KUDOS TO CANADA
A recent visit to my wife’s hometown of Cornwall, Ontario, left me with a new perspective about our friendly neighbor to the north.
Let’s start with a make-up Rotary Club meeting at the Ramada Inn, next to the bridge which crosses into the U.S.A. Yes, people were very friendly, Yes the food was great. But most stunning, was the homage paid to the United States in the opening ritual. I noticed two flags at the front of the room; One with the red maple leaf, the other with the stars and stripes. Then, the woman president said, “Let’s all sing the national anthems.” (Emphasis added to the plural) To my amazement, I was in another country where their citizens were singing The Star Spangled Banner, before they moved on to Oh Canada. Stunned, would best describe my reaction.
I later asked the president, why? For several reasons, she replied. The Canadians love and respect the United States. Rotary Clubs are international, but they originated in the U.S. Cornwall borders our country, and their district includes Rotary Clubs south of their border as well.
While in Canada for those few days, I asked a number of people about their health care system. Boiled down, this is what I got:
* The population feels protected by a national system where everyone is covered
* Doctors make far less money because most are on the government teat.
* Waiting lists and priorities do exist. The most serious get attention first. Less serious problems, such as the need for shoulder or knee replacements, may require many months before someone will get an MRI. Same with minor stomach aches and head colds. Cancer and heart disease goes to the front of the line.
* Much depends on the province one lives in. Health care systems are more reliable in wealthier provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec, than in more rural, such as Manitoba.
* Canadians who can afford, may still buy private health insurance as a guarantee for speedier health care no matter the illness.
* The costs are skyrocketing. Many fault the huge influx of immigration…legal and illegal, which is overloading the system.
* With the lack of domestic health care providers to meet the demand, Canada is turning to foreign doctors and nurses for their health care.
Moving on —
Friendlier people do not exist anywhere else on earth. Eh? Not only in Ontario and Montreal, Suzanne’s roots. On 9/11/01, yours truly was aboard an British Airways flight from Heahtrow when the news came about the terrorist attack. My plane was diverted to a previously unheard of town called Moncton, New Brunswick. I had to remain there for three days before the U.S. Airports reopened. The people of New Brunswick were amazing, hosting and boarding many of the 2500 passengers from the twenty-two planes that landed at that small airstrip. They did all they could to alleviate the burdens and anxiety of passengers whose lives were wrenched from a normal straight line, to a sudden spiral.
Sure, Canada has it’s problems, like anywhere else. Eh? But they have stood shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. in many conflicts, including the current war in Afghanistan. But not without a mind of their own, for their government did not feel the pre-emptive war in Iraq was justified, though they did send personnel to help with reconstruction and the training of Iraqi police.
Mind of their own, indeed. During the recent summit at the United Nations, Canada was among the first (with Israel) to lead the boycott of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his address to the General Assembly. The U.S. followed suit, walking out along with several other nations, leaving the assembly half empty while the mad man of Iran blathered on with hate rhetoric. “There is no way I am going to permit any official of the government of Canada to be present and give any legitimacy to remarks by a leader like that,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Amen.
Canada facts that you might find interesting:
* Canada is the second largest country in the world, with 3,883,855 square miles.
* Canada has the ninth largest economy in the world
* Canada is the home of many great inventions, including: Basketball, Lacrosse, the electric light bulb, the electric range, insulin, the electron microscope, standard time, the telephone, and the zipper.
* Canada is the second largest country in the world, with 3,883,855 square miles.
* Canada ranks number one in imported oil to the U.S. Twenty percent of our crude oil comes from Canada.
* Canada boasts such trivia as having the longest tunnel in the world (9 miles), the longest coastline, longest highway, and the world’s tallest tower (Toronto).
* Most people don’t realize that hundreds of well-known celebrities hail from Canada, including Jim Carrey, Kiefer Sutherland, Shania Twain, Michael Fox, Celine Dion and Alex Trebek.
