Canadians Quotes

Over the past several years, all of us as Canadians, and as members of the North American cultural and economic environment, have been to a greater or lesser extent party to a significant attitudinal change towards our culture. ~ Alex Campbell

I love Canadians. I think we make an impact around the world just when people meet us, and whenever I meet another Canadian, I see it as well. ~ Kiesza

Canadians tend to be a bit more religious than most Europeans - though not more than the Poles or Ukrainians. Most important, their attitude to immigration and ethnic minorities is more positive than that of most Europeans. ~ Timothy Garton Ash

You can't help noticing that since abandoning its faith in the unseen world Europe seems also to have lost its faith in the seen one. Consider this poll taken in 2002 for the first anniversary of September 11: 61 percent of Americans said they were optimistic about the future, as opposed to 43 percent of Canadians, 42 percent of Britons, 29 percent of the French, 23 percent of Russians, and 15 percent of Germans. I wouldn't reckon those numbers will get any cheerier over the years. ~ Mark Steyn

Irony is the disparity between what you expect will happen, and what does happen. So raining on your wedding day isn't ironic, it's just crappy. It would have been ironic if she had lived in a place like Seattle, and traveled to the desert of Mexico for a wedding and it ended up raining there, but not in Seattle. Alanis always gets the last laugh though. We all sit here, saying her song isn't ironic, but in fact, that's pretty ironic that she wrote a song called Ironic that wasn't really ironic. Those Canadians are pretty crafty. ~ Mo Rocca

One of the most helpful things I introduced (and of very considerable consequence to Canadians) was my ultimate success in persuading my colleagues (after continuing battle)to reduce the qualifying age for aged pensioners from seventy to sixty-five over a five year period. ~ Judy LaMarsh

Canadians send us great hockey players. You also send us wonderful performers, from the beginning, with Mary Pickford. ~ Jamie Farr

If I am to be known for anything, I would like it to be for encouraging Canadians, for knowing a little bit about their daily, extraordinary courage. And for wanting that courage to be recognized. ~ Romeo LeBlanc

I love Canadians. They are the coolest, nicest, most patriotic people, and they will support their countrymen no matter what, and I think that's commendable. ~ Ronda Rousey

I think that Canadians have an incredible reverence for authority and regard for authority, and I think one of the healthy ways that it's challenged is through questioning it, through the polite hostility of comedy. ~ Lorne Michaels

Remember the referendum on the Charlottetown constitutional accord? The more Canada's political and business elites threatened Canadians that the country would disappear into a black hole if the accord weren't passed, the more Canadians opposed it. ~ Preston Manning

Why, so soon as French Canadians, who are in a minority in this House and in the country, were to organise as a political party, they would compel the majority to organise as a political party, and the result must be disastrous to themselves. ~ Wilfrid Laurier

Canadians look down on the United States and consider it Hell. They are right to do so. Canada is to the United States what, in Dante's scheme, Limbo is to Hell. ~ Irving Layton

So having a little more of an awareness of what's going on in the rest of the world I think is what many Canadians would hope for Americans. ~ Justin Trudeau

Canadians know that our difficulties will not be resolved overnight. They are tired of politicians who pretend they will be. ~ Kim Campbell

John Kenneth Galbraith and Marshall McLuhan are the two greatest modern Canadians that the U.S. has produced. ~ Anthony Burgess

Lyme disease is preventable, but only if Canadians have the information they need to prevent it. ~ Vanessa Farnsworth

For dash and gallantry the bloodthirsty Scots, Australians and Canadians led the way, with the impetuous Irish close behind. The Australian to my mind were the most aggressive, and managed to keep their form in spite of their questionable discipline. Out of the line they were undoubtedly difficult to handle, but once in it they loved a fight. They were a curious mixture of toughness and sentimentality ... ~ Adrian Carton De Wiart

I am so excited about Canadians ruling the world. ~ John Diefenbaker

But most Canadians have recognized to a greater or lesser extent that despite much of the so-called progress of the affluent society, essential ingredients to a meaningful life seem to be either entirely lacking, or at best, difficult to grasp. ~ Alex Campbell

Canadians complain too much. 'I like seasons.' So do I; that's why I live in a place that skips the [unpleasant] ones. ~ Daniel Tosh

