Discovering Canadian Oddities: An Ongoing Occurrence

Canadian Oddity #6: Naked Bike Ride

This particular oddity isn't exclusive to Canada, but it takes place in a lot of major Canadian cities, and Vancouver is no exception. Apparently hundreds of cyclists strip down to their birthday suits and ride around the city to protest oil dependency. Last weekend, Vancouver cyclists were also protesting the fact that there aren't enough bike paths in the city. The true oddity is that although the bikers in the buff block traffic and pretty much reduce it to a standstill (not to mention commit indecent exposure), the mounties are instructed not to anything as the department doesn't want to deal with it. I'm all about cyclists' rights, the right to protest and things of that nature, but if people are riding around naked in the streets stopping traffic, shouldn't the police try to at least facilitate it so it doesn't shut down the city?

Discovering Canadian Oddities: An Ongoing Occurrence

Canadian Oddity #5: Provincial Independence Days

Each Canadian province has it's own sort of "independence day" in which they celebrate when the province was formed. Monday happened to be BC Day, and most folks (including Jeff) had the day off. Can you imagine there being a New Jersey Day, a Michigan Day, a Texas Day, etc.?

Immigration Secrets Revealed!

I've kind of been at a loss of what to write the past few weeks, but today it dawned on me that I'm totally forgetting probably one of the most noteworthy and unique experiences I'll have in this country: immigration. Jeff and I have been dealing with this process for so long now that it just seems like a normal part of our lives, hence my neglect of addressing this issue earlier. I get a lot of questions about it from family and friends, and over time I've noticed that there are a couple major misconceptions in regards to what we're actually doing, what rights I do and do not have in this country at this moment, and what my status and rights in the country will be once the process has been completed. In this post I thought I'd address the popular misconceptions regarding immigration and explain more of what the process involves in a later entry.

Misconception #1: Once my application to immigrate has been approved, I will be a Canadian citizen.

No. The road to citizenship is significantly longer than the road I'm now traveling. Right now I'm trying to achieve permanent residency, which gives me the right to stay in the country indefinitely, the right to live anywhere I want within Canada, the right to legally work and study in Canada, and the right to receive publicly-funded health care. I currently have none of these rights. To put it in American terms: I'm trying to get a green card and have to go through another process later in order to obtain dual citizenship. I cannot even start this process, however, until I have lived here as a permanent resident for at least 3 years. Thus, the belief that one can automatically apply for citizenship upon entering a foreign country is false.

Misconception #2: Now that I'm married to a Canadian, I have the right to live and work in Canada.

Have you ever seen the movie "Sicko" where an American marries a Canadian just so she can receive free health care? There are many who try to manipulate the system, so getting married to a Canadian gives me nothing from Canada under the law. The country obviously recognizes the marriage as legal, but nothing more. This may come to a surprise to some people, but Canadian custom officials have every right not to let me or anyone else who is not a permanent resident or citizen into the country if they don't want to. I doubt this would ever happen, but the fact remains that just because I'm married to a Canuck doesn't mean I have any legal right to enter or stay in Canuckland. In fact, Tulip has more right to be here than I do, and she's just a silly cat.

So why did we get married? Well first: we love each other; and second: we could not even submit the immigration application until we could submit our marriage certificate along with it. There are a variety of ways that one can immigrate to Canada (more on that later), but being sponsored under the "family class" was the only one for which I could be eligible at the time, and I wasn't even eligible for that until we got married.

Anyways, if my entry into the country were to ever be refused (heaven forbid), Jeff and I would have absolutely no legal footing upon which to stand in order to counter this refusal. In order to help ensure my smooth entry into the country, in addition to my passport, I always bring a copy of our marriage certificate with me so that if worse comes to worst, I can at least show that my claims to being married to a Canadian are true. I also bring the letter from immigration confirming the receipt of our application and the approval of the sponsorship portion. I carry my passport with me everywhere just in case the mounties might feel the need to detain me if they suspect something amiss. Again, the chances of this happening are slim, but I believe one needs to be prepared for anything when traveling or living in any foreign land.

