Carney's speech and the old world order
If you haven't watched PM Mark Carney's speech in Davos, it's worth the 15-20 minutes of your time (this clip is 30 mins but includes an intro and a Q&A). It won't make you want to run through a brick
Diversity Our Strength
Toronto's first motto was "Industry, Intelligence, Integrity." The city's first mayor, William Lyon Mackenzie, a guy who pretty much had these three qualities in droves, came up with it. He'd previously run a newspaper highly critical of the ruling establishment, became a
An apology from a surprising place
An official south of the border has come out in support of Canadians in the psychological irritation that is Trump's recently revisited taunting. This person is all of the following... a) a man b) a Republican c) a Lieutenant Governor d) of Louisiana I'd give each
The old, original name of the place
Ever wonder about the name of Canada's biggest metropolis? Here is one piece of the story. In 1834, the British colonial town of York incorporated as the City of Toronto. Why the name change? The British settlers who instituted private land rights, gridded streets, and Anglicanism to the
The most finicky cultural distinction
This has to at least be a contender. According to the literal Government of Canada: Typography and punctuation [of e.g. and i.e.] ... A comma is optional after these abbreviations. (Use of a comma is American style; omission of the comma is British style.) e.g., i.e. – Writing
Could it happen here?
I (we – hello to my two readers!) came of age in an era when the present we're now living would have been completely unimaginable. I mean, I struggled to imagine it as late as Election Day 2016. But the structure of the US government is part of what
Inside you there are two Canadians
Canadians are surprisingly disdainful of the US in a lot of ways, contemporary events aside, often voicing opinions like "the Yanks are too brash" and "Thanksgiving should be on a Monday in October." But Canadians also study the US closely thanks to the unstoppable spigot of
A closer read of the NY Mag article
I finally read all of Simon van Zuylen-Wood's feature article in New York about his extended stay in Canada. It's good! I learned a lot! There is a long sidebar about historical incursions and designs on Canada by the US that is very illuminating. His description
This is accurate
Thanks, NY Mag (I am a subscriber!), for putting it so pithily. To the point of this blog as a whole, you have no idea how furious they are but you also have no idea about any number of other things. When did Canada become a country and what'
Amerisplaining current Canadian events to anyone curious
I heard Mary Beth Barone on Lovett or Leave It saying how she’s noticed how knowledgeable Canadians are about US news and current events, whereas Americans tend to know relatively little about Canada’s day to day. That’s been my experience too. Once when the Raptors were on
Coming soon
This is Canadian for Americans, a brand new site by Beth Compa that's just getting started. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is