Canada

One thing I?ve noticed over the years is that people on the internet seem to underestimate Canada and Canadians. I have family there, only 2 nd cousins now, but I still see them occasionally. I also worked in a GM plant about 1 mile from the Canadian border. About 20% of the workforce was Canadian, including many engineers. They have a different political system, and culture. One thing I found out was that Canadians could come here and work, commuting across the border, but Americans could not easily go there and work - the government there made it difficult to hire any foreign citizens, and companies that broke the law could be penalized. In short, their government looked out for their people. Over on this side of the river, you?re on your own guys!

First I?d ever heard of this theory. Using a large company like GM , is a bit of a generalization. Multinational corporations seem to be able to move their work force across borders with relative ease. You see the worker already had the job before they crossed the border. It would be a much different story to cross the border in either direction, then start to look for a job.
There have always been ? head hunters? , coming into Canada recruiting workers for skilled trades. Good example would be for nurses, and in particular a nurse that has trauma/ er type training.

Yes. I see a lot of Canadian plates in the hospital parking lot.

Newfoundland, Canada declares war on the U.S.A!!!

President nnalert was in the Oval Office when his telephone rang. "Hallo, President nnalert, " a heavily accented voice said. "This is Archie, up ?ere at the Harp Seal Pub in Badger's Cove, Newfoundland, Canada, eh? I am callin' to tells ya dat we are officially declaring war on ya!"

"Well Archie," Donald said, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?"

"Right now," said Archie, after a moments calculation "there is myself, me cousin Harold , me next-door-neighbor Mick, and the whole dart team from the pub. That makes eight!"

Donald paused. "I must tell you Archie that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command."

"Wow," said Archie. "I'll have at call ya back!"

Sure enough, the next day, Archie called again. "Mr. nnalert, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment! We have two combines, a bulldozer, and Harry 's farm tractor."

President nnalert sighed. "I must tell you Archie, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armored personnel carriers. Also I've increased my army to one and a half million since we last spoke."
"Lord above," said Archie, "I'll be getting back to ya."

Sure enough, Archie rang again the next day.. "President nnalert, the war is still on! We have managed to git ourselves airborne! We up an' modified Harrigan's ultra-light wit a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Legion have joined us as well!"

Donald was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you Archie that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO MILLION!"

"Jumpins, Lord tunderin! Two million, ye say!!" said Archie, "l'll have at call youse back."
Sure enough, Archie called again the next day. "President nnalert! I am sorry to have to tell you dat we have had to call off dis 'ere war."

"I'm sorry to hear that" said Donald. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

?Well, sir," said Archie, "we've all sat ourselves down and had a long chat over a bunch of pints, and come to realize dat dere's no way we can feed two million prisoners."

CANADIAN CONFIDENCE CANNOT BE SHAKEN

LOL

One of my uncles is a retired ENT surgeon. He was working at a hospital in Newbrunswick when a recruiter from Pittsburgh offered him close to 50% (give or take I don't know the exact details lol) more than he was making in Canada with less hours on call. Was a no brainer.

I?m not sure how it works, lots of US contractors here in canada. I work in a sub area of building contraction and frequently see big groups of guys from US on jobs. It is often specialized stuff though. Other side is Maritime provinces have a long history of trade with North eastern US because of Quebec sitting between us and rest of Canada. They as a province have a lot of labour rules, it?s easier for us to work in the US than in Quebec.

This reminds me of this, but to balance things out.. oh boy!

Not sure where you get your facts from, but I have worked along side many Americans in Canada, and never recall one saying they had difficulty with the gov?t allowing them to work, seems to be another thread taking shots at Canada. Nice work, stay classy.

"Vacuums" is misspelled. Official source?

