Stronger Beer

From the album Throw Down, here is Tim Hicks' Stronger Beer. singing about the difference between Canada and the U.S.A.



Tim Hicks is a country singer and songwriter from St. Catherines, Ontario. His album Throw Down was released in 2013. The follow up 5:01 in August 2014.

Difference Between Canada and U.S.A. 

Tim Hicks

Canadian Election Results - The Day After

The Canadian election results of May 2nd, 2011 were historic. Anger and want for change motivated the voters. Federally the country elected a majority Conservative government after consecutive minority governments. The NDP moved to official opposition status for the first time ever and the 104 seats were the most they had ever won. The biggest change came in Quebec with the separatist BQ getting wiped off the map. Federalists Canada-wide can rejoice that a loud voice to break up the country has been silenced. Not only did the BQ win only four seats, down from 49 in 2008, but party leader Gilles Duceppe lost his seat in parliament. Duceppe as a result, has stepped down as leader. Michael Ignatieff, head of the Liberal Party of Canada, also lost his seat. Expect Ignatieff to make a decision in the days to come. If his party is behind him, someone will step aside so that he may sit in Parliament. Or, we may have a Liberal leaders conference.

Last night, before the results started coming in I projected different results. I am pleased I was wrong. Considering the political strengths and weaknesses this was the best possible scenario. A majority government, a new look opposition party and, of course the BQ returns to the fringes where they belong. The Liberals were going nowhere under Ignatieff. The downfall for them started at the end of the Jean Chretien era but took a big hit under Stephane Dion. Under a new leader they will rebound, perhaps even to opposition party status in four years. Four years! No elections for four years. And you can probably start calling Quebec the swing province. I would bet the NDP will lose a large number of their seats in four years. Four years now, we may be tired of the rulings Conservatives. Considering the circumstances this was the best possible result.

The breakdown is as follows:

CONSERVATIVE 167

NDP 102

LIBERAL 34

BLOC QUEBECOIS 4

GREEN 1

INDEPENDENT 0

Media Coverage of the Elections

Switching to the television network coverage, the big three networks in Canada provided wall to wall coverage starting at approximately 9PM eastern time and broadcasted late into the night. Due to the laws governing the release of election results, each outlet across the country was forbidden to release information until all the polls were closed. The tweet the vote movement on Twitter attempted to spread the word sooner. And the CBC may have broken the Election Canada law by airing their feed from Newfoundland and Labrador in Toronto shortly after 9PM last night. CBC went off the air briefly following this.

What happened to the local coverage? I can only speak for the Montreal market. None of the three stations had any sustained television coverage. I flipped the three local English stations throughout the night, Global kept to the National feed, CTV's Lloyd Robertson stumbled through the coverage all night. And a nervous sounding Peter Mansbridge did a credible job at the CBC. I could have missed it on the other networks but the CBC was the only one of the three to cut away to the local affiliate, where Montreal anchor Andrew Chang raced through the local results in small amount of time he was allotted. The local coverage on CTV consisted of cutaways to the Toronto anchor desk. This is information I want, but what happened to Montreal?

Each one of the French stations provided the coverage of the province but this is the first time in my memory that the English stations did not provide any coverage. I stopped watching at 11:45PM local time.

The CTV's Lloyd Robertson announced his retirement a few months back. The 78-year old anchor is winding down his career and this is his last election as a full time anchor. Robertson stumbled through the results throughout the night and even made reference to being put in handcuffs. Did he giggle at one point? Robertson has always been a brilliant announcer but may have stayed one election too long. 

The CBC's Peter Mansbridge, Mister Smooth, the perfect voice, has always excelled in the 'Live' environment. Last night, while he stood out as out as the best of the announcers, strangely, he looked nervous and unsure at times. 

Election Results Across Canada

Canadian Election Results

Here are the election results. Two things have been on the minds of Canadians for the last 36 days, hockey and the elections. Since I know something about hockey, I thought why not take that leap and write about politics? As such, I will use my hockey pool draft method to project the outcome of tonight's Canadian federal election. My plan is to update this space as the night progresses. Stay tuned here for election night results. I will not reveal the secrets behind my methodology, I will tell you though that I generally finish it the top three in any given year in my hockey pool. If you have not read my stories before, yes, I am joking. Sort of.

