Damn.. I had a long ass post ready and waiting but I was using the wrong comp...
Anyhow..
To expand a little on what Hahahaha said:
Canada became it's own country on July 1st, 1867. Our head of state is still the Queen of England, however, her position,like in the British Government, is purely as figurehead. Canada has very strong British and French colonial ties.
Demograpically, Canada is as diverse as the USA. Mainly European caucasian, followed by native mongoloid/negroid, and then smaller populations of other mixes. The largest non-indigenous population in Canada is Sri Lankan, followed by Chinese and Americans. We're not a melting pot per se, each person is encouraged to retain their roots and culture to add to our own diversity, basically making a multi-cultural fabric. We're all Canadian, but we value our heiritage (I'm second generation Canadian, my Grand-dad was Irish).
We have 2 national languages, English and French, with English predominant. Although, throughout Canada, because of the official languages act, all written information must be in English and French, and all front-line Government Services have to be Bilingual. Primarily, you'll see French spoken in Quebec, New Brunswick, and the St. Boniface area of Winnipeg Manitoba. The issue of language and distinct society in Canada is a major issue that has threatened to cause the fracturing of Canada, but as of now, the political climate in Quebec is cool to the idea due to several factors but I won't get into that... too long of a post.
Speaking of Education: we have a functional illiteracy rate of about 12-14%, and a functional mathematical illiteracy rate of about 20%. These compare favourably to the US at 23% and 38% respectively, granted, the difference in scale and approach to education is much different. About 80% of Canadian High schoolers will go on to complete their secondary education, and of the 20% that drop-out, 15% will get a GED. About 55% of secondary school grads go on to Post-secondary studies either in College or University. Provinces subsidise the post-secondary system heavily for tuition, but otherwise, the student is on their own. Military students get College/University degrees, but are usually locked into 10 year contracts with the military. Over 60% of those that start post-secondary study go on to finish within the programme time, and 15% later on.
Financially... YES... WE CALL OUR DOLLAR A "LOONIE."
Okay... now that that's settled, at strip clubs we usually use $5's. Back to reality, our Dollar has been valued lower than the US dollar since about 1990 or so. This has made it a lot more attractive for outside buyers to purchase our goods and raw materials. However, due to the current financial climate in the USA, and it's declining dollar, the Canadian Dollar is approaching parity... but it's still about USD $1.20 to the CAD $1. We carry a fairly heavy tax burden, roughly 30% on income tax for middle income families. On top of that, there is a national 7% Goods and services Tax (GST), and most provinces have a Provincial sales tax or a Harmonised sales tax (which I can't figure out for the life of me).
Imports and Exports, we import mostly manufactured goods. Canada has a robust Manufacturing economy, but nothing approaching the US, just as a matter of scale. Our main exports are Oil, Timber, foodstuffs, water and electricity. We provide the USA with 40% of the total domestic oil product consumption, 25-35% of the power for the North eastern portion of the US, including most of the Eastern Seaboard (IIRC, as far south as northern GA... I might be wrong), and there are water aquaduct provision contracts for CA, AZ, NM, NV, TX and other desert states.
Crimewise, Canada has low per capita violent crime, and low Property crime. Most Crimes are simple assaults, and low value property crimes (under $5000). Punishment/corrections are seen as lenient, but the emphasis is on rehabillitation, not punishment. Most of the time it works.. Canada's federal penal system has a 35-40% recividism rate for violent offenders, and less for the property crimes. Usually first time offenders are given a diversionary programme, and pending the completion of that, there is no criminal record left on file... however, repeat offenders are usually jailled with harsher terms. For the recalcitrant or extremely violent offenders, there is a (surprise surprise!) Violent offender status that can applied to a person's record... basically if they are considered a high risk to re-offend, they can be held in prison indefinitely pending successfull rehabillitation programme completion. This isn't lightly used (there are currently 312 people with that designation in our criminal records if my memory serves me), but when it is, the person is pretty bad news. Of note, the world's supposed most prolific serial killer (assuming the Green River Killer and Andres Tchicatillo in russia have all their crimes accounted for) is from around Vancouver BC, his name is <a href="http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/robert_pickton/3.html?sect=2">Robert Pickton</a>. I have no connection to the investigation, but there are about 90-105 possible murders that are connected to him.
Firearms: Canada has legal ownership of firearms, and for the most part, they are used responsibly, however, there are some rising instances of gun-related crimes in major metropolitan areas with contraband weapons. Getting a firearm is pretty hard, you need to have a Firearms Acquisition Certificate, and that requires a background check... and even more checks if you want to get restricted or other banned articles. We have a higher gun ownership per capita rate than the USA (11 million firearms, 28 million people) with most owners having 2 or more weapons. I personally have 2 .22 remington rifles, a 30/30 winchester rifle, a colt 1911 pistol and a Glock 22 as my service pistol. I keep none on my person or in my home for personal defence... anyhoo...
Media wise, 60% of Canadians still get their news information from traditional print media sources, with about 50% of that getting it in onlne editions of newspapers. Television is a major source of news information, but in comparison, I find CDN new channels (CTV News1 mainly) to be more objective than the offerings from the USA (Fox, CNN). I prefer to leave the editorial aside, I'd rather think for myself. Mainly you'll find that whe you're outside the USA, you'll see the "bubble" effect... basically, everything centering on what's happening within the USA and damn the rest of the world unless it's something that the USA has something to do with.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Hurricane Katrina situation is just the latest bout. Post 9/11, Canada took in over 1000 flights bound for US airports, and there were a few SAR teams enroute to NYC and washington, not asked, just going when and where they were needed. No thanks either, apparently Britian that didn't do much of anything then is a truer friend.... Every other country but Canada.. minor irritation, but it's been going on for years, it's like getting slapped in the face 300-400 times... you get used to it. Afghanistan, Korea, WWII, WWI... Americans really don't learn about Canada... and I think that's a real shame. The only time I hear something about Canada is in regards to Iraq (which I'm not going to get into), and it's resoundingly negative, which is a shame... There's a real partnership that is valued here, and if it ended, I think will be greatly missed down south. I'd expound further, but it's been rehashed elsewhere.
Politically, we have different views, The US is percieved as and 800lb gorilla and as of late, hasn't been doing much to dissuade that idea. Canada on the other hand, treads a LOT more carefully, not to say we don't catch our fair amount of hell, but we don't court it by any means. I know that I catch hell for "slagging" the USA, and specifically the Bush Administration, however, Canada and the USA are pretty much joined at the hip. Canada would be in dire financial straits without the USA, and vice versa for the USA. Excluding oil transfers, the US and Canada do 1 BILLION dollars worth of business daily, we each have a real interest in what is happening on the other side of the fence.
I don't mean to come off as arrogant, degrading or what not... I only seek to provoke some informed thought. I've said before, and I'll say again, I can't in good conscience pretend nothing is wrong.
Personal ideas about the US and Americans, and yes, I've travelled in the US a bit with my old job @ Compaq/Siemens: From what I've seen in CA/TX/FL/NY/MI... the US is pretty much the same as Canada... small points aside, we're not all that different at heart. Americans and Canadians just want to live and let live, work for an honest living, give their kids a good place to grow up and learn so they can exceed our standard of living. I can't fault anyone for wanting the same things I want.
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.