That chart has been soundly rebuffed as fake. The tariffs charged on all those listed products entering Canada under NAFTA is 0.
Fake Chart

I usually don't comment on topics not relating to tractors but there is a lot of misinformation being disturbed.
For almost 50 years I have been working in the IT industry for a multi-national USA company with the Canadian company.
Frequently we have US workers come to Canada to assist us with a project when we cannot find qualified Canadian workers.
All my boss has to do is send a letter via email with the official company logos on it to the US employee requesting his/her assistance and he/she presents this letter to Canadian Immigration authorities at the border or airport and the employee pays a $50.00 work visa permit fee that is good for 1 year. I believe this work visa can be renewed yearly by just returning to USA and then re-entering Canada.
My daughter is also in IT and worked 12 years in the USA under a NAFTA work agreement. She was recruited by a USA company and the company paid in the order of $25,000.00 to have the a 5 year NAFTA work permit for USA and every 5 years the company had to pay the $$$ to have it renewed. She returned to Canada last summer as she was afraid that NAFTA was going to be cancelled.
Where she worked in the USA there were equal USA and foreign workers, the reason being that after the Tech crash of 2000/2001 not many USA students went through college/university in computer engineering. The company would attempt to find USA workers first but had difficulty finding qualified workers so then had to go to the foreign market.

Again I cannot comment on the province of Quebec as they have their own labour rules and regulations and it is very difficult for workers from the other 9 provinces to work in Quebec.

My 2 cents
JimB

(quoted from post at 07:27:58 07/07/18) Yes. I see a lot of Canadian plates in the hospital parking lot.

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The ER staff at Hepburn at one time was largely Canadian. Why? Lots better pay. I can state as a fact that a lot of those plates you see there are Canadians coming across the border to get treatment that they couldn't get in a timely fashion in Canada. I used to talk to a lot of those people on a daily basis.

well we are sure seeing a lot of Americans up here on our way to the Yukon....well over half the vehicles on the road are from the state's....and they drive the biggest rigs. they must like us because they are sure not here for cheap gas....1.65 a litre
ben

Woodvue .... your post is a good reminder for all of us that whatever you read in print (or hear through words) is worth exactly what you are paying for that information. In the case of that chart, the value would be zero. People say and believe all sorts of crazy things without thinking. Now if the newspaper says that the Dodgers beat San Francisco in a baseball game last night, that would likely be true. If nnalert said the economy was 50% better than it was two years ago, it's probably BS. If Canada's fearless leader (Trudeau) said he didn't grope a young female reporter 18 years ago (that's the current firestorm up here this week), then there is a very good possibility that he did.

Bret ..... your post is interesting, and of course there are Canadians that head south for the quick health care to avoid lineups in Canada. They pay for it
of course, and pay big time, it isn't cheap. But those Canucks you see down there are the well-heeled wealthy of which we have our share like any country.
But why are there lineups in Canada and not so much down south?

Well, every Canadian is covered by our universal health care regardless of income or extra benefit packages through their employer. I'm retired for example
and have a moderate income. Three years ago I had colon cancer and I went to the head of the line within two weeks and had surgery and follow up (still
continuing with checks, etc) at absolutely no cost. Sure, I pay income tax but not a whole lot. Why are lineups shorter down south? Well look at it this
way ...... they wouldn't be short if everyone had health care provided by the government. Service is slow up here for everyday stuff too because people up
here unfortunately go to the emergency department at big hospitals or smaller clinics to get a sliver removed from their foot which is crazy.

Two years ago I had knee replacement surgery, once again no cost. I didn't go to the head of the line that time though, I had to wait about 6 months. I
could have headed south and had it done, a friend of mine flew to Denmark and paid $18,000 for an immediate knee fix. I chose to wait since I didn't have
that kind of walkin' around money burning a hole in my pocket. So there is always a side to every story that sometimes gets overlooked. As for salaries, I
can't comment on health care workers but I do know that Canadian school teachers do pretty good as compared to their US counterparts.

I experienced it the exact opposite of what you described.

A friend bought an old bus in Bellingham years ago and asked me to give him a hand to go get it when I had a day off.

We drove to the border crossing south of Abbotsford.
U.S. customs asked me what the purpose of my visit was and I told them truth.
Nothing to hide and as far as I knew I was not doing anything wrong.

