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Fun Canadian Factoids


kingzog

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Stuck in a doctor's office earlier today, I happened upon an article about what Canadians think of themselves and just how well those opinions match up to reality. I took notes.

And so, without further ado, here are some factoids that will hopefully dispel a myth or two, if not among outsiders than at least with ourselves. Sources (according to the article) are noted.

Canadians Can't Get Enough Hockey

- among children, hockey is about as popular as swimming and half as popular as soccer (Statistics Canada)

- among adults, the most popular sporting activity is golf (StatsCan)

- an estimated 30% of Canadians follow hockey very or fairly closely (University of Lethbridge)

- on a typical night, Hockey Night in Canada (long touted as Canada's most popular TV program) is not watched by 94% of Canadians (UoL)

Canadians Are Welcoming and Tolerant of Differences

- 27% of Canadians believe the current number of immigrants and refugees represent a "critical threat" to our interests (Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute)

- 62% of Canadians agree that "we should restrict and control the entry of people into our country more than we do now." (Pew Research Center)

- 30% of Canadians believe Canada's official policy of 'multiculturalism' (instituted in 1971) has been bad for the country (Angus Reid)

- attitudes of Canadians and Americans toward newcomers are virtually identical (University of Toronto)

Canadians Wouldn't Trade Their Health Care System for the World

- 52% of Canadians believe "fundamental changes" are needed to make health care work better (Health Council of Canada)

- 10% believe the system needs to be revamped completely (HCC)

- nationally, the average wait time to see a specialist in 2010 was 18 weeks, nearly twice what it was in 1993 (Fraser Institute)

- 40% of Canadians give low or failing grades to: family doctors, ER services, diagnostic equipment, medical specialists (Canadian Medical Association)

- 75% of Canadians expect the quality of health care to continue to deteriorate (CMA)

Canadians Know More Than Those Stupid Americans

- 59% of Canadians cannot identify Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister who, incidentally, appears on our ten-dollar bill (Historica-Dominion Institute)

- 81% cannot identify Tommy Douglas, the father of Canadian medicare and 'Greatest Canadian' according to some lame TV show (HDI)

- 25% of Canadians don't recognize Wayne Gretzky (HDI)

- 47% of Canadians don't know the first line of our national anthem (HDI) (Hint: The name of the song is 'O Canada' - kz)

- 39% don't know when the country was founded (HDI)

Unlike Americans, Canadians Hate Guns

- Canadians own 30.8 firearms per 100 citizens, or roughly one per household

- Canada ranks 13th in the world for per capita firearm ownership, with double the rate of Australia and Mexico, and five times the rate of the UK

(the above numbers were identified as coming from a 2007 Small Arms Survey conducted by a Swiss research institute)

I laughed as I read this, because none of it was terribly surprising.

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About the national anthem -- a pet peeve of mine -- here are the full English lyrics:

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,

The True North, strong and free!

From far and wide, O Canada,

We stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free !

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And now the French lyrics:

O Canada!

Terre de nos aïeux,

Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,

Il sait porter la croix.

Ton histoire est une épopée,

Des plus brillants exploits.

Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

For those fortunate enough to have avoided many years of studying this particular language, the French lyrics translated into English:

O Canada!

Land of our forefathers,

Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.

As is thy arm ready to wield the sword,

So also is it ready to carry the cross.

Thy history is an epic

Of the most brilliant exploits.

Thy valour steeped in faith

Will protect our homes and our rights

Will protect our homes and our rights

The French get a martial hymn steeped in this nation's violent past and mindful of the religious faith of its founders.

The English? We get a jumble of lyrics that add up to....nothing. Worse than a nursery rhyme.

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Is the anthem thing a trick question where people thought "Oh Canada, our home and native land" was the first line which is technically incorrect because that is the first two lines? Or would that still have counted as being correct and we really have that many people who don't know the anthem...

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Is the anthem thing a trick question where people thought "Oh Canada, our home and native land" was the first line which is technically incorrect because that is the first two lines? Or would that still have counted as being correct and we really have that many people who don't know the anthem...

Either way, it's a bit embarrassing.

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