Canada Questions!

[clean]

I find that I am ignorant about our Northern Neighbor.  It is probably not my fault.  AFter all, there is only one kind of weather, as all radar images stop at the border.  I can only attribute this to the place being covered with glaciers, and thus the weather is always "Cold".

So I am hoping to start this thread so that us 'Mericans can have a place ask questions about the Great White North above the 44 40 mark.

My first question is about the RCMP.  I have seen something (probably from the TV show Due South and the old circle vision theater in the Canadian exhibit in EPCOT) about the RCMP putting on a show with all of the horses and lances.  Is this a frequent event?  Where would one go to see such an event?  What details can you provide about it? 

[dr_codex]

You go to Ottawa. You can visit the stables, and stick around for the "Musical Ride". I haven't done it for about 20 years, but my spouse (also American) heard about it and had it on her Ottawa bucket list. A shortish list.

[Parasaurolophus]

What details can you provide about it?

Disney used to own the marketing rights to the Mountie. As of 2000, the RCMP is back in control.

[mamselle]

And they all sing like this:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n_bUSywN94

;--}

M.

[clean]

Is all of your money (coinage) magnetic?  My wallet has a magnet, and while in Canada I got a $2 coin and it stuck to the magnet.  I thought that was interesting and have kept it since!!  (And what benefit does magnetic coin money hold?)


Dollar coins in the US were never popular. Perhaps the worst example is the Susan B Anthony dollar.  It was too close to the size of a quarter and the same color.  Also the typical cash drawers dont seem to have a spot for the coins (or for $2 bills for that matter).  Any idea how  Canadians feel about the $1 and $2 coins ... are they extensively used?

[backatit]

They have lots better ice cream (or used to). When I was growing up in Northern Maine the big thing was to go over the border (which was easy back then) to get ice cream.

[Parasaurolophus]

Is all of your money (coinage) magnetic?  My wallet has a magnet, and while in Canada I got a $2 coin and it stuck to the magnet.  I thought that was interesting and have kept it since!!  (And what benefit does magnetic coin money hold?)

They're all made of steel with a coating (usually nickel, zinc, or copper), so... yes. They should all be at least ferromagnetic, and possibly properly magnetic, depending on the coating. No idea about the benefits--I rather imagine it's an incidental consequence of not using precious metals to make them.

Any idea how  Canadians feel about the $1 and $2 coins ... are they extensively used?

They're pretty extensively used, and you can pry them from our cold, dead hands. One of these days we'll add a foonie to the loonie and the toonie.

[Volhiker78]

Where do Canadians go for cheaper pharmaceutical drugs?

[traductio]

You go to Ottawa. You can visit the stables, and stick around for the "Musical Ride". I haven't done it for about 20 years, but my spouse (also American) heard about it and had it on her Ottawa bucket list. A shortish list.

As someone who lives in Ottawa (and really, really likes the city, to be honest), I find the idea of an Ottawa bucket list kind of amusing.

As for dollar and two-dollar coins, good luck finding bills. They're not in circulation at all any more, although I do get tired of all the change I get here. Like nearly everyone else, I typically just use my Interac card (a bank debit card) for everything.

[fourhats]

I'm in the US, and got a dollar coin in change the other day when I bought something. I hope it doesn't adhere to anything!

I used to live in the UK, and loved having pound and two pound coins instead of bills.

I also have lived in Canada. It's a country I like.

[Hibush]

Meghan and Harry may become part-time Canadians. How common is it for Canadians to be royalists?

Some part of Canadian identity must have to do with the monarchy being an essential difference from the southern neighbor. If the monarch's main role is to appear on coins, there isn't much cost to being a superficial royalist.

[Hibush]

dp

[spork]

Why is the food so much better in Canada?

[clean]

good luck finding bills.

What denominations do the bills come in?
somehow I am under the impression that the 'paper' currency is now plastic.  Is that true? 
IF I  understand correctly, the US 'paper' currency is not exactly paper, but more closely a type of linen. 

And What exactly is a Tim Hortons?  (Isnt that the national fast food chain?)

[Parasaurolophus]

Where do Canadians go for cheaper pharmaceutical drugs?

Nowhere, really. Our only land border is with the US, so there's nowhere to go. Rich people occasionally go overseas for medical treatment, but nobody's shipping off somewhere else to get drugs. Incidentally, the fact that Americans go to Canada for cheaper drugs drives up our costs, thank you very much.

Meghan and Harry may become part-time Canadians. How common is it for Canadians to be royalists?

Some part of Canadian identity must have to do with the monarchy being an essential difference from the southern neighbor. If the monarch's main role is to appear on coins, there isn't much cost to being a superficial royalist.

We're pretty divided, although my sense is that the anti-royalist side has gotten stronger over the last twenty or so years. When I was a kid, my impression was always that pretty much only Québec was anti-royalist, and the ROC (rest of Canada) was pro.

Why is the food so much better in Canada?

Dunno, but it's true.

What denominations do the bills come in?

5$ (for now!), 10$, 20$, 50$, 100$.

somehow I am under the impression that the 'paper' currency is now plastic.  Is that true? 
IF I  understand correctly, the US 'paper' currency is not exactly paper, but more closely a type of linen. 

Starting in 2011, we began converting our bank notes to a polymer substrate, yeah. As of 2013, they're all in circulation.

And What exactly is a Tim Hortons?  (Isnt that the national fast food chain?)

Coffee and doughnuts with a drive-thru, named after a famous and famously dead hockey player.