Half an hour later I was told I was being refused entry because I would be doing something/work that a U.S. citizen could do.

Ended up staying in Abbotsford while my friend drove down to get the bus, the guy he got it from drove it up to the crossing for him.
After that he drove his van across the border, walked back across to get the bus, drove it over then picked me up in Abbotsford, we went back to the crossing picked up the bus and were on our way after wasting half a day dealing with the process.

Would have supported the economy by stopping for lunch and done some shopping before we went back but clearly the chance that I might drive a vehicle state side for half an hour depriving a citizen of the work was more important than that.

I lived in eastern Ontario for two years.
If you do not speak French, you do not get a government job or real good paying job.
Went online, interviewed over the phone and ended up working for the U.S. Navy for 10 years in Florida.

well c.h. first thing you have to learn is NOTHING IS FREE!!!
somebody had to pay for it at some time.

Alinark ...... well of course, I know that nothing is free. Perhaps I should have said that I had the surgery done "at no cost at the time out of my pocket" ...... I'm sure you knew what I meant. Not sure where you live but if you do live up here in Canada, I doubt you would trade the our health care system for some of the alternatives that are offered elsewhere.

One thing for sure Canada better thank their lucky stars the USA bought Alaska from Russia or Canada would be the Ukraine of North America

The tariff charged by Canada as of 7 / 2 / 2018 on steel is 25% and aluminum is 10%. The chart posted by gtractor may be misleading using NAFTA 2017 rules. But in 2018 the reality remains Canada today is charging tariffs listed above on steel and aluminum , lawnmowers, dairy, plus many other consumer items. So as to not leave the impression that there are no Canadian tariffs because there are.

T-F ...... yah, that probably would have happened like you say and lasted a few years, then eventually it would have spread south instead and you'd be drinking vodka at suppertime tonight instead of 2% beer.

They'd take it all the way to the Mexican border but no further. They could control them later with a tariff war without taking them over.

007 ...... I've got a raft of relatives in eastern Ontario that would prove that thesis of yours wrong. Sounds like you missed out on a few job applications in
eastern Ontario and still have an axe to grind. Remember, they can't hire everyone that applies.

We're the guys with the BIG Guns that keep you and the Europeans from being over run by the Ruskies and we can't get the Europeans to pay their fair share for keeping them safe.
Don't know about you folks but I'd bet the Hundred$ that your defense budget is tiny compared to ours.

(quoted from post at 12:39:08 07/07/18) One thing for sure Canada better thank their lucky stars the USA bought Alaska from Russia or Canada would be the Ukraine of North America

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And you know this how?

(quoted from post at 15:06:28 07/07/18) We're the guys with the BIG Guns that keep you and the Europeans from being over run by the Ruskies and we can't get the Europeans to pay their fair share for keeping them safe.
Don't know about you folks but I'd bet the Hundred$ that your defense budget is tiny compared to ours.

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Well not every country spends to the hilt on war....and in those countries I bet a hospital stay would not cost you anything.

(quoted from post at 17:55:22 07/07/18) 007 ...... I've got a raft of relatives in eastern Ontario that would prove that thesis of yours wrong. Sounds like you missed out on a few job applications in
eastern Ontario and still have an axe to grind. Remember, they can't hire everyone that applies.

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If that raft of fluent french speaking relatives are working for the Canadian Federal government, then maybe your right.

Yup, you're right about that T-F. Guns, guns, and more guns sure do keep people safe ..... at least in some places. Here's a quote from an article in the American Journal of Medicine in February of 2016 (which I doubt has any political gain by publishing such information) ...... "Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed countries, a new study finds. Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the United States' gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher".

They must be here working in the hospital! I have asked a couple of the doctors that I see and they say it's very rare to see a Canadian patient.

That statement is so easily refuted it's not even worth the argument. The American Journal of Medicine would be about the last place on Earth you would go to for accurate crime statistics. They consider any outdoor activity and any indoor activity except bridge and canasta as unacceptably dangerous.

Oh, I guess it's not true then. I'm cancelling my subscription on Monday.

