Canada

I am sure there are nice places, as I found out Toronto was okay and Niagara Falls was pretty good. However, too cold, no warm place and too much hockey obessed, but I guess USA has it's football.

fitman thanks for the compliment. Canada is a country I would move to if I wasn't already here, and here's why: I know this will sound preachy, but you can't help but think you're an amazingly lucky member of a very exclusive club when you are a Canadian citizen with all the benefits that confers upon you. Membership benefits include access to myriad social programmes including universal health care, Old Age Security, Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, Social Assistance, a public education system second to none, world-class universities, habeas corpus, rule-of-law, property rights, safe neighbourhoods, clean air and water, etc, etc… Whether by accident of birth or by immigration all this entitlement comes simply by virtue of citizenship, but is does not come free. We are highly taxed, but also it comes courtesy of our hard-working ancestors who built this country, and who made the necessary sacrifices so future generations could have these awesome advantages. Whatever vision ... Read more

Even the warm parts are too cold for me, but there are some smart people up there... Here's one: http://www.rateitall.com/aloo1974

A continuation of the United States and its plastic society, its politically correct bullshit, its materialistic ignorant society, its fat lazy prejudice people etc. Canada should be renamed Canadian United States of America . Canada is like Texas but a lot more cold!!!

Well if nothing else, moving to certain parts of Canada would be the easiest adjustment. When I was in Winnipeg I wouldn't have even known I was outside the U.S. if it wasn't for the metric system on speed limit signs, crosswalk signs I never did figure out, movie theater tickets that were actually reasonably priced, and the random stereotypical "eh".

Update: I hope my cousins Brenda and Sandra from Montreal are looking. 5 Stars !! Original: I love Canada. It's like the US but cleaner.

Look, would you rather have Zimbabwe or Venezuela as your next door neighbor. Granted, sometimes there are tensions between the US and Canada, but that shit happens. As for international affairs, nothing I've seen or heard strikes fear in my heart. They may have a somewhat different lifestyle than us here in the states, but all in all I'd have no problem visiting the country...in summer. I can't stand the cold in Mass. No friggin' way I'm heading to the frozen north in winter.

Hey, Canada is our friend and a damn good neighbor. My only concern is that if this Global Warming Theology is true, their permafrost could melt and the entire country would cave in to gravity and slide down over us. Frank? How does Omaha sound?

UPDATE: Helpful? You Americans won't think they're so helpful when they come pouring over the border, armed with bottles of maple syrup, hockey sticks, and toques. Faster than you can say beaver-tail, they'll have occupied your factory outlet stores, commandeered every shoddy RV, and turned Florida and Arizona into giant Canuckoid colonies. Pretty soon, the word "eh" will be mandatory in every sentence, and you'll be trying to figure how much of the color coded Monopoly money they use for currency it takes to buy a six pack of Molsons. Beware, its not to late to stop them... ORIGINAL: Given how much of our natural resources Americans use, I'd say Canada is pretty helpful to U.S. society. Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once described the relationship of Canada and the U.S. as that of a mouse and an elephant. When Brian Mulroney became prime minister he apparently decided that the best way to get the two countries closer together was to insert the mouse into the ele... Read more

Our neighbours to the north harmful? Helpful? I guess.

Where would we be without Canada? I would miss those exciting curling games on the tube.

A good neighbor. they put up with our loud rock music and uncut lawn and we put up with the constant beer bottes strewn around their yard. Its worked well for the past hundred years or so. But note to the Americans reading this, a little tip: they secretly hate us.

I know that I am one of the few (seemingly) who remembers a little event called 9/11, but I will never forget Fox and CNN showing the videos of Canadians- from all different parts of the nation- singing the American National Anthem on 9/12/2001. They have been with us since October of 01 in Afghanistan as well.

I have never been there personally though my brother has. He says they really hate Americans and that road rage is very bad. Ouch, and he was only in Windsor across from Detroit. They also don't have Liquor stores. However I like countries that are based off of British fundamentals and would like to go.