When I went through customs last month, after questioning me for about an hour in this big scary room where they go through people's luggage, the officers gave me what's called a "visitor record," which gives me a visitor number that any customs official can look up and see all the times I've been over the border and why. It also puts a deadline on the amount of time I can spend in Canada with "visitor" status, which seems to make the customs folks more at ease when deciding to let me in. I've driven over the border twice since then with no problems or confusion, unlike before. At the end of the deadline (which I currently the end of December) I can apply for an extension on my visitor status if need be.

Again, I never expect this to happen (knock on wood), but you can never be too careful. Being kept apart from Jeff would be absolutely devastating to us both. I'd also be homeless, which sounds incredibly unappealing.

So those are the major misconceptions regarding immigration that I've been experiencing. I'm sure many more questions will be answered in my later entry on the process itself.

Discovering Canadian Oddities: An Ongoing Occurrence

Canadian Oddity #4:

You'd think someone called a "Peace Officer" would be a person in charge of making sure protests don't become violent, taming rioters, etc.; however, the purpose of Canada's "Peace Officer" is to randomly pull over commerical vehicles on the freeway to make sure they comply with safety and environmental regulations. So I guess, in a roundabout way, they are keeping the peace by attempting to prevent future accidents and global destruction. This is probably a better use of their time--Canadians only riot during hockey season anyway.

Going Beyond the Eh

Having now lived in Canada for a few months, I have been able to detect some differences in the way Canadians speak versus the way Americans speak, both in the words we use as well as pronunciation. Many Americans chuckle at the Canadians' use of the interjection "Eh?" but the differences in the way Americans and Canadians speak go well beyond that simple two letter word. The following collection of words and phrases are perhaps not all uniquely Canadian, but commonly used by many English-speaking Canadians in their everyday speech.

Brown bread - Bread that Americans would commonly refer to as "whole wheat" bread.

Buggy - A word used by Canadians in a grocery store to signify a shopping cart. 

Canuck - It may sound derogatory, but the use of the word "Canuck" to refer to a Canadian is perfectly acceptable. The NHL hockey team in Vancouver is called the "Vancouver Canucks," and Canuck was the last name of a popular comic book character, "Johnny Canuck."

Expiry date - The Canadian equivalent of the American use of the phrase "expiration date."

First Nations - A term referring to the aboriginal peoples of Canada, used by Canadians as the term "Native American" is used in the United States.

Flat - A 24-pack of beer that is also frequently called a "two-four" by Canadians.

Garbuator - Even though it may sound funny to Americans, Canadians use "garbuator" when talking about a garbage disposal.

Hey? - Canadians say this in place of the phrases "What?" "Huh?" or "Pardon me?" when one has not adequately heard what another person has said.

Hydro - As some Canadian provinces use hydroelectric power as their primary source of generating electricity, many Canadians use this word to refer to their electric service: "Honey, did you forget to pay the hydro bill again?"

Loonie - Canadians call their one-dollar coin a "loonie," which stems from the picture of a loon on the coin's back.

Mum - Americans have often heard the use of this address by British folks, but many Canadians also use this word when referring to their beloved "Mom."

Packing - Used not only when packing something, such as a suitcase, but also when carrying something: "I'm sick of packing this heavy suitcase everywhere!"

Parkade - The Canadian equivalent of the term "parking garage."

Runners - Canadians are not talking about marathon participants when using this word, but rather the running shoes the participants are wearing.

Tap - Canadians say "tap" in the place of the word "faucet."

Touque - A hat that many Americans would refer to as a "ski hat" or "cap." A "touque" often has a pompom on its top.

Toonie - The nickname of the Canadian two-dollar coin, named as thus simply because it rhymes with "loonie" and starts with the same letter as the word "two."

Washroom - A word used in place of the American use of the word "restroom;" however, Canadians still call a private bathroom a "bathroom" as Americans do.

As the Canadianisms above go well beyond the stereotypical use of the word "Eh?," Canada, the Canadian people and Canadian culture all go well beyond the stereotypes "cold," "polite," and "invisible," respectively. People are often blinded by one word that describes a culture and thereby miss out on the many characteristics that make that culture unique. Language is the window to any way of life, and discovering the distinctive qualities of that language also allows for uncovering the true qualities of a small piece of humanity.

Discovering Canadian Oddities: An Ongoing Occurrence

Canadian Oddity #3:

Canadian post offices are actually privately-owned franchises run by non-governmental employees. The government still owns and regulates the Canada Post; however, privately-owned entities still receive a major share of the profits. Isn't it interesting that this major Canadian institution is less-socialized than its US equivalent?

