D-Day: Never Forget

The Benefits of Being a Cheapo Canadian

Why are Canadian banks doing so well as compared to others in this economy? Colby Cosh says our banking prudence is in our cultural DNA: (read)

Both Kravis and Rowe suggest that the innermost core difference might be cultural — and, perhaps, ultimately a matter of the Scottish prudence and tight-fistedness that has survived in our banking DNA. This, of course, raises an obvious chicken-and-egg question: Has that spirit been preserved because we’re still using the same banks our great-grandparents did, or vice versa? International observers have noticed that our “principles-based” financial regulation takes a very different form from the “rules-based” style prevailing in the United States.

Down south, lenders are engaged in a constant chess game with the government. Were, the bank executives and the regulators have absorbed each other’s values to such a great degree — both taking the view that, to put it simply, the first goal of the Royal Bank is to make sure that there is still a Royal Bank 100 years from now — that internal audit procedures are tougher than any regulator would dare demand, and arguably more effective than any regime created solely by a narrow, politically shifting rule set. Plain old-school snobbery plays a role too. Only by means of a very powerful ethos of noblesse oblige can you staff a modern banking system, as we have, without dangling big short-term rewards in front of top executives and doing away with substantive board oversight.

My experience in technology sales has taught me there is a major difference between Canadian and American clients. Our own countrymen, we used to call "Cheapo Canadians." Money was always the object. I remember one time at a tech company, we introduced a consulting package to go with our software. A business could hire one of our people to implement our business model, and it was very expensive. On the floor, we were quietly skeptical that it was not going to sell. At first it wasn't. The VP of sales had us in for a strategy session. 90% of our potential customers were American. He told us to stop thinking like risk averse, penny pinching Canadians. If an American client said he couldn't afford it, don't believe him. He can get credit anywhere. Everybody down there, even with modest salaries, drive a BMW and live in a McMansion on credit. If you could sell the vision, money was no object. It was hyperbole, but he was right. It was 2004 and it ended up being a big seller down there. (Not so much in Canada.)

American Self Awareness

Here's a youtube posted by a "comedian" to shake up those stupid Canadians who don't love and honor America. Because don't these dolt Canadians realize they owe every technology in their lives to Americans? (Even technologies they didn't invent, like the television?) Do they realize the Americans are nice enough not to invade, and conquer? Canadians were just sitting around, drinking beer doing nothing, the US gave them everything, and all they can do is criticize.

To borrow from Lewis Black, if you go around telling everybody that you're the best all the time, let's say at the office, do you not think people are going to think you're an asshole?

I'm what you would call a pro-American Canadian. But it's pretty easy to conclude, when you view demonstrations like this, and then see Americans gob smacked when they find out that they aren't liked in the world.... well, sorry, but maybe the joke is on them.

WARNING: Bad cliche comedy.

Integration Canadian Style

Naomi Lakritz, writing in the Calgary Herald points out something I was unaware of:

It's been quite a while since I've heard the kind of common sense talk about Canadian identity that I heard when Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, visited the Herald editorial board on Thursday. Kenney admits he used to have some trepidation about wading into what he calls the politically correct minefield around this issue, but no more. He obviously realized that when political correctness runs up against common sense, there's just no contest. New Canadians, says Kenney, "have a duty to integrate." Further, he says, "We don't need the state to promote diversity. It is a natural part of our civil society."

To that end, the government has sensibly ceased funding programs such as heritage language classes. Why should the federal government pay for children to learn the language of the country their parents and grandparents come from? It's the family's responsibility to teach children about their heritage, including the language.

"I think it's really neat that a fifth-generation Ukrainian Canadian can speak Ukrainian-- but pay for it yourself," Kenney says. Kenney's right--it is neat. If you can speak your family's mother tongue, your life is just that much more enriched. But such immersion in heritage shouldn't come at the expense of you identifying yourself as a Canadian first --and it certainly shouldn't come at Canadian taxpayers' expense...

I knew about the Canadian government paying for English and French lessons for new immigrants. I think it should be the duty of the immigrant to learn that at their own expense, but still it's in the countries interest to have them speaking the official languages. What the heck is the point of taxpayers paying people to learn Ukrainian or Punjabi? Thankfully they've ended it.

