Canada Local Custom Tips by rmdw

CBC Radio One

For many decades Canadians have been searching for what makes us different from our American friends & neighbours. One thing we have that they don't is national public broadcasting network called the CBC. They operate several TV and radio networks, in English, French, and some Native Indian & Eskimo languages too.

My favourite part of the CBC is their news & information network, CBC Radio 1. While at times it is too left-wing and too focused on Toronto, it generally provides a good overview of Canada. My favourite shows are "As It Happens" and "Sunday Edition"

Anyone who wants to learn more about Canada should definitely give CBC Radio 1 a listen! You can access it online from here:
http://www.cbc.ca/audio.html

Canada Geese

Our national bird is the infamous Canada Goose. I say "infamous" because though they're amazing to watch in flight, they're become more known for the "natural deposits" they leave over parks and lawns all over the U.S. and Canada. And because they're a protected bird, their numbers just keep growing and growing!

If you'd like to see a video of an itchy goose then click here. It's size is 12.8MB and you need to have Quicktime installed. It's quite hilarious!

Canada's RCMP

The federal police in Canada have a long and proud history. They're not always dressed in such formal garb but if there are any official ceremonies in Canada then you'll usually see them dressed like they are here.

Website: http://rcmp.ca

Comedy!

Canadians love to laugh! If you'd like to get a sampling of some great Canadian and International comedians then tune into CJAD at these times:
Saturday: 5pm - 7pm (ET)
Sunday: 12pm - 2pm (ET)

This comedy show is hosted by Ernie Butler, a well known figure in the Montreal comedy scene.

For other comedy venues around Montreal and other parts of Canada check out Just For Laughs. Their main event is a comedy extravaganza, held every summer in Montreal.

Bilingual Labels

Canada is officially a bilingual country, representing the two major languages of the Europeans who developed the country. Part in parcel of this is that all food & drink labels must be shown in both English & French.

I'm embarassed by the fact that when it was first adopted many fellow Western Canadians complained about French being on their box of cornflakes. People are under real oppression in many other parts of the world but us Canadians complain about what's displayed on our cereal boxes!

Nowadays I thankfully see very little controversy over this issue. While travelling around Montreal I frequently learn new French words by reading the advertising!