I don't see, in my books, how Canada can ever be hurtful to society. If anything, the good old U.S. of A. could take a few pointers from Canada.

Canada has us by our petrolium soaked gonads...and most goobers would never know where our biggest oil sources are coming from.

I want my baseball teams back.  And you will not get the Bills. . .

The only cases I can make against them are Celine Dion and Bryan Adams.

Seeing that Canada is our number one trade partner, and staunch ally for nearly 200 years, how could you consider that country hurtful to our society whatsoever?  Because you're a drooling rightwing sorehead who's bearing a grudge against that country because it wisely saw beforehand how the war in Iraq was a reckless mistake and ardently opposed it?  Grow up, kiddies.  You were wrong before the war started, wrong all along, and those of you who still think that disasterous fiasco is a noble effort that is promoting democracy and is in the best interest of our nation obviously have a turd where your brain should be.  Long live Canada, truly the only brother nation of the U.S. on this planet.

The last time I checked, beavers aren't going to invaid the States, anytime soon.

Extremely helpful to Canadian society, but by "helpful or hurtful to society" I assume the list is assessing U.S. society. In Canada we refer to our relationship with the U.S. as sleeping with an elephant. The U.S. is a good friend to be in bed with but God help us if she rolls over. The comic A. Whitney Brown was at a comedy festival in my hometown and he listed what is good about Canada. In addition to a high standard of living, relative safety in our streets, and affordable health care, he pointed out that we are protected by the greatest fighting force in the world - the United States Army.

i loved canada when i went there, its like america but cleaner

I heard their all gay

YEE! GO CANADA! haha <3

like to visit

ay, ay, ay- thats all i hear!

Growing up fairly close to Canada I really like it Toronto is a great city and western Canada has some great places too.

I've always thought of it as America meets Switzerland. I could be seriously mistaken... But how can we possibly give less than five stars to the country which spawned this:

Use to be better.

Only country I've been to besides USA

Born here.. definately staying here. Beautiful scenery.. peaceful, and our beer is WAY better.

I will move there if John Mccain wins as President! No questions I already live in NY so it wouldnt be a problem about the coldness.

Rules!!

Canada...eh! Too cold during the winter though, but a great country to visit.

This place is awesome. What other country has more unspoiled nature to discover? Their food is rather healthy, delicious and fairly priced...Somehow. they don't seem to think that frying everything is such a good idea... I found their art scene lively and canucks like to go out and have a good time...should I add that they are skilled beer drinkers too...Their politicians are lame but hey, at least they don't have Bush for president. Canadians do give a shit about a lot of things like peace and the environment and that's what's great about them. PEOPLE THERE ARE EDUCATED AND RESPECTFUL!

Seal clubbing, raw sewage pumping, sea polluting monsters...

Canada is the greatest country ever (Only because I was born there). But still it's good even from a different perspective. I mostly like it because (other than the fact I was born there) it doesn't have a lot of people (especially for its size), as well as the fact that I like smaller places without massive mobs of people (Not saying America has way too many people, and they should all get a life). But its mostly a small group of people who do nothing else than watch hockey and drink Molson Canadian (Just Kidding), but all in all I love it.

British Columbia and Ontario are solid places to live in. British Columbia in particular has some spectacular scenery and a very mellow vibe. Ontario is culturally well positioned between Michigan and New York. However, Canada, in its current incarnation, probably will cease to exist in 20 years because it is a weak confederation of very distinct provinces. NAFTA has only accelerated the reorientation of the provinces to their corresponding states e.g. British Columbia and Washington. Expect to see a political realignment of North America very soon.

Wow - the 51st state? obviously some don't even know our own history and how Canada originally owned Washington and much of Oregon until they gave it up when the border between us and Canada was decided. I have wonderful friends who are Canadian and have been there several times. As for the poster who commented on how Canada is cold? Uhm - ever been there during a prairie summer? Obviously not! To any Canadians up there - please ignore the ignorant people replying to this - we're not all like that.