Canadians want a country. They don't want a community of communities. I'm committed to the national unity of the country. ~ Michael Ignatieff

I found Toronto an immensely likeable city, spacious and gentle and slightly dignified, but in a low-key, friendly way. The only people who didn't seem to think much of it were its inhabitants, who could hardly wait for you to ask directions, because that gave them the perfect opportunity to apologise for it. What they were apologising for I never understood. I think they felt uninteresting, compared with America. I took the opposite view; I remember reading about the doctrine of American "Exceptionalism" and thinking that what I liked so much about Canadians was that they consider themselves unexceptional. This modest, unthreatening attitude seems to produce a nation that is stable, safe, decent and well respected. It's just a shame that for seven months of the year it's so cold that only Canadians would put up with it. ~ John Cleese

It took him forever to get to downtown Vancouver although Tony had to admit that saving the world by public transportation was a particularly Canadian way to do things. ~ Tanya Huff

Canadians can easily 'pass for American' as long as we don't accidentally use metric measurements or apologize when hit by a car. ~ Douglas Coupland

Canadians are friends and Quebecers are my family. What France knows deep down is that within this great Canadian people, there is a Quebec nation. I do not see how proving my family, brotherly love for Quebec should be strengthened by defying Canada. ~ Nicolas Sarkozy

I am an English-speaking Canadian, but my entire family - Russian exiles and the Canadians they married - is buried in Quebec, and if Quebec were to separate, I would feel I had been cut in two. ~ Michael Ignatieff

I've seen an increasing willingness to hire Canadians for lead roles that shoot up here. When I started, they would always just fly in L.A. people to do the lead roles. ~ Brandon Jay McLaren

Yeah, I was born in Montreal and I go back to Vancouver and Toronto a lot, so I have a sense of being Canadian, and I was raised by two Canadians, and my wife is Canadian, so yeah, I feel it. ~ Jason Reitman

There is no greater honour than to serve Canadians. ~ Kim Campbell

Canadians still spend so much time discussing what it means to be Canadian. ~ Dave Foley

We're always flexible and pragmatic ... It's always important to watch the unemployment rate and to make sure that we can keep most Canadians working. We were successful in that back in 2008-09. ~ Jim Flaherty

I trust Canadians' capacity to determine who will sit in their Parliament. ~ Justin Trudeau

Canadians are often a friendly bunch. ~ Henry Rollins

An increasing number of Canadians must juggle the demands of work with the need to care for children, or for family members who are ill or too frail to care for themselves. Our programs have simply not kept pace with these societal changes. ~ Kim Campbell

The final word on nutrition and health has been revealed. Compared to Americans, Brits, and Canadians, people of various nationalities suffer fewer heart attacks: the Japanese eat very little fat; Mexicans eat a lot of fat; the Chinese drink very little red wine; Italians drink a lot of red wine; Germans consume a lot of beer, sausages, and fats; Ukrainians consume a lot of vodka, pierogis, and cabbage rolls. And all suffer fewer heart attacks. Conclusion: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you. ~ Bill Brohaugh

Through our government's updated science, technology and innovation strategy, we are making the record investments necessary to push the boundaries of knowledge, create jobs and opportunities, and improve the quality of life of Canadians. Our government's Canada Research Chairs Program develops, attracts and retains top talent researchers in Canada whose research, in turn, creates long-term social and economic benefits while training the next generation of students and researchers in Canada. ~ Ed Holder

The Canadians have managed to live peacefully with their Indians. It is disgrace that the United States has not done the same. ~ Stephen Ambrose

In the welter of statistics about selected ethnic origins (singular or multiple) in the last census, one finding was often overlooked. Of the 25,309,330 people living in Canada in 1986, only 69,065 declared themselves as Canadians. ~ Charlotte Gray

I view the relationship with Canada as a vital relationship for the United States. The relationship, of course, is defined government-to-government. It's also defined people-to-people, and there's a lot of people in my country who respect Canada and have great relations with Canadians, and we intend to keep it that way. ~ George W. Bush

I do dead Canadians. If he's dead and he's Canadian and he's famous, I'll be playing him at some point. ~ Colm Feore

Yeah, we're sweet but savage, and I think a lot of Canadians are that way. ~ Bruce McCulloch

