Definition of a Canadian, by an Aussie Dentist

Warrigal

Warrigal

SF VIP
Location
Sydney, Australia
I'm not sure about the Aussie dentist bit, but for the SF Canadians, I offer this definition:

Once in a while someone does a nice job of describing a Canadian, this time it was an Australian dentist....
An Australian definition of a Canadian - in case anyone asks you who a Canadian is.

You probably missed it in the local news, but there was a report that someone in Pakistan had advertised in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed a Canadian - any Canadian.

An Australian dentist wrote the following editorial to help define what a Canadian is, so they would know one when they found one.

A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan. A Canadian may also be a Cree, Metis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians. A Canadian's religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan .

The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which recognize the right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds. But they also welcome the least - the oppressed, the outcast and the rejected.

These are the people who built Canada . You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.

Please keep this going! Pass this around the World. It says it all, for all of us.
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One of my nieces is married to a Canadian from Saskatoon and I have a friend from Winnipeg.
For the most part I would have to agree with the definition.
Onya all you Canucks.
 

Not to take away from Canadians as a nation, I too have Canadian relatives and of course our lovely Canadian friends on SF , but sorry DW this wasn't written for Canadians by a Dentist Australian or otherwise...sorry but I'm always a little sceptical when I see things like this...

A quick search of Snopes reveals this...

As the reaction to essays from a Canadian broadcaster and a Romanian journalist demonstrate, Americans take great delight in encomiums to the freedoms
and diversity of the U.S. that are authored by citizens of other nations. The prolonged popularity of this item, long circulated as a piece penned by an Australian dentist, places it among the class of foreign-authored favorites.

This essay doesn't really belong in that class, however. The "What is an American?" article reproduced above was written neither by an Australian nor by a dentist; rather, it is the work of Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law in Northern Virginia. Mr. Ferrara's commentary was originally published in the National Review on 25 September 2001, two weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

As is common with editorials of this nature, is has since been reworked into an essay praising Canada, with the (inaccurate) attribution to an Australian dentist remaining in place:

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/whatisanamerican.asp#6sXoZkiFmF5efgt6.99
 
Yeah, I thought so. It had that kind of ring to it, but I do like the Canadians that I have met. :grin:
 

Gee thanks Ralph! I feel the same way about them foreigners south of our border and have met many great American people. And Brits, and I met an Aussie once and she was a lovely lady who stole the heart of one of our Canadian fellas enough so that he moved to the other side of the world to be with her. There's good folks in every country. And every country has it's great attributes as well.
 
Yes, gotta hand it to holly, can sniff out any discrepancy --- and isn't she's always right?

Thanks anyway.
 
Well shucks on both the truth and the rumors.
I must say, when I travel abroad, the first thing I am asked is "are you American" I have to giggle about that because the average person can not tell a Canadian from an American.
 
fishfulthinking said:
Well shucks on both the truth and the rumors.
I must say, when I travel abroad, the first thing I am asked is "are you American" I have to giggle about that because the average person can not tell a Canadian from an American.
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Technically, you ARE an American.............................................North American.
 
The only Canadians who might possibly consider themselves partially American might be those with dual citizenship -- it has been known to happen. I have friends born in the US who became Canadian citizens and are happily living in Canada -- that's right eh!
 
hollydolly said:
Not to take away from Canadians as a nation, I too have Canadian relatives and of course our lovely Canadian friends on SF , but sorry DW this wasn't written for Canadians by a Dentist Australian or otherwise...sorry but I'm always a little sceptical when I see things like this...

A quick search of Snopes reveals this...

As the reaction to essays from a Canadian broadcaster and a Romanian journalist demonstrate, Americans take great delight in encomiums to the freedoms
and diversity of the U.S. that are authored by citizens of other nations. The prolonged popularity of this item, long circulated as a piece penned by an Australian dentist, places it among the class of foreign-authored favorites.

This essay doesn't really belong in that class, however. The "What is an American?" article reproduced above was written neither by an Australian nor by a dentist; rather, it is the work of Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law in Northern Virginia. Mr. Ferrara's commentary was originally published in the National Review on 25 September 2001, two weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

As is common with editorials of this nature, is has since been reworked into an essay praising Canada, with the (inaccurate) attribution to an Australian dentist remaining in place:

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/whatisanamerican.asp#6sXoZkiFmF5efgt6.99
Click to expand...


Does the nationality of the author change the principle of the piece?

I don't know about the economics comment (after all, right now our economy is struggling big time), but I rather like the part that talks about our diversity and willingness to reach out and help folks and our appreciation of the good things in life (like good books and good music and good food, etc.) Not that I'm saying other countries don't have equally fine qualities by the way. But I do like to think that we are good at being helpful! :)
 
Invariably, here's what I hear:

Canadian speaking: "I've known lots of nice U.S. citizens, but......"

U.S. citizen speaking: "I've known lots of nice Canadians, but....."

Why is it like this? I do not know. imp
 
I think those sentences finish with 'but the last one was a real piece of work/nitwit/awful person'. I suppose one could say that about any group of any sort in any context.... One unfailing truth, there's both good and bad in any group of human beings.
 

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