The Maple Leaf Lounge

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Avro Arrow, Mar 14, 2018.

  1. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Northern Ontario, Canada
    I've visited more than a decade ago, and my general feel of the place, even though I am technically French-Canadian, was that it was far less friendly to the English tourist to the point of snobbery, and going to the Old Quebec part of the city was even worse. Keep in mind though, that they likely don't even really mean to, but that it's a built-in bias left over from the days of the War of 1812.

    The War of 1812 was a major turning point for Canada. Keep in mind, that at the time, the Province of Quebec was the largest territory. Ontario was divided into two distinct areas called Upper and Lower Canada, and Ottawa was much smaller at the time. The French arrived and settled, then the English came and war happened. The English wanted the land to be theirs and wanted to force the French out, and the people that called themselves Acadians were driven south towards Lousiana, where they are now called Cajuns.

    In essence, the attitude they have is more or less born out of wanting to protect what is theirs. In their view, they've always had to fight to keep their identity, as French is as tied to Quebec as much as English is tied to England and part of their identity. In Ontario, there is a large French-speaking population officially recognized by the government, but this population still has to fight so much for the right to speak their language as some services are either missing or underfunded, and it really isn't a given.
     
  2. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    You usually hear about the resentment going all the way back to Wolfe and Montcalm at the Plains of Abraham, which was well before 1812--the mid 1700s, I believe. (To be fair, this might be what you were intending to refer to, because the expulsion of the Arcadians was around the same mid-1700s timeframe, IIRC.)
     
  3. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, you might be right. In any case, it does go quite far back. It certainly built up all the way back then. I did simplify things ;)
     
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  4. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    Jan 10, 2003
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    So I was reading an article on the state of monopolies and oligopolies in the United States. One of the main focus areas was on internet service.

    Article: Looking at the data, he found that the United States has fallen behind other developed economies in broadband penetration and that prices are significantly higher.

    Canada: Hold my higher-alcohol-content beer.
     
  5. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada
    Yeah, really? I mean, I could have foreseen that the Comcast/Time-Warner merger would have been a bad idea given it's the exact kind of thing we have going on here with some of the companies, which in the end leads to higher prices.
     
  6. Evil Robert

    Evil Robert Admiral Admiral

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    Feb 27, 2002
    Location:
    Ass End of the World
    After a failed attempt two years ago, I am finally going to be in Canada in August.
    Coming in from Europe via Halifax, I'll be in Ottawa for a week and a half and a few days afterwards in Montreal.

    After that I have a few days still in the air. My partner my be visiting friends in London, Ontario so I might be by myself for a few days.

    I kinda have the love of finding something completely Wackadoodle to do/go to. Yukon, PEI... options on the list. LOL Hell, flights to Panama are utterly cheap I have found and I have zero issues flying their for three days either :)
     
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  7. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada
    Just don't plan on travelling via Train at the moment :)
     
  8. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    So Tim Hortons continues to expand their grocery store presence. They apparently now have doughnut-themed granola bars. The three I saw today were double chocolate, apple fritter, and salted caramel.
     
  9. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Northern Ontario, Canada
    Huh, I didn't think granola bars would be an obvious crossover. The last thing I remember seeing were Timbits cereal, and that's even reaching a bit.
     
  10. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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  11. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Location:
    Northern Ontario, Canada
    I suspect that's going to cause a fair bit of confusion. But good luck! On the other hand, they're quite a ways north, so maybe it will work out for them in the end.
     
  12. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    I think this is probably the start of a movement. As noted in the article, BC has already passed legislation to allow them to stay on DST year round; they are just waiting for Washington, Oregon and California to get congressional approval for their own changes. Saskatchewan already doesn't change their clocks. Survey after survey shows that people are in favour of dropping the time changes, and studies have consistently shown that changing the clocks twice a year is bad for us.

    The only remaining point of contention seems to be whether regions adopt permanent daylight time, or permanent standard time. (I'm in the "daylight" camp, myself.) But I do believe that we will probably see all of Canada drop the time changes within our lifetime.
     
  13. Marc

    Marc Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    I suspect Ontario would be in similar case of being unwilling to go through with the changes unless the eastern seaboard of the U.S does the same (primarily New York state) the I also expect there would be a big fight over whether we got forward permanently or stay on EST permanently (which would come down to city vs rural).
     
  14. Santaman

    Santaman Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Tyre city
    @Owain Taggart
    I think you might like this, Casualties of Cool live session, don't worry it isn't metal.

     
  15. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Nov 30, 2009
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    Hey, thanks for that, Santa! It was good. I can see all sorts of influence in that music :)
     
  16. Santaman

    Santaman Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Tyre city
    Glad you liked it. :hugegrin:
    I bought the album and it is lovely, this is coming from a guy who listens to metal and really strange electronic music. :D
     
  17. Avro Arrow

    Avro Arrow Vice Admiral Moderator

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    My heart goes out to the family and friends of the victims of the tragedy in Nova Scotia.
     
  18. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Confederation of Earth
    I'm watching Red Green now and it just hit me:

    Gordon Pinsent (Hap Shaughnessy) is 90!

     
  19. Timewalker

    Timewalker Cat-lovin', Star Trekkin' Time Lady Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2007
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    In many different universes, simultaneously.
    I still remember him as the RCMP officer in The Forest Rangers, and he had a memorable guest role on The Beachcombers.
     
  20. Owain Taggart

    Owain Taggart Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And the role of Fraser's father in Due South :) Consequently, also an RCMP officer.