To Canadians, everyone is equal. Joni Mitchell is interchangeable with a secretary at open-mic night. Frank Gehry is no greater than a hack pumping out McMansions on AutoCAD. John Candy is no funnier than Uncle Lou when he gets a couple of beers in him. No wonder the only Canadians anyone's ever heard of are the ones who have gotten the hell out. Anyone with talent who stayed would be flattened under an avalanche of equality. ~ Maria Semple

Most Americans don't understand Canadian political parties. Neither do most Canadians ~ Eric Nicol

Don't underestimate the Canadians, I always say. They seem all nice and polite and apologetic, but when it comes right down to it, they're survivors. ~ Karen McQuestion

That's something USA Hockey has been trying to do for a long time is prove that we can play with the Canadians and the Russians and the Swedes and Finns consistently on a tournament basis. ~ Patrick Kane

Canadians are so easily wounded. ~ Tucker Carlson

The movement to join Washington had a substantial following in the 1850s, centred in Montreal...It faced considerable resistance, though - in part because the United States was having one of its periodic convulsions of nativist politics and a furious debate over the slave trade. In fact, the U.S.-annexation movement would receive its final rebuff not from colonial-minded Canadians but from the Confederate states, who feared that the addition of the British North American colonies to the 31 states would tip the political balance of power away from slavery. ~ Doug Saunders

The Leader of the Opposition's constitutional obligation - the obligation to Parliament - it's the reason we did the merger! - is to make sure Canadians have an alternative for government. ~ Stephen Harper

Canadians are fond of a good disaster, especially if it has ice, water, or snow in it. You thought the national flag was about a leaf, didn't you? Look harder. It's where someone got axed in the snow. ~ Margaret Atwood

Our special task, as French Canadians, is to insert into America the spirit of Christian France. ~ Henri Bourassa

The stable funding announced today will allow Special Olympics to grow and benefit an increasing number of Canadians. I am proud that our Government is committed to providing opportunities for Canadians of all ages and all abilities to engage in sport and physical activity and to enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle. ~ Jim Flaherty

I'm English and I am British. I don't know if I feel part of a music scene. Musically, I have as many feelings and affinity with Americans or Canadians, or all sorts of people as I do with English people. ~ David Gilmour

But Americans are different from everyone else in the world - except the Canadians, and Americans are more different from the Canadians than they often think. ~ William Pfaff

Politicians detest self-sufficient citizens. Politicians need to be needed. When we get socialized medicine, you will be completely dependent upon politicians for your medical care, as Canadians are today. That's why if you need an MRI in Canada, you have to wait three months - unless you pay certain kinds of homage to the right politicians. ~ Neal Boortz

What's that?"
"My friend St. Clair bought it for me. So I wouldn't feel out of place."
She raises her eyebrows as she pulls back onto the road. "Are there a lot of Canadians in Paris?"
My face warms. "I just felt,you know, stupid for a while. Like one of those lame American tourists with the white sneakers and the cameras around their necks? So he bought it for me, so I wouldn't feel....embarrassed. American."
"Being American is nothing to be ashamed of," she snaps.
"God,Mom,I know.I just meant-forget it."
"Is this the English boy with the French father?"
"What does that have anything to do with it?" I'm angry. I don't like what she's implying. "Besides,he's American. He was born here? His mom lives in San Francisco. We sat next to each other on the plane."
We stop at a red light.Mom stares at me. "You like him."
"OH GOD,MOM."
"You do.You like this boy."
"He's just a friend.He has a girlfriend."
"Anna has a boooy-friend," Seany chants.
"I do not!"
"ANNA HAS A BOOOY-FRIEND!"
I take a sip of coffee and choke. It's disgusting. It's sludge. No, it's worse than sludge-at least sludge is organic. Seany is still taunting me. Mom reaches around and grabs his legs,which are kicking her seat again.She sees me making a face at my drink.
"My,my. Once semester in France, and suddenly we're Miss Sophisticated. Your father will be thrilled."
Like it was my choice! Like I asked to go to Paris! And how dare s ~ Stephanie Perkins

Canadians shouldn't come down to Southern California and take jobs away from Mexicans. ~ Stanley Ralph Ross

Canada join the United States? Where would young Canadians run off to for adventure? Where would Americans run to escape? ~ Peter Jennings

