Some Facts and Trivia as Canada Celebrates 144 Years Today

Today is Canada Day; the day Canadians celebrate 144 years since the country was formed from three British colonies.

Canada, while very similar to the United States in many ways, has always been just a little different from her neighbors to the south.  I am still amazed at just how little most Americans know about their neighbors to the north and my home and native land so it’s about time we set some facts straight with some Canadian information and trivia.  BTW, Trivial Pursuit was invented in Canada.

Having lived in America for just over half my life, I’ve heard the terms ‘Eh, oot and aboot' and Canadian jokes more times than I can count when people find out that I'm a Canadian.  While others might become hostile when people make derogatory comments about their homeland, I’ve come to take it all in stride; it’s what we do, we’re known as some of the most polite people on earth—until of course, you put us on ice or pick a fight with us.

Speaking of ice, Canada is not a year round frozen tundra and hockey, the sport which defines us, is not the national sport—lacrosse has earned that distinction but hockey is still our sport; we play it better than anyone else, can beat the crap out of anyone on skates and then still enjoy a beer with our opponents after the game. 

While on the topic of sports, basketball was invented in 1891 by a Canadian, Dr. James Naismith.  The first game was played in Springfield, MA with at least ten of those participating in that game being students from Quebec.

We don’t wave flags as much as Americans do but we love our country just as much.  We’re just a little quieter and more subdued—so much so that the Canadian Prime Minister had to go before Parliament to encourage Canadians to engage in an “uncharacteristic outburst of patriotism” in support of our athletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

In America the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced “zee” we pronounce it “zed.”

Although a peace-loving nation we are not full of draft dodgers.  Yes there were many people who came to Canada from the United States during Vietnam to avoid the draft but that was their personal choice - not ours.  According to Tom Brokaw, if you’re in a fight, you want Canada on your side.  Canada was one of the first countries to declare war in WWI and WWII. We were engaged in WWII long before Pearl Harbor; we fought in the Gulf War along side many other countries and are still in Afghanistan. We are renowned the world over for our peace-keeping forces. It just so happens that we have a small but fierce army and our special forces are second to none.  

We honor our causalities of war on the Highway of Heroes—a 100 mile stretch of highway with 50 overpasses.  Ordinary Canadians stand shoulder to shoulder with police officers, veterans and fire fighters on every one of these overpasses while others pull to the side of the road to honor the procession that includes our fallen soldiers and their families.  It’s not a formal thing; it's a word-of-mouth thing as people come out on their own to pay their respects.  Flying war dead into Dover AFB in the middle of the night is not, in my opinion, the way to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

We are the sixth largest oil producing country in the world and the single largest oil supplier to the United States.  In fact, the United States consumes about three quarters of Canada’s exports each year.

People also find us entertaining.  We export entertainers to the United States including Celine Dion, Alex Trebek, Monty Hall, Rich Little, Art Linkletter, Howie Mandel, Jim Carrey, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Mike Myers, Michael J. Fox, Brendan Fraser, Phil Hartman, Michael Ironside, Lorne Greene,  Eugene Levy, Leslie Neilson, Matthew Perry, Christopher Plummer, Jason Preistly, Keanu Reeves, Donald Sutherland, Raymond Burr, Thomas Chong, David Foster, Steppenwolf, Rush, Men Without Hats, Barenaked Ladies, Anne Murray, Shannon Tweed, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Pamela Anderson, Alanis Morissette and many more.

We are the second largest nation on earth in total area after Russia.

Canadians enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world including free healthcare.  As much as people would like Americans to believe that the Canadian healthcare system doesn’t work, that is merely a figment of people’s greedy imaginations.  Although not perfect, the system works quite well thank you very much.  Canadian families will never be bankrupted by medical bills.

We do have a sweet tooth with more than 70% of the world’s maple syrup production coming from Canada but diabetics can rejoice as Canadian Nobel Prize winner Dr. Frederick Banting was a co-discoverer of insulin.

Canada has a long, rich tradition of inventing things.  The telephone was invented in Canada by Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and Guglielmo Marconi received the first ever wireless transmission via his invention in 1900.  Television was invented by Reginald Fessenden and IMAX by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr.

When Iranian students overran the U.S. Embassy and took hostages, it was the Canadian Embassy that harbored and then helped six Americans to safely get out of the country.  

It was Canada who welcomed 239 U.S. bound aircraft with 33,000 passengers on 9/11 when the United States closed their airspace.  Communities doubled in population for a few days and regular citizens opened their hearts and their homes to feed and care for the unexpected but welcome visitors.

We have been friends and neighbors with the longest undefended border in the world until 9/11 changed that distinction.  Still, 200 million people cross the border between Canada and the United States each year as more than $1.5 Billion in trade and commerce takes place each day.

And now, on Canada’s 144^th anniversary, you probably know a little more about your neighbor to the north.

Happy Birthday Canada.