Ask Me Anything about Canada, anything at all

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

how would you describe the overall middle class identity of the 905?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

how would you describe the overall middle class identity of the 905?

Hmm. That's kind of hard I guess as I don't know which features are the same as a lot of American middle class identities and which features are different.

Could you do me a favour and write a description of the middle class identity where you live, OR write a description of how you imagine the 905 middle class identity is? If I have something to work with as a starting point, I can tell you what is 100% true/identical, somewhat true/identical or totally different.

I am a resident of Collin County in the DFW Metro. Basically we have a very "single family home" sort of culture, which is also really common in Canada too (where you have anti-apartment sentiments even codified vigorously in the law - you can't build apartments in most of Toronto's zoned residential land).
Like most people in the suburbs we live in a house on a lot and with a yard and driveway and that sort of thing. I guess the biggest difference between my section of suburbia and the 905 is that while both have a visible Asian presence, its much more significant in case of the 905, where some suburbs are dominated by Chinese people and Brampton is even nicknamed "Browntown". Meanwhile DFW Metro is essentially center-right suburbia, with class voting and all that. And most people are, by a massive margin, white.
The "keeping up with the Joneses" sort of culture, manicured lawns and desire to have good appearances are probably very similar in both. If you had to make parallels, I guess the Dallas County line is the closest thing you have to a 905-416 dividing line in my home metro.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

how do you pronounce Nunavut?

I assume most Canadians would say Nun-a-vut (like what except you say a v instead of a W). But TCheka is welcome to correct me on this if this is incorrect.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Whats the best way for me, an American, to visualize bagged milk and the culture surrounding it?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Opinion of This Hour Has 22 Minutes?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Opinion of This Hour Has 22 Minutes?

I watched both "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and "Royal Canadian Air Farce" as a young teen, and I remember liking both but not being hugely impressed with either. Not consistently clever enough and not edgy enough for my personal tastes. It's been a LONG time though, so I can't say for sure how I'd feel about them if I watched them now.

what about Doug and McKenzie's Great White North?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Opinion of This Hour Has 22 Minutes?

I watched both "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and "Royal Canadian Air Farce" as a young teen, and I remember liking both but not being hugely impressed with either. Not consistently clever enough and not edgy enough for my personal tastes. It's been a LONG time though, so I can't say for sure how I'd feel about them if I watched them now.

what about Doug and McKenzie's Great White North?

Bob & Doug Mckenzie ***

They were before my time. They're alright but not appreciated aa much by Canadians under 40.

The "Great White North" specifically, I have not seen.

How good would you say is my broader knowledge about Canadian culture in general?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

why do Canadian hockey teams suck so much ass?  No Cups since 93!

*=except the Raptors

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

WTF are the "Raptors"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Raptors
they won the 2019 Stanley Cup

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

ummm, you understand that basketball and hockey are two different things, yes?

D'oh.
My mind messed up.
You are owed a favor from me now.
Apologies for the mixup.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

How good would you say is my broader knowledge about Canadian culture in general?

why do Canadian hockey teams suck so much ass?  No Cups since 93!

*=except the Raptors

CRINGE

Seriously though, it's okay. Grading you on a scale with other Americans who have no clue, good

I think my confusion here came from the fact I knew so much about Canada I in this instance became too clever by half.
For the life of me, I thought that the Stanley Cup was finally won by the Canadian team last year. My memories were tricking me.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

why do Canadian hockey teams suck so much ass?  No Cups since 93!

I was only into hockey as a youmg kid and then from 2008 onwards.

- Winnipeg was a pretty good team from 2017 to 2019. Their defense got dismantled for various ressons this season and they suck now

- Calgary has had some good teams but can't get it done in the playoffs, gpaltending has been an issue for a LONG time exceot for when they had Miikka Kiprusoff

- Edmonton (and Toronto) can put all the talent in the world on the ice and they still won't win. It 's embarassing.

- Vancouver had a good team for years and years and almost won the cup in 2011

- Montreal and Toronto had bad General Managers for a while. Habs have meddling owners. Leafs finally have good managers and talent but they aren't a winning team in their minds / locker room / work ethic

- Ottawa had an okay team on and off until their cheap owner stopped spending money and they fell into a deep abyss.

IN THE FUTURE
- Edmonton needs to get their head out of their butt and somehow start winning. They have enough talent and trade assets to do so. Toronto is more or less the same but they're a borderline playoff team at least. Montreal is stuck in limbp these days, not terrible snd burning it down and starting again but not good either. Ottawa will suck for some time. Winnipeg and Calgary can be good again with minor roster tweaks or a new coach or some kind of spark. Vancouber is climbing out of their rebuild to be a half-decent team but we will have to see just how good they can be.

Isn't part of issue for Canadian teams that Canadian players (and thus talent) tend to go south? I think only around 30% or 25% of NHL teams at this point are actually in Canada iirc.