Most memorable, however, will be that moment I heard the Rotary Club gathering of forty-plus Canadians singing two national anthems, theirs and ours, as though we are all one. And, indeed we are. Eh?
Canada is our largest customer for goods and services and the U.S. is Canada’s largest.
My son, Chris, is a physician in Ontario; his mantra: “I don’t make as much money as a doc in the U.S. but I don’t have the hassles.” Amazingly to Americans, especially conser vative ones,he makes house calls. He spends about 75% of his time, calling on patients with cancer home from the hospital. He does so with the aid of two nurses. The balance of his time is as a family doc seeing patients in a clinic.
Thanks for the comments about the Rotary meeting. I’m the woman president and I would be remiss in not giving credit to the Rotary Club of Massena, New York that sponsored our club almost 60 years ago. We will be celebrating the anniversary of our club in December 2010 and you can be sure that we will have visitors from south of the border. Yes, we will be singing both national anthems.
Very Interesting!
Thanks for the insight.
It’s our good neighbor, no doubt about that. And I would be honored if our poor and rejected by our health systiem could have a similar one to Canada and England!!!
When I lived in Canada, I found the health care system efficient, with no long waits. Doctor’s salaries were limited but not low! i could choose my doctor and hospitall
I don’t know what your phrase on the gov’ts teat means. The one payer system is really the way to go. The Dutch health care system is also very good. I have found there are waits in the USA for non serious operations and treatment, as well, haven’t you?
I enjoyed my years in Canada, but its’ too cold for me. There’s a lot of land space but much of it is not liveable for a warm blooded Floridian!
The U.S. could never ask for, nor find, a better next door neighbor than Canada. I suppose that fact may contribute to the fact that we hear and see so little from and about Canada from our own government, and in our news media. That may be an ideal situation, I just don’t know. On the other hand, Canada may want to keep it the way it is. I couldn’t blame them.
Judging from my exposure to Canadians I have met, I would agree there are no friendlier. And three close friends who now live in FL, all say that Canada has a better Health system. I cannot believe those “nurses” and “former citizens of Canada” (paid by our insurance cos., etc.) who say on TV how bad the insurance is in Canada! Baloney!
As a young girl, my family spent some weeks each year at Lake Dalhousie in Canada. The friendliness of the people and the beautiful terrain contribute to those times being some of my fondest childhood memories. Thank you Canada and your military for your support of the United States of America when needed. I pray we never forget your contributions. On a different but related topic, my husband and I have friends in Canada and the wife faced a nine month wait for a gallbladder removal due to their health care system.
I wasn’t going to discuss public option or single payer with you. I shouldn’t have assumed I knew your position. I have seen that Medicare costs about 3.5% to run. You can check it out. The health insurance companies take 30% for overhead, commissions, ads, lobbying and profit. I sold health insurance for the first five years of my career (ceased over 30 years ago). My aunt and uncle (Jensen Beach) argued, “I don’t want the govt. controlling my medicare care. Well, if you’re going to ask me about my Medicare, I do not want to discuss it anymore.” Like your medical care isn’t dictated to the doc and the hospital by some 25 year old clerk reading from the Blue Cross/Blue Shield rule book.
Keep on vagabonding, Marshall.
Larry
If only they had a province with weather like southern NM, AZ or FL.
How very nice to read good things about our neighbors to the north! My maternal grandmother and grandfather both emigrated from Canada, and the most beautiful scenery I have seen in the entire world is in the Canadian Rockies!
After 9-11, the President of the University of Toronto sent all the American graduates of that university a letter expressing deep regret about that horrendous event. Evidently there are thousands of us.
We may also recall that when we had our embassy invaded in Iran several decades ago,
the Canadians got Americans out by using Canadian identity papers.
Marshall, I have long admired Australia for daring to take a stand regarding those who would try to take over their country either by buying up their land or disrespecting their fundamental principles.Ah…if we had a President who would stand firm like the Aussie Prime Minister! But my point….I think I should look more closely at Canada as a good neighbor to the North. I’m certainly not convinced we have a good neighbor to the South. Yes, I am responding somewhat to health care issues, but there is something even bigger in looking at a country’s dominating attitude and aura.
