[calamity]

Jeez Stayed.  Don't hold back.

I wouldn't be too holier-than-thou.  There's a lot of racism [against first nations and Indians] in Canada.  And lots of that rural poverty that no-one sees.  And that progressive modern invention, the food bank.

The US is very different as so much of the power is in the hands of state and local governments.  Also isn't the population of Canada the same as California?

But yeah, they say, if the US sneezes Canada gets a cold.

[MyBrainIsBroken]

I may be mistaken but isn't there a bit of conflict between the Quebecois and most of the rest of Canada?

Quebec is one of my favorite provinces. My wife and I stayed overnight at Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City a couple of times. Those were great trips. I love that city.

[Roma]

So just got home from my Library job and was talking w/ a co worker about my awful experience last night working at the polls and couldn't quite get why the other poll workers were being so nasty to me. And then it hit me.

Trump kept saying the election was 'rigged' against him. I realize now they were doing all they could to keep me away from the votes, assuming I voted for Hillary and maybe was going to 'rig' the votes.

Racism would be nice if it weren't so covert, yet geeze. I had no idea what was going on! How could I 'rig' votes anyway? lol

I often get mistaken what race I am. What and who do they think I am? Why couldn't I just enjoy the democratic process and not give a damn who people voted for? I sent in my ballot weeks ago, and neither Trump nor Clinton was who I chose.

Oh. I completely forgot most people assume incorrectly I am Latina when I don't have a drop in me. lol

Trump instilled FEAR into people of everyone!

Turned on the news when I got in and see protests all over the country. sigh, this is going to be a very long dreaded four years

Just may start inquiring about moving to another country to get away from the madness that was just elected.

[xyzcf]

Stayed stated:

Whatever!  Your country's in trouble.  It has been exposed for what it is truly like. It is ROTTEN at it's core.  I am so glad I do not live in such a $hit hole!  I wish I could get further away from it cause the stink is really bad and I live in terror that whatever disease you have, it will spread to Canada.

I lived in Canada for 50 years. I grew up in Quebec as an anglophone and lived through the FLQ crisis as well as several terms of the Parti Quebecois.

I have lived in the United States of America for 13 years. I lived in Pennsylvania and Colorado and have travelled to many other states. But most importantly I have lived here and so I have reason to be able to say what I am about to say.

The United States of America is a wonderful country. It is not "rotten to the core" nor is it a "$hit hole". It has it's problems like other countries do, there are both good and bad people here as there are all over the world.

Living in the United States of America, becoming a US citizen has been one of the best experiences in my life. The American people that I have encountered living here for 13 years have been generous, passionate about what they believe in, kind hearted and caring. I have never felt unsafe, I have never encountered anyone who would make a statement like the one above about my birth country Canada.

This is what breeds hatred folks. The inability to accept differences among nations. Yes, there are differences between the two countries just as there are great differences in Canada between the French and the English, someone from the east coast compared to someone from the west. That doesn't make one "better" or "worse" than the other.

To make a blanket statement about the United States of America, especially when you have never lived here is bigotry at it's best.

I am not happy with the election results but I am still grateful to live in a democracy.

God Bless the United States of America!

[stayed]

Quebec is lovely! I particularly love Quebec City, where you stayed.  Also, we have had ongoing issues with Quebec, they have their own party....Bloc Québécois.  Quebec has tried to separate more then once.  We even had the Bloc as the minority government for quite a few years.  We got through it. 

Canada has 3 main parties, two that actually jockey back and forth in power... but we have a 3rd party that keeps us honest and more socialist then perhaps some would like.  Not to mention, all kinds of other parties.   Our parties select their leader of their parties and then when we vote for our jurisdiction, the leader of the party with the most nominations becomes the Prime Minister. 

Believe me Calamity I am very aware of our Native peoples issues.  I lived in the west for a good many years and we have a reservation nearby to my hometown.  Canada is far from perfect.  There have been many mistakes made with our Native People and trying to correct it always seems to involve "throwing money" at them, which is gratefully enjoyed at the time but sadly doesn't really help them.  Band aid solutions... the world is guilty of those type of solutions. 