May 2nd, 8:22PM eastern - projection CON 145 seats, NDP 82 seats, LIB 52 seats, BQ 27, Green 1, IND 1.

Election Results

In the last election in 2008, the Conservatives were elected to a minority government with 143 seats. Up until a couple weeks ago, it was a surety that Stephen Harper would be re-elected, this time to majority government. The late surge in the polls by Jack Layton and the NDP may have put the hopes of majority government to rest. Layton would make a strong leader of the opposition. I fear his party's platform were he ever, my some miracle, elected to the Prime Minister's office.

Voter turnout in the last election was a record low 58.8%. With no new themes to the party platforms, anger over a fourth election in seven years, it was thought that this years turnout would rival the low levels of 2008. But something happened. At first it was a backlash against the opposition parties for springing the election upon the Canadian population. Then it was the spike of interest following the leaders' debates and then the collapse of the BQ in the province of Quebec that matched the rise of the NDP in the polls.

We should start seeing the results in a little more than 45 minutes from now. Feel free to post your projections. Just click the blue Response button below.

9:00PM eastern and we are anticipating some change. One hour from now we should see the official results from elections Canada.

9:10PM Late polls are showing the most seats the Conservatives could expect are 157. In a perfect world we will get a Stephen Harper led majority government. Anything less than 155 and look for the opposition parties to back Jack Layton to lead the country.
Watching CTV news, I am thinking this will be Lloyd Robertson's final election night coverage. Or should be.

9:43PM Conservatives are leading or have been elected in 25 ridings. Liberals 21, NDP 15, BQ 0, Green 0, Other 0...

9:45PM CTV has declared a Conservative win. Not exactly a stretch.

9:48PM CON 48, NDP23, LIB 21, BQ 3

9:49PM Peter Mansbridge on CBC is making more sense than Lloyd Robertson.

9:53PM York Centre - Ken Dryden is trailing in the early polls. Mind you, only 3% have reported in.

9:56PM CON 95, NDP 42, LIB 33, BQ 3
Popular vote CON 37% NDP 29% LIB 28%

9:58PM Government House Leader John Baird re-elected in Ottawa-West Nepean.

10:03PM Conservatives 133, NDP 69, Liberals 27, BQ 4

Popular Vote percentage Conservatives 38.2 NDP: 29.8 Liberals 27.9 Other: 4.1

What is bigger news? That the NDP will become the official opposition for the first time and will win a record number of seats or that the Liberal party will finish in third place for the first time? Or the possibility of two party leaders losing their seats?

10:10PM CON 137, NDP 87, LIB 29, BQ 6
So far, no results from my riding. The BQ have been blocked.

10:12PM Looks like my projections are off. Like I started off saying, I usually finish in the top three. I never said that I win.

10:23PM. Both Ignatieff and Duceppe are getting trounced in their ridings. Harper and Layton are doing fine.

10:30PM Majority government? CON 150 NDP 105 LIB 32 BQ 3

10:39PM I declare a Majority Conservative government. Unless the results are different.

10:47 A friend of mine, let's call him Stimpy, just admitted to me that he moved to Gilles Duceppe's riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie with the intention of ousting him. Stimpy didn't do much except for sitting on his couch and drink beer, but it worked. It appears that Duceppe will lose his seat.

Harper and Layton have been re-elected.

Conservatives leading or elected in 165 seats, NDP in 103 seats, Liberals 32, BQ 4, Other 1.

11:03PM The latest results from across Canada, the Conservative party has won a majority, Stephen Harper is still Prime Minister of Canada. And results from Toronto, George St. Pierre is still Welterweight Champion.

11:08PM Con 169, NDP 104, LIB 32, BQ 2, GRN 1
Looks like Green Party leader Elizabeth May won her seat. I saw her deputy party leader and former NHL hockey player Georges Laracque on Saturday.