I discovered this oddity while shopping at Zellers, the Canadian version of K-Mart. The post office was actually in the department store, just like a hair salon or a bank! How weird is that?

Provincial Elections in Canada

I was able to witness the British Columbia provincial election on Tuesday. Jeff took me with him when he went to vote, and it was interesting but not very exciting, probably because the polling location was dead, and there was not much hype preceding or succeeding the election. This particular voting location was at a church, and the signs outside the door looked like this: 

These are not my pictures, by the way; I was too scared to take pictures in fear of being mistaken for an American anarchist or something. Anyways, the area wasn't plastered with flags like you usually see at polling places in the US, just with these signs. We walk into the church, and there are about 10 tables set up in rows in a small gym with 2 people at each table. The table to which you are assigned depends on the first letter of your last name. You go to your assigned table, show your ID, get two ballots, and vote right at that same table behind a small cardboard partition. 

Once again, this is not my picture, but a picture I found on cbc.ca; however, Jeff's polling place looked almost exactly like this. You don't have to wait in one long line to show someone your ID and then wait in another line to cast your vote, as often happens in the US. The large space in which people were voting (the gym) was quite a bit more comfortable than the small hallway of the elementary school in Kentucky in which I voted last November. I waited in line for over an hour to vote at one of the two voting machines, one of which wasn't functioning properly (I was able to vote at the other one, thank god). Here there are as many places to register and vote as there are tables, and there are plenty of volunteers to facilitate this process.

Jeff was handed 2 paper ballots (electronic voting is apparently only done at a municipal level here in Canada at this time) with only one item to vote upon on each: which party they want as the majority in Parliament (which appoints the Premier, who is the Canadian equivalent of a US state governor), and whether or not they want a proposal (called a referendum) to pass. I wasn't able to see Jeff's ballots, but I found an image of the referendum ballot on another website:

Voters simply put an X in the circle next to the electoral system they want, and that's it. The other ballot operates the same way, just with a list of the parties' names with the same big white circles by them. You're only voting for one party, so you don't have to do research on a bunch of candidates you've never heard of who are running for other offices you really don't care about (or feel guilty about just voting straight ticket, an option that doesn't exist in Canada). 

Apparently the "liberals" won the most seats in the provincial Parliament in this election, but apparently being "liberal" and "conservative" means something different in Canada, a subject about which I will write later once I've learned more about it. The result of the referendum vote is still inconclusive as the ballots are still being counted.

Speaking of political parties, there are some pretty interesting parties here in BC. A few weeks ago, Jeff and I were stopped at a light in downtown Abbotsford, and I noticed the following sign:

The sign reads "Your Mom Called Da Kine. She Said to Bring Home a $20 Bag." I stared at this sign for a good 30 seconds before realizing what it meant. I turned to Jeff and said, "Is that what I think it is?!" Da Kine is apparently the name of a pot shop that supports candidates of the BC Marijuana Party, and is located right smack dab in the middle of downtown Abbotsford:

Possession of marijuana is not legal in Canada; however, the BC Marijuana Party is more powerful here than I would have ever expected, or maybe it just appears that way. The party first started participating in BC elections in 2001, but was excluded from the debates even though it had more candidates running in that election than the Green Party or the Unity Party, both of which were allowed to participate. In that election the Marijuana Party achieved 3.22% of the popular vote. According to some, the party would be a lot more powerful if they campaigned for more than that one issue.

There is also the Sex Party, which advocates for more acceptance of sex education, indecent exposure, and prostitution. In this past election, the party received 684 of the 1.5 million votes cast in the general election. According to their website, the party's goal is not to get their candidates elected, only to push their political agenda. 

I really don't have any sort of insightful conclusion with which to end this post, simply because I don't know enough about the topic to act as an authority. I can't say whether Canada's voting process is better or worse than the US's as their government's structure and electoral process appears to be quite different. I admit that I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around this system of government, but I will continue to do more research and reading as I did for some of the items presented in this entry. Despite the research, this post is probably riddled with inaccuracies, so please do not use it as a reference when writing a doctoral dissertation as you may regret it later.