, and Canada's revenue agency
$177 Billion - Total

Surplus - $9 B, all this went to debt reduction in 2003-2004. Over the past seven years, the surplus helped reduce debt by over $60 Billion.

Source: http://www.fin.gc.ca (Gov't of Canada - Dept. of Finance)

If it took 7yrs to pay off $60 Billion, then it would take an additional 60yrs to pay of the rest. While theoretically possible, highly unlikely. Politics gets in teh way. There will be demand for more spending &/or tax cuts.
The gov't was able to get away with putting large amount towards deficits due to Canada's past willingfulness during the "deficit slayor" years.
But times have changed, and the debt is no longer as high as a priority to your typical Canadian.
Tax cuts and social spending are starting to take precedent.
Also, one PM thinks differently from the rest. Look at the US as an example going from massive surpluses to huge deficits so quickly. While our situation is different, there is nothing saying that can't happen here.

But it's nice to know at least it is possible. Cross your fingers :)

We should put our pennies together and give away a trip to St johns! I can't cost too much, can it?

Canada also has the best forumer on SSC.

Oh why thank you algonquin...how sweet of you :jk:

As a matter of life practice, I do not put myself into debt unless I have to.

I have three credit cards which I only use once every couple of months so that the CC companies do not cancel the accounts.

The fact that we went so far into debt wrecklessly IMO is very scary. It would be best if Canada never did it again as it is just downloading todays expendatures to tomorrows generation.

Debt is very bad, atleast our government regardless of party is finnally tackling the problem and viewing it as a problem for today.




I'm one of these Americans who absolutely loves Canada. I know a lot of you guys think we're obnoxious, but whenever I'm up there I just get this feeling that everything is gonna be OK with the world after all. Canada has all of the great things the US has without many of the bad things. There is so much anger, fear, and conflict in American society, and from an outsider's perpsective Canada seems so .... functional. The fact that Toronto (pop 3 million) has a murder rate nearly half that of my city, Milwaukee, WI (pop 600,000) is really saying something. The fact that the first law and order to arrive on the scene in New Orleans after Katrina was the RCMP is also saying something. I wish more Americans would look to our northern neighbor as a model, or at least be halfway aware of its existance. I do think that the recent hurricane disaster, and the debacle in Iraq has opened the eyes of many Americans, and has tempered our arrogance somewhat.

I guarantee you if I expressed this sentiment in a forum frequented by other Americans I would be shouted down in no time by an arguement that can be best summed as "USA! USA! USA! USA!" And, that, my Canadian friends, is so much of the problem with American society. We think the rest of the world should just bow down to us without a thought, and get angry and defensive when anyone, even other Americans, dare criticize how we do things. If I expressed these views in an American forum I would called "French," as an epithet.

Don't worry, I'm not planning to move to Canada anytime soon. I feel that the US needs people to stay and improve things, now more than ever. I guess what I'm trying to say here with this rambling post is that while I'm proud to be an American, I also secretly wish I was Canadian. And also, to say thanks. Thanks for being there, Canada, and putting up with us.

Here is one class act that people from both countries should follow.

Debt means very little, its the amount to GDP that matters and in that regard Canada has the lowest debt to gdp ratio in the G& and the only one to be running a surplus.....8 years in a row now, a G& record.
Canada also has the world's first department store, HudsonBay and the largest overhead building connection, Calgary's Plus 15/30 system.
Also first city in the world to be created as a police station, Regina.

"Canada also has the world's first department store, HudsonBay...Also first city in the world to be created as a police station, Regina." lol - are these just sidenotes?

God i love Canada, moved here when i was 6 with my folks and it's the best thing that's ever happened to me and my folks. My folks could NOT imagine going back to Poland now EVER! It's way too good here, everything is just better. London is a kick ass city - not too big not too small - just right. Yup I gotta say this is a kick ass country. And best of all we make this country work and what it is with a huge immigrant population, and different regional differences. Other countries actually study Canada to see how the hell the country stays together and doens't fall apart - God bless Federalism.

I love Canada! As an American, I really envy a lot of things about Canada. Everytime I've driven across the border I'm reminded what a pleasure Canada--and, as I drive back across, what a pain in the ass the U.S. can be! :-)

I love Canada! As an American, I really envy a lot of things about Canada. Everytime I've driven across the border I'm reminded what a pleasure Canada--and, as I drive back across, what a pain in the ass the U.S. can be! :-)


moving isn't an option?

Moving--even to somewhere in the States--is not cheap and I am not rich (yet!). So, moving is most certainly an option, and one that I am going to pursue at some point. Just not right now.

Why does Montréal have underground sections? Are you guys going to do anything about the tariff on your lumber? How are people who leave Canada and become American citizens perceived over there?

Both Toronto and Montreal have very large underground shopping areas. It's convenient especially during the cold of winter and the heat/humidity of summer.

Regarding the tariff on lumber, Canada is still considering its options. As of now we are taking the US to court and lobbying in the US to get them to reverse their position on the issue. If that doesn't work them punitive action will follow.

How are people who leave Canada and become American citizens perceived over there?

Most hold dual citizenships and maintain close contacts with Canda.

Moving--even to somewhere in the States--is not cheap and I am not rich (yet!). So, moving is most certainly an option, and one that I am going to pursue at some point. Just not right now.

Hey, I hear ya. If I could afford it, I would be on my way to Montreal. Not that I don't like Hfx, but it's a bit small.