(quoted from post at 20:28:59 07/07/18) Oh, I guess it's not true then. I'm cancelling my subscription on Monday.

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and you should....so....lets put this in perspective....

Canada has a population how big? and how big is the population of the United States? so...your universal health care is VERY similar to our VA hospitals, if it is an emergency then you MAY move to the front of the line, if not, well, wait 6 months.

You also do not have the same governmental system in place that we do, and by that i mean, you dont have almost the entire rest of the planet trying to break into your country based on a social system that can reward those who have done or do very little for the republic for which it stands, meaning our social nets cover even more so that our legal citizens, and thats hard to refute from your side of the border because even your side said no more immigrants a few months ago.

Then it comes to where does the Canadian government gets its money/cash from? if you pay a modest amount of money in taxes and we can you average, then where does it come from? its not exactly industry, mainly exports i would guess, and when your population is a fraction of the country south of you, then it seems to be a great deal.

But when your back to back world champs its easy to think how wonderful things are where you live when the sacrifice has not been the same, i mean i dont see canada willing to foot the same bill for the UN that the United States does, much less volunteering to host it all for ever and not hand someone a bill.

as far as drinking vodka instead of 2% beer, i think kennedy and reagan put an end of that, i mean, tear down that wall, where was canada? oh yea, watching it on bbc i think...forget to show up?

and chuck2015, again, nobody wants to break into your country quite like they do the United States, so when trying to compare military spending, then again, i say, while we have made missteps, we brought both europe and se asia back from total annihilation from wars they started, and lets remember why russia never invaded japan during WWll. history is lost on those who...well...you know...

Guns, guns, and more guns are both what set this continent free but also keep us apart from you, french and indian wars, and made us free. no tie to a monarchy or that style of government. I mean after all, the good queen and their parliament can and will have you arrested for aggressive twits and carrying a butter knife....so, is the United States perfect, no, but we are the very last bastion of freedom on this planet and even ours is very limited. If you are not born with that freedom gene it will probably never make sense, however, how you do it up there works, but to compare the two, is John Deere and IH at best...

i hope my effort to get this back to a tractor talk discussion worked

(quoted from post at 11:52:24 07/07/18) Bret ..... your post is interesting, and of course there are Canadians that head south for the quick health care to avoid lineups in Canada. They pay for it
of course, and pay big time, it isn't cheap. But those Canucks you see down there are the well-heeled wealthy of which we have our share like any country.
But why are there lineups in Canada and not so much down south?

Well, every Canadian is covered by our universal health care regardless of income or extra benefit packages through their employer. I'm retired for example
and have a moderate income. Three years ago I had colon cancer and I went to the head of the line within two weeks and had surgery and follow up (still
continuing with checks, etc) at absolutely no cost. Sure, I pay income tax but not a whole lot. Why are lineups shorter down south? Well look at it this
way ...... they wouldn't be short if everyone had health care provided by the government. Service is slow up here for everyday stuff too because people up
here unfortunately go to the emergency department at big hospitals or smaller clinics to get a sliver removed from their foot which is crazy.

Two years ago I had knee replacement surgery, once again no cost. I didn't go to the head of the line that time though, I had to wait about 6 months. I
could have headed south and had it done, a friend of mine flew to Denmark and paid $18,000 for an immediate knee fix. I chose to wait since I didn't have
that kind of walkin' around money burning a hole in my pocket. So there is always a side to every story that sometimes gets overlooked. As for salaries, I
can't comment on health care workers but I do know that Canadian school teachers do pretty good as compared to their US counterparts.

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CH, lets not try and make it sound like Canadian healthcare comes for free. You pay a lot in income tax and in you GST/PST and all the hidden taxes, fees and regulation costs it takes to support your healthcare system. Canadian doctors and nursing staff don't work for free friend. To say you got treated for colon cancer at "absolutely no cost" is not only inaccurate, it's a lie. It cost a lot and you paid for it, but the cost is hidden in taxes or up the line where you just don't see it. It would be like me saying I got treated here at no cost here because I have insurance, or in England or anywhere else. I DID pay for it. Just like I helped pay for all those people getting Medicare and Medicaid here. Even our free clinics here aren't free. They exist on grants, donations, etc. You show me the medical professionals doing all their work without any compensation, no matter how far removed from the patients responsibility, then we can talk about "no cost" and "free". Until then it's just propaganda.