It 's the time of year when Canadians mate. ~ Craig Ferguson

Canadians are very proud of me, of my career. ~ Karen Kain

To me it's very obvious there are huge cultural differences between Americans and Canadians. But a lot of what we are is American. ~ David Cronenberg

For years, "Sorry, I don't speak French" has been the reflexive response of English-speaking Canadians to a request, a comment, or a greeting in the other official language. Part apology, part defiance, it is a declaration of the otherness. That is not me. I don't do that. The language barrier is her, at this counter, now. ~ Graham Fraser

Canadians are more polite when they are being rude than Americans are when they are being friendly. ~ Edgar Friedenberg

Tommy looked blank. "What's a flashlight?"
"You don't have flashlights?" Jessup said. "Jeeze! A cylinder, like, with batteries inside it, and a light bulb behind glass at one end
"
Tommy's blue eyes glinted dangerously. "We have a thing in Scotland that's a cylinder too. Very thin, made of wood, with graphite in the center. We call it a pencil."
Jessup hooted. "You think we don't have pencils?"
"You think we don't have flashlights?" Tommy snapped. "That's just American dialect. In the English language they're called torches."
Emily said mildly, "Actually we're Canadians. ~ Susan Cooper

Many people object to "wasting money in space" yet have no idea how much is actually spent on space exploration. The CSA's budget, for instance, is less than the amount Canadians spend on Halloween candy every year, and most of it goes toward things like developing telecommunications satellites and radar systems to provide data for weather and air quality forecasts, environmental monitoring and climate change studies. Similarly, NASA's budget is not spent in space but right here on Earth, where it's invested in American businesses and universities, and where it also pays dividends, creating new jobs, new technologies and even whole new industries. ~ Chris Hadfield

I think Canadians, they may be offended that I pointed out that they're stalking us. But at least we're paying attention. ~ Tucker Carlson

Canadians can get Parliament working again. Here's how to do that: elect more New Democrats. ~ Jack Layton

Our government is committed to investing in world-class research networks such as GlycoNet, which will develop new drugs and vaccines to fight diseases that affect millions of Canadians. These investments will improve our quality of life and contribute to the creation of a stronger, more innovative economy and a more prosperous Canada. ~ Rona Ambrose

The Americans called theirs the Officers Club but the Canadians called ours the Officers Mess. The American term was the more honest; ours the more accurate. Drunken officers at play are messy. ~ R.J. Childerhose

Smart Risk will shatter the emotional myths to investing and help Canadians see the opportunities in today's volatile market. ~ Maili Wong

Canadians know that the promise of a recession didn't happen because of anything we did here. If you look at all the causes of the recession, problems in mortgage markets, the problems in the banking sector, the problems in government finance in countries like Greece, none of those problems were in present Canada. ~ Stephen Harper

I think it's just a coincidence that the North American teams are out. Most of us here have been playing in North America for a long time. Our knowledge of the big ice has been world championships here and there, same for the Canadians and the Americans. I don't see it as an advantage. ~ Daniel Alfredsson

Canadians have this weird way about them where we really stick together. ~ Estella Warren

I think first and foremost everybody should understand that Canadians are strongly committed to the system of universal health insurance, to the principle that your ability to pay does not determine your access to critical medical service. ~ Stephen Harper

So what killed him?" Virgil asked. "I'm thinking aliens."

You mean like, Canadians? ~ John Sandford

OPEC stopped exporting oil in early November, the Canadians followed suit a couple of weeks later, and that was it. The Department of Energy opened the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on January 15, along with strictly enforced price controls, and everybody had gas for about nine days, and then they didn't anymore. ~ Ben H. Winters

Deficit reduction is not an end in itself. It is the means to an end. Canadians must now decide what kind of country they want to build with the hard-won dividend. ~ Jean Chretien

Baseball in Canada is like soccer in the U.S. It is growing, and some people are starting to gain interest. The way that there are Americans playing high-level soccer, there are Canadians breaking into the Major Leagues. ~ Joey Votto

Of course," Armand was saying to Simon, "you know that it was an American, like yourself, who nearly ruined the wine-making in France?" "We're Canadians." "But that is the same thing, surely? ~ Susanna Kearsley

