Canada Vs America Essay, Research Paper
The controversy over Canada and America, and who takes after whom has been around for many years. Canada and America are puzzles, two countries that are home to millions of people, living in relative comfort and health. We both have become nations through the help of each other and other nations. Yet, Canada has its own identity as a delightful complexity of cultures and customs, government and heroes. On the other hand, Canadians are simply not Americans by government and technology. Canada?s own identity starts with our remarkable sense of culture and customs. For the native peoples, the Canadian identity stretches thousands of years into the search of struggles to retain elements of their ancient culture. From a colonial perspective, the traditions which surface in Canadian culture seem to be born of an earlier time, of different origins and places, of old-fashioned rituals, and customs. Unlike the United States, its senior neighbor, Canada?s aged-like identity is more reserved and skillful, unwilling to commit it self to anything specific. Within each region of Canada- North, South, East, West and Central- there are definite qualities that detach Prairie from Maritimes, Ontario from Quebec and the Territories from the British Columbia. Each of these regions are separated by how they live, and their different culture background. Which forms our own identites within the counrty. Canadian and American government also show difference in how they govern themselves. United States is a country of one basic language. It has one main language, for its federal government and for every state. Canada is a country of two basic languages, French and English. A second basic difference between our Constitution and the American is that we are a constitutional monarchy and they are republics. For we have a parliamentary-cabinet government, while the Americans have a presidential-congressional. This means that the president is the head of the state and head of the government. While in Canada the Governor General is head of the provinces and the Prime Minister is the head of the government. Parliamentary-cabinet government is based on a concentration of powers. The Prime Minister must by custom be a member of one House or the other, or get a seat in the House. In the United States, the President and every other member of both houses are elected for a fixed term: the President for four years and the senators for six years. Another aspect that distinguishes us from United States is our choice for heroes. The Canadian hero is not the conqueror, nor the general, but the foot solider. He?s a figure whose actions speak louder than words, like Terry Fox., a person more real, more approachable, more than human. The true Canadian hero remains very much the regular guy. Americans are hero-worshipers and hero makers. Americans? truest of hero creation and worship comes either advertising, movies, music and sport stars. They export America?s most powerful industry: the American hero and American myth. By signing your name, winning a game or making a great movie, Americans will enshrine the moment and make it much bigger than it is. On the contrary, Canadians are simply not Americans. Canadians seem to follow in the footsteps of the Americans, but change it to make it better. In, Canada, our system of government is a blend of British and United States practices, with some Canadian additions, made to fit our own particular needs. Of course, British, United States, and Canadian governments all have a lot in common, since both Canada and the United States learned from Britain the all important idea of responsible government, which rest on the rule of law and the consent of people. We, paid close attention of the problems that were raised in the United States federal system and changed it considerably for Canada, to avoid what they we thought were its weakest points and make it fit better with the practices of British government. Technology was also formed with the help of the United States. When United States grew in to an industrialized place producing large quantities of goods, which were sold in many parts of the world, Canada became a customer and helped import raw materials needed by the United States. The growth of trade between the nations made the lives of Canadian and American people similar in many ways. We became accustomed to the idea of driving the same cars, furnishing their homes with the same materials, watching the same movies and television shows and reading the same magazines, but Canada used the technology to combat the North/South pull to stop Canada from being determined geographically. We used the technology the United States has and created our own to let Canadians learn about themselves more. We created the Canadian Broadcasting System (CBC), to show the different cultures and customs each region of Canada has. We have our own airlines, Air Canada and Canadian Airlines, to help Canadians travel faster to get to different parts of our country. Our own CPR railway, which covers Canada, helps Canadians travel on ground and see the beauties of different cultures in Canada. Through these many channels Canadians have been kept informed of the American way of life, without doubt we have learned to use some of the ideas and many of the product of the United States. Yet Canadian continues to be different from their American neighbors. I believe we have our own identity, because no other country in the world has as many cultures as we do. We are the unknown country to all other nations because Canada has not been a troublesome country. We do not have violent revolutions and we do not invade other people?s lands. A law-abiding nation does not get in the headlines very much. We are proud of our past heritage and have gained great respect from all other nations. Our land also contributes to our own identity. It is a celebration of the beauty and love of our landscapes. Without out our own identity, we would be like all other nations, fighting for our needs. Every nation would be alike, and tourism would not be a big attraction to our nation. We have a very rich and diverse heritage. Everywhere around us is our heritage. Our government, language, customs and habits, music, books and a wide variety of scientific inventions are gifts to us from our ancestors who lived in Canada. But, the influence of our heritage has been shaped by the influence of United States and many other nations. The histories of these nations have helped us become the country that it is today. Everyone living in Canada is lucky to have a great country, without many problems. I think, it is not hard to say that everyone is proud Canadian.