Some of the Montreal Island Liberal candidates are re-elected. Justin Trudeau, Marc Garneau, Denis Coderre, Irwin Cotler, Stephane Dion. Too bad for Conservative candidates Saulie Zajdel and Neil Drabkin, both are good guys and would have represented their ridings very well.

Does this mean Ignatieff is going back to the United States?

11:28PM Montreal results are not quite final... but it is official, Gilles Duceppe lost his seat. Too close to call, the BQ are in two very tight races and are leading or elected in three. In this case, two out of three is bad.

The Election Nobody Wants

Watching the English language federal election debate tonight I have a growing fear. I fear that Michael Ignatieff could be elected the next Prime Minister of Canada. I fear that the man trying to break up the country, separatist party leader Gilles Duceppe could be named the leader of the official opposition. You may not like Stephen Harper but what other options do we have? Jack Layton as leader of the NDP has returned the party from the point of near obscurity but stands no chance of leading this country.

At worst we will face a minority Conservative government. At best, Stephen Harper will be re-elected with a majority, Canada can continue to climb out of the worldwide recession as a leader in economic revival.

What Canada needs is a government to speed up its progress towards a balanced budget. There are times when it would be appropriate for a minority government to fall. Issues of urgency are obviously lacking, and as such, the elected officials have an obligation to the citizens of Canada to work together, setting aside partisan divides. This alone should be enough reason to vote against the opposition parties that brought down the government. This election is a waste of money, and a waste of time. The Liberal, BQ and NDP parties have yet to identify a critical public interest to justify an election.

Polls suggest today that 40% of the population will vote for the Conservative Party. The Liberal party is showing 31% of the nation's support. The NDP follows at 17%. The separatist BQ party follows with 7.8% (all from Quebec) and the Green Party settles in with 4%. The numbers have swayed slightly since the start of the campaigning with each party gaining or losing a percentage or two.

Does popular vote translate to getting officials elected? The BQ received 1.37 million votes in the 2008 election or only 38% of the popular vote in Quebec, yet managed to elect 49 officials out of the 75 available seats in Quebec. The vote split between federalist Liberal and Conservative parties, allowed the separatist BQ to back themselves into the House of Commons.

As for the actual debate, the opposition party leaders threw questions and accusations at Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper mostly concentrated on defending his strong economic reform and appeared to be addressing himself to the cameras, and therefore speaking directly to the people. 

Ignatieff may be a stronger candidate than was Stephane Dion, but he is hardly the man to lead Canada. Aside from his repetitive refrain, his accusing the Prime Minister of "stiffing" Parliament was not appropriate. Ignatieff's scowl and repetitive accusations of lying, paints him as nothing other than a one trick pony and hardly prime ministerial in bearing. 

Aside from Harper, the only other candidate who may have improved his numbers was Jack Layton. He was not perfect but a couple good lines (offering his cane to prop up the government) and his overall presence may present as an alternative to some.

It seems the participants changed tactics in the latter portion of the debate. Perhaps figuring that those viewers with short attention spans have since flipped channels and are now watching NCIS, or perhaps, The Biggest Loser. (There is a joke there). With the more serious and interested voters tuned in, the leaders stopped slinging insults at Prime Minister Harper and debated amongst each other.  As I mentioned, I have issue with some of the language Ignatieff used. I can't tell you how to vote. But I will leave you with the old adage, vote early and - vote often.

Broken Water Main and I'm Getting Thirsty

No water for you. No water for me. A broken water main or drain pipe caused a mini flood in my neighbourhood. This is a regular occurrence on the Island of Montreal. While there have been fewer reported breaks in the water system this year compared to last, the underground water works is ancient by most standards. Age and neglect has caused pipes to burst numerous times in recent years.
The city workers have been at it all day digging, plugging, sewing and melding. And still I have no water. I was out for most of the day so it really hasn't been much of a problem. My brita is half filled and on the way home I picked up two 4 litre jugs of water. I had a harder time in the winter when the power went out for 12 hours. I couldn't watch TV and couldn't post to my blog. It is not all that easy reading by flashlight and candlelight.