I don't understand the animosity towards Canada. Canada has always been nothing but conciliatory to this country, despite having to play "little brother" to one of the biggest (and often most self-centered) country in the world. And it may be a bit biased, as I have relatives in Canada, but Canadians seem to be some of the nicest people around. Why, then, is Canada the victim of such bellicose rhetoric? Canada has had to put up with us for years and years. Despite all the arrogance this country sometimes shows towards non-Americans, Canada has always been our faithful ally - even when our country was clearly wrong. And for their loyalty and kindness, some Americans give their country one or two stars and talk about how Canada is lucky "not to have been taken over". We Americans would do well to jettison such undeserved arrogance. It's not "screw Canada", as some reveiwers have said - "screw you"!

Maybe- I'd have to see if I could take the winters.I've met lots of Canadians and they are fine people.I was there once,but it was a very long time ago and I'm sure it's very different now.I'm told they have a great night life there now.

Outside Europe, would be my first choice.

Living in Canada is hard to describe because we are often misunderstood. With experience living in both the USA and Canada, I can only say Americans especially are too quick to assume we are simply 'Not American' or 'America minus' this qualification or that qualification. Us, Canadians, spend alot of time differentiating ourselves from Americans, not because we necessarily hate Americans or we are 'jealous' but becuase we are often assumed to be the same when we are not - we are actually quite different, especially in our way of thinking and mentality. Any American / Canadian who actually immigrates and lives rather than visits either country, would learn that there are key cultural distinctions. These are some US/CANADA distinctions I've noticed: (1) Canadians tend to enjoy diverse cultural differences and encourage them. They tend to celebrate differing ethnicities and regard assimilation for immigrants as negative, especially in cities like Toronto/Montreal. (2) Canadian cult... Read more

in some words from South Park / Bigger, Longer and Uncut . . . . @#$%! CANADA ! ! ! There not even a real country anyway . . . thank you . .lol

How is Canada the #1 rated country? Canada is lucky that it's not America's 51st state! They get 2 extra stars for free health care.

I am Canadian so I will probably be lynched for this about my country. Clean, yes. Beautiful, yes. Safe, yes. Wannabe American, yes. While Canada tries to have an identity all to it's own, it will continue to emulate America. Why? Because that is all we see on television, movies, etc. I would rather watch Fox or NBC over the CBC any day. What show is good on there? "Canadian Idol" which is ripoff of "American Idol"? lol! It is a pretty boring country to be honest with you, and I live in what is supposed to be the entertainment capital of Canada, Toronto. All in all, it is okay as far as standard of living goes but I would rather live in the U.S. and will hopefully be moving there soon.

Canada is a very beautiful country. It has plenty of gorgeous mountains, ocean coast, and shrubbery. While it doesn't have the best weather in the world, it does have alot going for it in terms of culture. Being a fairly new country Canada has lots of immigrants from Asia and Europe, which give it a true east meets west feel. There is every type of recreation imaginable here and most likely will be at your backdoor (even in the big cities). The people here are very environmentally orientated and seem to care about the impact on the world. The people in general are friendly and relaxed and don't seem to stress about money or materials as much as Americans do, nor is there a huge urgency to always be the best (unless that is hockey of course). Cities are alot cleaner than American cities, and crime is very low in comparison. Canada has also invented alot of things but is more discrete about proclaiming them ie. basketball, Trivial Persuit, Greenpeace... While taxes are high here and job ... Read more

geo84 - you do realize that incomes average higher in blue states and that more federal government money gets spent per capita in red states while blue states pay more in taxes per capita? Basically, the red state lifestyle choices are subsidized by blue states. Not that this has anything to do with Canada per se.

Niagara Falls is very nice. Btw, the blue states are blue because of the big cities, where the ignorant, uneducated people live. The smart people live in the suburbs and smalltown USA, and reds love you guys too!

F**K THEM DAMN THEM PEACEFUL PEOPLES