Canadians (Ontario), comments from an adopted Yankee on your country/province.

I have lived in or near Toronto all my life, and I don't understand the Tim Hortons thing either. I thought the two nearest me were enough for our neighbourhood (they were almost in sight of each other) so I laughed when another one went up halfway between them. As soon as it opened, the drive-through was jammed every day. It makes no sense. As one of Canada's leading auto journalists (not Lesley, another one) once wrote about the coffee, "If you want paint thinner, buy paint thinner."

Something very Canadian happened in Toronto a couple of days ago; you can read about it at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bees-saved-by-bunz-1.3642529. With helpful instructions from social media (and a few comments questioning his sanity) a guy relocated a swarm of bees that had apparently lost their queen. There weren't enough bees in the swarm for the Toronto Bee Rescue (which is apparently a thing) to get involved, so the guy put them in a cardboard box and drove them across town to another guy, who could transfer them to an actual beekeeper outside the city. He put a seatbelt around the box to keep it safe on the trip. And when he was ready to head home, there was one more bee in his cupholder, so he went back inside with it.

I love that story.

We also stop for turtles.

And yeah, Tim's is dreadful, but Starbucks tastes more like paint thinner. Surprisingly enough, McD's actually has decent drive-through coffee (cappuccino, extra espresso shot) - just don't eat the food.

I don't see what's wrong with Tim Hortons' being all over the place. They serve the same role in Canada that Starbucks does in the US, and those things are like cockroaches especially in the NW. I can find a lot of things I prefer at Timmy's over Starbucks, like Timbits. Starbucks doesn't have anything I want to eat, Tim Horton's has donuts. Duh.

Tim Hortons will be expanding into Minnesota in the near future.

Starbucks is grossly overpriced. Tim's donuts may be good, but their muffins are horrible.

That's like complaining that the sushi isn't fresh in Denver. You don't go to Tim Horton's for muffins. That's just...wrong.

Of the Canadians I've met who were familiar with the USA, it seemed like only those who were independently well-off would ever consider giving up their Canadian citizenship.

Normal folks seemed swayed by more geographic/weather related concerns. They wanted to live in warmer climates, and would consider giving up Canadian citizenship if it meant a good stable job in a warmer climate. I've met some guys who spend winters in the Southwest and summers in Canada.

Seems like the sweet spots for living in Canada are Under 25 (low earnings, no worries about health care, reduced cost of education), unemployed or medical related issues, or retirement years. Those seem to be the times when Canadians have it made.

Likewise;

Seems like if your making average income with average employment stability, don't have a ton of kids, are healthy, and can stand cooler climates, Canada is the way to go.

As a middle-class person in the USA, if Canada acquired Puerto Rico (or any place south of the Canadian border) I'd beg for Canadian citizenship.

LOL, I don't eat donuts.

+1 on the McD's coffee. McD's muffins are also pretty good, and significantly better than Tim's. OTOH, if it's 12:30 at night and you've got an hour's drive to get home and dinner kind of got missed in the shuffle, a late-night Tim's will make you a sandwich that will save your life. Ask me how I know this.

DeadSkunk wrote: You were in Tillsonburg weren't you,Adrian. Three Tim Hortons to serve 13,000 people. It was home for 17 years before I moved stateside. A really nice place to live, despite the monotonous 80 KPH run up to the 401.

We went through Tillsonburg several times, but the place I was talking about was Strathroy as I wanted a cup of Coffee and my wife had been given a Tim Hortens gift card as a present and it had been her purse since Paganmas. I actually managed to miss them on the way into town so I stopped and asked a nice helpful ambulance driver who laughed when I asked where one was. 'There's three Timmy's in town' he delightedly told me :)

We have lot's of Tim Hortons in the Detroit Metro area as well, they are expanding North from Canada :) BTW that's a great trick question for non Michiganders. What's the first forign country south of Detroit. You can see people trying to figure out if it's going to be Cuba, MExico or somewhere in central America not realizing that Southern Ontario hooks under Detroit.

On the health care thing, I may be a US Citizen, but I'll never give up my British passport just in case.

There's a Tim Horton's in the Dubai Mall, and man were they trying to be upscale with it.

Edit:

Coffee. 'Timmy's' coffee is acceptable, as is blond roast from Starbucks. Starbucks espresso is actually not bad. Everything else in the green mermaid is burnt E36 M3. McD's while it's supposed to be always the same can range from 'Wow, that's not half bad' down to 'berkeley, give me a pint of flushed toilet water to get rid of the taste' Best cheap coffee is Einstein Bagels or Panera. Best not so cheap coffee is Lavazza. Best local Detroit coffee is Great Lakes coffee roasters when you can get it roasted within the last 24 hours. Best awesome hipster coffee is either at Red Hook or Chazzano in Ferndal . The Chazzano Eithiopoan made with a vacuum syphon will make your beard balm melt on your handle bars of your fixie.