At least City Works is close

No water!

Dig Faster!

I've become a little paranoid after the H1N1 and various flu scares of the last few years. Every time I arrive home I wash my hands. It felt a little strange not being able to wash up earlier. So far, the lack of water has not forced me to resort to barbarism. Although, I did have to slay two of my neighbours as they tried to loot my stores of water. I have their heads up on pikes in front of my door to ward off any other potential aggressors.

Some Lies About Canada. Happy Canada Day!

I have not been able to verify the following information. But I wrote it so it must be true. Some Lies About Canada. Happy Canada Day. 

Majestic Canadian Flag

• Canadians do not use pain killers.
• Canada has nine months of winter and three months of road repair.
• The Inuit of Northern Canada have 17 different words for "fart".
• English speaking male Canadians of Eastern European descent living on the Island of Montreal have larger feet than other Canadians.
• When you flush a toilet in Canada the water simultaneously flows clockwise and counter clockwise.
• In Canada, static electricity is a trade-able commodity.
• Canada Day was created on July 1st simply to steal the thunder from the American Independence Day.
• In Canada we do not have revolving doors. We have rotating doors.
• French graffiti in the province of Quebec must be twice the size of English graffiti.
• Home computers in Canada have been recently upgraded from VIC-20s to Commodore 64s.
• Most people believe the beaver to be the national animal of Canada. But if you look closely, just behind the beaver, there is a ferocious two headed griffin.

The Beaver

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada!! Some Truths About Canada

Happy Canada Day. You don't look a day over 140. In honour of Canada’s birthday I compiled a list of Canadiana, facts that you may, or may not know.

-Kanata is the St. Lawrence-Iroquoian word for village.

-According to StatsCan, Canada’s estimated population as of April 2010 was: 34,018,957.

-In 2008, 519,722 arrivals immigrated to Canada. 

-We are bigger than a breadbox, covering 9,984,670 sq. km, (3,855,103 sq. mi.) making us the second largest country just behind Russia.

-Our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald was born in Glasgow Scotland.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was born in Toronto.

-Canadians consume more macaroni and cheese then any other country in the world

-The province of Alberta has been completely free of rats since 1905.

-The red flag with a white square and a red maple leaf was adopted on February 15, 1965. 

-Before 1965 we flew a British maritime flag.

The Coat of Arms was proclaimed by King George V on November 21, 1921 it has four quarters that represent the founding peoples of Canada: England, France, Ireland and Scotland.

-The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 8408 kms (5,525 miles), including 2475 kms (1,538 miles) between Canada and Alaska, it is the world's longest border between two nations.

  

According to 2010 Estimates the breakdown of the population by age is 

0-14 years: 15.9% (male 2,7 million / female 2.6 million)

15-64 years: 68.6% (male 11,7 million / female 11,4 million)

65 years and over: 15.5% (male 2,2 million / female 2,9 million)

This means there are more males in my age group then females. That must be why I am still single!

Ethnic groups:

British Isles origin 28%

French origin 23%

Other European 15%

Amerindian 2%

Other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, 

Mixed background 26%.

Despite my name, I fall under the “other European” category.

    Religions                     %

Roman Catholic	43.2
Protestant	29.2
Christian Orthodox	1.6
Christian (Other)	2.6
Muslim	2
Jewish	1.1
Buddhist	1
Hindu	1
Sikh	0.9
No Religion	16.2

One of the biggest differences between Canada and the United States is the use of the English language. Americans do not use it properly. (I believe I have just alienated half of my readers). Here below are some differences between Canadian and American Spelling. For a more extensive list of spelling comparisons please go here.

Canadian	American
armour	armor
behaviour	behavior
calibre	caliber
cancelled	canceled, cancelled
candour	candor
centre	center
cheque	check
clamour	clamor
colour	color

Happy Canada Day! Enjoy. Celebrate. Don't drink and drive.