Currently, without scientific evidence demonstrating safety or effectiveness, we continue to urge Canadians against the use of these e-cigarettes. We have heard that e-cigarettes may be a gateway for teens to begin smoking, while also having the potential to serve as a smoking cessation tool. Today, I am asking the Standing Committee on Health to undertake a thorough study on e-cigarettes and provide a report. ~ Rona Ambrose

Once Canadians no longer believe that there is any good in politics, they no longer feel we can work together to solve the challenges we're facing, and that is my fundamental motivation: how do we work together as a country to solve the big challenges we're facing. ~ Justin Trudeau

Canadians are the people who learned to live without the bold accents of the natural ego-trippers of other lands. ~ Marshall McLuhan

I read in a newspaper that I was to be received with all the honors customarily rendered to a foreign ruler. I am grateful for the honors; but something within me rebelled at that word 'foreign'. I say this because when I have been in Canada, I have never heard a Canadian refer to an American as a 'foreigner'. He is just an 'American'. And, in the same way, in the United States, Canadians are not 'foreigners', they are 'Canadians'. That simple little distinction illustrates to me better than anything else the relationship between our two countries. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Every time I'm in Canada I feel more Swedish, and every time I'm in Sweden I feel more Canadian. I belong in both places and I love them both equally. It's funny because the Swedes claim me as their Swedish pride and the Canadians call me their Canadian girl. I'll take it all. ~ Malin Akerman

If America was trying to keep the bubonic plague out of its hemisphere, Canadians would import it just to show their independence of American foreign policy. ~ Barbara Amiel

Those two don't like anyone except each other. Canadians are weird. ~ Lisa M. Stasse

Compared to Americans, Canadians are often more gentle in their approach to things. They're much more apologetic. There's less room for conflict. ~ Joseph Boyden

I would also argue ... that we are, by inclination and in terms of our history, we are small 'l' liberals, we Canadians. ~ Dalton McGuinty

Because we remain a land of hope and opportunity, and new Canadians see in our unfinished destiny an image of their own unfinished destines. ~ Michael Ignatieff

I think Canadians want to get a feel for the people who will serve them ... and, for me, I think that Canadians will trust people who trust them. ~ Justin Trudeau

I love Canadians because I don't see very much racism in Canada. ~ Patti LaBelle

Through Economic Action Plan 2015, our Government will continue to help create jobs, encourage skills development and balance the budget in 2015. I look forward to hearing Canadians' ideas on what we can do to further support and grow the economy for the benefit of all Canadians. ~ Kevin Sorenson

The media response to unusual weather is as ritualized and predictable as the stages of grief. First comes denial: "I can't believe there's so much snow." Then anger: "Why can't I drive my car, why are the trains not running?" Then blame: "Why haven't the local authorities sanded the roads, where are the snowplows, and how come the Canadians can deal with this and we can't?" This last stage goes on the longest and tends to trail off into a mumbled grumbling moan, enlivened by occasional ILLEGALS ATE MY SNOWPLOW headlines from the *Daily Mail ... * ~ Ben Aaronovitch

Like 84% of Canadians, I believe in God. ~ Stockwell Day

You hear stories like that of Canadians trying to get in, but when you go back home, you don't expect that. ~ Caroline Dhavernas

I think I have been perfectly clear in saying that I hope Canadians do elect a majority government. I think this cycle of election after election, minority after minority is beginning to put some of the country's interests in serious jeopardy. ~ Stephen Harper

While it is entirely untrue that Canadians lack a sense of humour, the funniest ones tend to head south: Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, Michael J. Fox. ~ Simon Hoggart

I am impressed by the positive and insightful feedback we have received from Canadians across the country and again this morning in Brampton. The input received during the pre-budget consultation process is invaluable to our Government, as we move forward in keeping Canada's economy strong. That means keeping taxes low while investing in programs and services that are important to Canadians and their families. ~ Kevin Sorenson

But most Canadians, like most Americans, have a shockingly poor grasp of their own history. Dates, people, the large and small nuances of events have all been reduced to the form and content of Classic Comics. This isn't a complaint. It's an acknowledgment that people are busy with other things and generally glance at the past only on holidays. Given our hectic schedules, the least I can do is to provide a little historical background so no one will feel left out when our story gets complicated. ~ Thomas King

I trust Canadians to be able to look at the different parties, the different leaders, the plans, the teams, and make a responsible choice. And I'm very, very confident that's exactly what Canadians are going to do. ~ Justin Trudeau