(quoted from post at 20:30:02 07/07/18) Yup, you're right about that T-F. Guns, guns, and more guns sure do keep people safe ..... at least in some places. Here's a quote from an article in the American Journal of Medicine in February of 2016 (which I doubt has any political gain by publishing such information) ...... "Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed countries, a new study finds. Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the United States' gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher".

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CH, as someone who helped compile those stats for years, you do realize that to get that number you have to include police shootings, suicide (60% of gun deaths), self defense shootings, etc, don't you? Take the numbers and remove the flotsam and the percentage drops like a rock. Like I said, propaganda.

FYI Crazy Horse, I like and admire Canada- a lot. Fine people. I still vividly remember Canadians coming across the border on 9/11 to donate blood at our local hospital. They are our neighbors, our relatives in my case and our good friends. But we shouldn't hide the true cost of things behind rhetoric just to support national pride as you are trying to do. We pay a lot here too, but at least we have the honesty (anger?) to point out how the system is bloated with waste, fraud, unneeded costs, etc and that we could do better if people would stop calling expensive programs "free" and demanding something for nothing.

I try not to let the flag flap over my face and blind
me to the reality that there are in fact many ?free
nation?s ? in the world. And simple fact is , we are all
primed by our politicians to believe that ? ours is the
best? , regardless of where in the free world we live.
The cost of health care in Canada is paid by
Canadian people in many different forms. Through
employee wages, and tax grants from both Federal
and Provincial governments . Money collected by
these arms of government through , a host of
taxation, income, sales , and various excise taxes. I
don?t think anyone is fool enough to believe
Canadian healthcare is free. But it isn?t a user pay
insurance system

(quoted from post at 07:17:37 07/08/18) I try not to let the flag flap over my face and blind
me to the reality that there are in fact many ?free
nation?s ? in the world. And simple fact is , we are all
primed by our politicians to believe that ? ours is the
best? , regardless of where in the free world we live.
The cost of health care in Canada is paid by
Canadian people in many different forms. Through
employee wages, and tax grants from both Federal
and Provincial governments . Money collected by
these arms of government through , a host of
taxation, income, sales , and various excise taxes. I
don?t think anyone is fool enough to believe
Canadian healthcare is free. But it isn?t a user pay
insurance system

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Just wondering in your forum post it is full of question marks?

Just wondering in your forum post it is full of question marks?

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It is a problem of recognition between cell phone "language" and forum software interpretation versus computer "language".

(quoted from post at 09:17:37 07/08/18) I try not to let the flag flap over my face and blind
me to the reality that there are in fact many ?free
nation?s ? in the world. And simple fact is , we are all
primed by our politicians to believe that ? ours is the
best?

Click to expand...

really?? a politician convinces you that your country is the best? what if they told you Uranus is the best? is that blind following? I dont need an elected politburo type telling me that the country i may reside in is the best, they are the ones who make it suck and those that blindly follow such elected people make it even worse.

I have never been a Canadian. But I married one so her family is still 100% Canadian.

Although the healthcare is "free", it is increasingly becoming "not free".
The system won't pay anything for many prescription drugs.
They now charge for a lot of things now-a-days, such as the cast on your arm or leg is covered. But not the cost of cutting it off. That is just one example of many added to the list of no-pays being every year.
But not the cost of cutting it off.

What Canadians have to pay for consumer goods such as energy, food and retail is outrageous compared to south of their border.
And I am not talking about 1000 miles south but only a mile south.

Energy products is horrible, especially when Canada is the #1 exporter of oil, gas, hydro power etc. to the U.S.A.
That same commodity is then sold retail in the U.S.A. for half or less then what Canadians have to pay for their power.