Hat tip: Strack Attack

Quebec Confidence Scam

I'm no fan of Jeffery Simpson in the Globe and Mail, but he has an interesting article of how Quebec recently screwed the federal Tories and the "have" provinces. (read)

After much caterwauling and nattering from Quebec about the “fiscal imbalance,” Mr. Harper had duly handed over billions of additional dollars for social programs – only to find that a campaigning Mr. Charest had taken the first tranche of the money and announced tax cuts to help his re-election bid. At which point, Mr. arper hit the roof.

Further betrayals arrived. Mr. Charest, having pocketed the billions for the “fiscal imbalance,” sent his Finance Minister to announce at the beginning of the federal campaign that, no, Quebec's “demands” (Quebec is always demanding) had not been met.

With every Conservative candidate campaigning on having settled the “fiscal imbalance,” it was quite a blow to their credibility to hear Mr. Charest declare the matter unfinished. Of course, Mr. Charest had many other grievances and gripes that needed attention. So much for giving Mr. Harper a break in Quebec.

(...)

And yet, here's the dilemma: Despite a staggering economy, growing unemployment and a fiscal nightmare, Ontario taxpayers, via Ottawa, are still going to ship billions of dollars to Manitoba, the four Atlantic provinces and Quebec.

Last week's Quebec budget had $8-billion in equalization payments, amounting to 12 per cent of total revenues. Notwithstanding this bonanza, and the fact that payments had almost doubled, the budget contained a chapter complaining about how unfair equalization was to Quebec. Call it Gallic gall.

It's hard for me to believe that I supported Charest for the PC Leadership Race of 1993. My dislike started for him soon after the disastrous election that year when he refused to partner with the then Reform Party. Now as the Quebecois crook-in-chief, my hatred is viseral as well as political.

Wouldn't it be nice is Quebec seperated? Why Isn't Quebec an Independent Country?

I'm glad to see that the Conservatives and Harper are looking elsewhere to pick up support.

Boring Old Canada

As I could hear CBC Newsworld in the background with a lead story on ski helmets, I was scanning the top news headline in the Montreal Gazette and it was this:

Ski helmet standards on the way

For God's sakes.

Welcome to Canada HBO!!!!

Finally! Home Box Office Network has come to Canada. For some reason the government wouldn't let Canadians get this in their homes, even if they wanted to pay for it. The government wants us to watch such goodies as Corner Gas and the God awful Rick Mercer.

I had discovered HBO when I was in Mexico in the late 90's.

Albeit it's called 'HBO Canada'... And you can't get it as a single channel, only as part of a premium pay package like The Movie Network or Movie Central... And it's required to comply with federal CanCon regulations and devote 25% of overall air time, and 35% of prime time, to Canadian content...

But they promise the schedule will include the full HBO lineup.

So far I'm not dissappointed. We spent Saturday afternoon watching four back-to-back episodes of Real Time With Bill Maher. Great show for the most part. Like the old Politically Incorrect show it's a mixture of pundits, intellectuals and clueless celebrities. (Where else can you see Salman Rushdie trying to make a point and cut off by Hollywood flake and conspiracy theorist Janeane Garofalo.) Maher himself is out there in certain aspects. He thinks the USA is down the toilet. "We don't manufacture anything anymore." He thinks there are too many rich people taking money away from poor people. I find myself shouting at the screen: the fact that Bill Gates has $60 billion doesn't take food out of the mouths of orphans... Anyway. Any show that has you shouting at the screen means you are engaged. (Again, why did the Canadian government block me from watching this?)

Best quote from the block we watched was from Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman. (Editors note: I usually hate Kruggie. Also, I'm paraphrasing, I didn't write down the exact quote.) "We buy lead poison laden toys from China and in return they buy fraud securities from us."

For plain fun, I thought this clip was funny Palin - Mommy & Me. (Keeping in mind that now that I'm not drinking Republican kool-aid, I can enjoy this joke.) This episode aired right after McCain announced Palin as his running mate, so this is joke is a bit old now. And of course it's pre-Tina Fey.