Still, it's pretty nice here.  Our weather is lovely, the scenery is pretty spectacular across the entire country, even the prairies.  I'd rather live here then anywhere else and I have lived in quite a few places. 

I'm delighted you love the United States Xyz. I am even more delighted you are becoming a citizen.  Funny, I thought you grew up in Whitby, Ontario... guess I got that wrong!  Not that it matters.  Enjoy your new country... but I'll stay here in mine! 

Hugs Stayed
 is

[MyBrainIsBroken]

Well said, xyz. Especially for an immigrant.

The USA has no monopoly on intolerance and bigotry but, although I've traveled extensively in Canada, I had never experienced it from a Canadian. This has been quite a day.

[stayed]

I lived in Virginia for two long years.  I saw and heard so many racial comments, pretty much on a daily bases.  If it wasn't about the black neighbourhood that you had to go through to get to the golf course it was rude comments about the "white trash" that lived over in the trailer park or up the mountain. 

I have never felt very safe in the states, so I don't go there, unless I have to.  Way too many guns for me!

I haven't heard or seen any racial comments in Canada, ever actually, but I heard today on the news that there was some racial slurs being tossed around.  Here where I live... nothing like that.  Or in Ottawa.  Heck, I haven't even heard any comments about the French / English slurs, that actually do occur in Ottawa quite often.  On both sides actually, although I haven't heard any at all in this entire year, since we retired and returned home.

There were some really bad days with Quebec, Prime Minister actually the War Measures Act in 1970 the October Crisis.  In 1970, members of the FLQ kidnapped British diplomat James Cross and Quebec provincial cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, who was later murdered, raised fears in Canada of a militant terrorist faction rising up against the government. 

So, we have had our issues.  We've also had issues with our Native Peoples in Quebec.  The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted until September 26, 1990.  A land dispute between the Mohawk Tribe and a town that wanted to build a golf course.  The Native People claimed it was a sacred burial grounds.  One person was killed, big dispute over who shot him.  Some claimed it was a police bullets, the police claim it was a Native persons bullet. 

Canada is not Nirvana, but at least marijuana should be legalized within the next year or so, plus we now can buy beer and wine in our grocery stores. Progress or what eh?

Hugs Stayed

[UrsaMajor]

This article says what a lot of us are feeling I believe (NOT just US Americans, even those ex-pats like me)

http://johnpavlovitz.com/2016/11/09/heres-why-we-grieve-today/

I commented that it was the TONE of the campaign, the harsh and ugly Election Rhetoric that was the problem... The statements that Trump made AFTER the election
are a total departure of the potty-mouth antics of the election because, well, let's face it, he got himself splattered into the media every single day for 16 months by
saying something inflammatory.... When one looks at his real record, he is actually more liberal than Clinton in areas of free-trade and business (or at least he was)

Unfortunately words and ICBMs have things in common: Once they are shot off, you can not get them back and when they strike, it makes one he|| of a mess.... The hate, bigotry and all the rest of the ills have been loosed from Pandora's Box in this campaign and the results of the vote show that those who voted for Trump followed his line of rhetoric. Does he actually THINK that way? Only time will tell but the box has been opened and the ills have been released into the world.

The real question is whether or not the world can find its way back to grace and away from hatred, bigotry, and all the other "'isms" that were spouted in the campaign, whether or not we allow our basest primordial instincts to rule us as men and women of violence or whether we can find our way back to civilized (note I do NOT say Politically correct) discourse and critical thinking.....

[Thunder]

UM,

That article is EXACTLY why people here are grieving.
Thank you for posting it.   

[CallanG]

As I watched the news yesterday , I could understand how some of you in the US were feeling . I had that feeling the morning after the UK voted out of Europe . We sat in our office the next morning and we were all stunned at the result .

We sat like that again yesterday because I don't think any of us thought that Trump would actually get in . We have had extensive coverage of the US Election on our TV for months and months and we are still having it this morning . One thing I noticed was that a lot of our new anchors seemed shocked to be announcing the results !!!

I like what Obama had said about whatever the result the sun would come up the next day , someone said something very similar over Brexit and they are right it did . It seems that both the US and the UK has some interesting and challenging times ahead .

Callan