Lesley wrote: Don't have a lot to add, other than dayum, I hate the word "ex-pat". Heard it everywhere in Hong Kong... That's what white people call themselves when in other countries, yet we refer to everyone else as "immigrants".

I always found that interesting as well.

logdog wrote:

Lesley wrote: Don't have a lot to add, other than dayum, I hate the word "ex-pat". Heard it everywhere in Hong Kong... That's what white people call themselves when in other countries, yet we refer to everyone else as "immigrants".

I always found that interesting as well.

I've always thought of it as a pretentious term for "immigrant" with a vague hint of colonial-ish stink on it

logdog wrote:

Lesley wrote: Don't have a lot to add, other than dayum, I hate the word "ex-pat". Heard it everywhere in Hong Kong... That's what white people call themselves when in other countries, yet we refer to everyone else as "immigrants".

I always found that interesting as well.

Strange, I find it a handy phrase. What am i supposed to say? 'I was born and raised in England but moved to the US and now live there as a US Citizen'? Seems a bit cumbersome But just for harmony I'll try and remember not to use the phrase here again

i can forgive sparing use to indicate where you're from when relevant (as Adrian did in the first post - didn't even notice it), but if anyone uses it by itself, where it might as well be synonymous with "immigrant," I will roll my eyes heartily and imagine you in a safari suit (complete with hat)

GameboyRMH wrote: goodness of your heart is a selfless act of charity

Here's a difference - most canadians make charitiable actions out of selflessness, most americans make them out of selfishness. Doesn't really change the outcome, but the difference in drive to act is interesting.

My dad grew up in PEI, and my grandparents and uncle still live there. I visit every couple of years. Its an amazing place.

Robbie wrote: Here's a difference - most canadians make charitiable actions out of selflessness, most americans make them out of selfishness. Doesn't really change the outcome, but the difference in drive to act is interesting.

Interesting point. What do you mean by making charitable actions out of selfishness? I'm not sure I understand.

Tax write offs and the ability to say you donated x amount of dollars to local charity.

I'm always impressed when a big donor remains anonymous, but I'd bet they are still writing it off.

Which is fine, but our tax system is setup to reward people for being charitable, and it would be interesting to see how our non-profit world would look if it wasn't.

Tim Horton's coffee is awful. TimBits are good enough to make it worth the trip anyway. Which is about 200 yards walk from my office.

LaVazza is nectar of the gods. And it's always on sale here - from grocery stores to drug marts. I wait until it's $2.99 lb. and stock up.

I have immigrated here twice now. So I guess that is as good an endorsement as any.

The line to renounce your US citizenship in Toronto has grown to over a year long, and the fee has gone from $400 to $2400. That is another form of endorsement.

If y'all would just move the challenge to Canada, I could cross off any real need to cross the border.

Jay wrote: There's a Tim Horton's in the Dubai Mall, and man were they trying to be upscale with it. Edit:

I think many, if not all, are becoming "cafe and bake shop" timmies' and going a bit up-market. Even the nearest to me McD's got a similar update with self serve touch screen thingies and a new decor. It's still E36 M3, but it was fun playing with the touch screen thingy.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

logdog wrote:

Lesley wrote: Don't have a lot to add, other than dayum, I hate the word "ex-pat". Heard it everywhere in Hong Kong... That's what white people call themselves when in other countries, yet we refer to everyone else as "immigrants".

I always found that interesting as well.

Strange, I find it a handy phrase. What am i supposed to say? 'I was born and raised in England but moved to the US and now live there as a US Citizen'? Seems a bit cumbersome But just for harmony I'll try and remember not to use the phrase here again

To me, "ex-pat" means an bitter Brit sitting at a bar in Zimbabwe muttering about how good it was in Rhodesia. It's not a good connotation.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

logdog wrote:

Lesley wrote: Don't have a lot to add, other than dayum, I hate the word "ex-pat". Heard it everywhere in Hong Kong... That's what white people call themselves when in other countries, yet we refer to everyone else as "immigrants".

I always found that interesting as well.

Strange, I find it a handy phrase. What am i supposed to say? 'I was born and raised in England but moved to the US and now live there as a US Citizen'? Seems a bit cumbersome But just for harmony I'll try and remember not to use the phrase here again

Well... I was born in England too, but emigrated to Canada. I was an immigrant, now I'm a citizen.