Thank you always, Marshall, for your sagacity. You know I am your enternal fan.
Marshall, I have long admired Australia for daring to take a stand regarding those who would try to take over their country either by buying up their land or disrespecting their fundamental principles.Ah…if we had a President who would stand firm like the Aussie Prime Minister! But my point….I think I should look more closely at Canada as a good neighbor to the North. I’m certainly not convinced we have a good neighbor to the South. Yes, I am responding somewhat to health care issues, but there is something even bigger in looking at a country’s dominating attitude and aura.
Thank you always, Marshall, for your sagacity. You know I am your eternal fan.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-001-x/pdf/topics-sujets/5215220-eng.pdf
This is another of the surprises we received in Canada during our two trips to Alaska and three trips to Newfoundland. Our wonderful neighbors to the north have an obsession with gambling.
We were parked next to a busy auto and truck repair garage in a suburb of Halifax for almost two weeks while waiting for parts for the RV to be repaired from lightning damage. During that time we got acquainted with a cross section of Canadians. (whom else do you know who was taken for a tour of Halifax in a dump truck? That’s right; the owner of the truck took a liking to us and wanted to show us Halifax…his transportation was a dump truck).
The number of them having an addiction to gambling was startling.
Gambling is “in your face” just about every place you go. The national government owns the electronic gambling machines and the total of all gambling proceeds to the national government is some 5% of the national revenue. Talk about a sin tax.
We love Canada and its people. If you thought the people in Moncton were nice we found they were out-niced by the Newfies. They must eat nice pills.
Practically every time we are on the receiving end of the American cashiers’ “there you go,” “have a good one,” or other guttural utterances we can reflect on the musical “thank you, my Sweetheart” heard from their counterparts in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Take care,
Ray
Thanks to my Father’s Navy Career, I was raised in Newfoundland until age 3–My Parents never had a negative word to speak about Canadians–Especially Newfies–God Bless and Great Thanks ! Nancy
Hi Marshall
Just a coincidence – my wife is from Ingleside just west of Conrwall. We met at Queen’s University in Kingston whereb we both have two sociology degrees. Small world. I have not comp-leted the review of your book you sent, but will be sending an email to all my chairs about suggesting it for use in a couple of our courses. It will certainly help in “Controversial Issues in Law Enforcement”. Best rfegards.
John
When I was in Canada (I am an American however), I found the Doc’s to be well educated & committed professionals,however I saw more suffering and inexcusable “DEATH” due to the Canadian National Healthcare System than any human should ever have to see. Two other countries I lived and worked in also had horrific National Healthcare systems; Spain & the UK. The suffering I witnessed there due to the lack of physician “incentive” was (and is) a product of an overloaded & government mislead health program. Marshall, I’m telling you from first hand experience (Medical experience)that Single Payor health care is the absolute “WORST” system in existence in the world today.
I have lived near Canada, visited there many times, and have a number of friends both who remained there and immigrated to the US. I agree that the people are generally wonderful. At the same time, their goverment is restrictive, controlling, and costly to run. Sales taxes are epecially high and many come to the US to shop for clothes and other basics in spite of the nearly equal dollar valuation. No one who practices the shooting sports, sport hunting, or self-defense can participate without huge government restriction. Self defense is especially important since many areas are very remote from police protection. As a retired soldier, I have worked with the Canadian military and found them to be excellent soldiers, if not exceptionally well equipped. Canada and the US are exceptions to the old rule that nations do not have friends but have allies.
Marsh, I agree with you and most of those who wrote. CArmen and I have been to Canada on 5 trips. Each time we went to a different area and loved all of it. I have to agree with what you and the others haacve written; Canadiens are super great people. They will go out of there to help and assist you. I also agree with Gladys Broderick, to wit, the Canadien Rockies contain some of the most beautiflu country in this hemisphere.
Always enjoy your musings, keep up the good work.
Jay