Seminole - Here is the summary of the report you are looking for :-
"Here's the reality; Canada has the highest proportion of educated people among the 30 countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which makes us the worlds best educated nation (or the galaxy's best). Our cities are super clean, and have no inner city poverty like every major US city does (projects and ghettos). blah, blah. ......."
To that I say, then why does Wayne Gretzky live in the US? Maybe, thanks to the higher literacy rate, he was able to read the writing on the wall "Canada sucks".
Thanks for the link! It sounds like Canada definitely needs to work on their ignorance level. That comes with education though, and we know the level of education of half the adult Canadian population has, based on those sources.
Quoted from your link, you forgot to mention;
On the prose literacy scale, Canada ranked 5th among the 20 countries surveyed, behind Sweden, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands.
On the document and quantitative literacy scales, Canada was closer to the middle of the pack, ranking 8th and 9th respectively.
Canada consistently outranked the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand on all three literacy scales.
Canada was second only to Sweden in terms of the proportion of adults aged 16 to 65 at the very highest literacy levels.
Also, we’re still the the most educated nation on earth.
There is a difference between illiteracy and ignorance. Here are some examples. Many of our new clients from the States visit our head office in Montreal for the first time. These are IT professionals, born and raised in the US and are between the ages of 25 - 40 on the most part. These are clients from North Eastern US, Midwest, California usually. Half of these folks are surprised as they come off the plane in the middle of summer to discover that it’s over 90F. Some even brought winter coats with them to “prepare” themselves. They are surprised to see that Canada is not a barren wasteland with Moose freely walking around igloo villages. Many would bring camera’s with them so they can take pictures of this barren land. After some work, we proceed to take them downtown for a night out, and to their surprise, Canada has metropolitain cities with skyscrapers, and the people aren’t Inuit or British. They’re even more pleasantly surprised by the beauty of our women, but that’s another story. I can go on with the questions I"ve been asked from these folks. To top it off, these are educated people, our neighbours to the south. I’ll say it again, it’s sad that many Americans think the world ends at their borders.
Although we have one of the highest levels of literacy, even our illiterate people are not ignorant about the world like these folks are.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Stu: *
To that I say, then why does Wayne Gretzky live in the US? Maybe, thanks to the higher literacy rate, he was able to read the writing on the wall "Canada sucks".
[/QUOTE]
He may live in the US, but you won't hear him call himself or his kids "American".
USA :k: I don’t care what ANYONE says.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Seminole: *
Thanks for the link! It sounds like Canada definitely needs to work on their ignorance level. That comes with education though, and we know the level of education of half the adult Canadian population has, based on those sources.
[/QUOTE]
There's a difference though, our illiterates at least know basic geography on the same continent. More than I can say for the US illiterates and many literates so it seems.
Arrogance not welcome on GS!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by CM: *
All the Americans that have won a Nobel prize have been immigrants from a system where the education has been solid and demanding.
[/QUOTE]
And America allowed for a Nobel prize for immigrant people.
Think about that for a moment.
Why did these Nobel prize winning people emmigrate?
America offered them opportunity that must have been lacking in their country of origin.
Majority of immigrants were the serfs, huermann, poor and landless people from all over the world.
With the exception of Native American's, all Americans are son's and daughters of immigrants.
We are Spanish, Portuguese, German, Austrian, Italian, Bosnian, Pakistani, Iraqi, Iranian, Egyptian, Irish, African, Asian, Brittish, Polish, Russian, Nigerian, etc....
IMHO ...
Holding prejudice of Americans = a bit of prejudice towards all.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
Spock,
To be honest, i find this Canada-bashing just a little trite. If you are so confident in your country's superiority over its northern neighbour, then live and let live. Why argue about it, and why bring it up on purpose, as was done in this thread, repeatedly. We are both arguing from our own personal biases. i daresay if i had spent as much time in the States as i have in Canada, and was carrying an American rather than Canadian passport, i'd feel the same way towards the US as you would. Let's just leave this issue because to each of us, our country of residence is immensely dear. Let's learn to respect the differences and move on so a more productive dialogue can take place.
**
You call it 'showing off' military superiority. i call it killing innocent civilians and, for what it is worth in the UN Charter, that is an illegal act. Nothing short, in my opinion, of violating a country's sovereignty. i hope no one honestly believes that the US govt. has made the citizens of its own country any safer, let alone the Middle Eastern (or Muslim) regions any more stable and less volatile. Truth is, the US admin. has done a marvellous job at ruining any post - 9-11 sentiment of unity; even France's Le Monde, on that day, had published a paper with the front headlines, "We are all Americans". Today, it seems, apart from Israel and Blair's London, no one wants to be allied with the Americans. Such unity, lost in such a short time - what a wasted opportunity i think.
[/QUOTE]
Whatever, even to non-americans like me, canadians are just too much into that inferiority complex... You guys are like americans without money ;)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Spock: *
You guys are like americans without money ;)
[/QUOTE]
No, we're nothing like Americans. We don't breed ignorance and racism. We don't think everything out of our borders is a third world country. We may not be the economic power that the US is, but at the same time, we dont' have the poverty that the US has. ;)
Whatever the case, education wise the US ranks way ahead any other country. All Canada has are two or three good universities (U of T, Waterloo, Mcmaster) and thats it, whereas in the US there are loads of excellent colleges. That explains why most students abroad choose to study in US rather than Canada. And please dont even compare the number of international students in the US to the number of international students in Canada.
2 or 3 good universities? Check out McGill University in Montreal. It’s filled with Americans. 
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fret Wizard: *
No, we're nothing like Americans. We don't breed ignorance and racism. We don't think everything out of our borders is a third world country. We may not be the economic power that the US is, but at the same time, we dont' have the poverty that the US has. ;)
[/QUOTE]
You hit THAT one on the head perfectly...you definitely are NOT the economic power that the US is so hush up right there.
;)
US rocks!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fret Wizard: *
There's a difference though, our illiterates at least know basic geography on the same continent. More than I can say for the US illiterates and many literates so it seems.
[/QUOTE]
You back pedal faster than a circus clown. You seem determined to belittle Americans. First using statistics to have "proof" that Americans are idiots. When that back fired you use lame generalizations to 'prove' your point. Why does it bother you that Americans are less aware of Canada then Canadians are of US? When there is whale in the same tank, it is only natural that it is the one getting the attention. Nothing you can do about -- just try not to get eaten, ride the wave, and enjoy.
Good one, Semi :k:
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Seminole: *
Why does it bother you that Americans are less aware of Canada then Canadians are of US?
[/QUOTE]
It doesn't bother me at all. Just proves their ignorance society. It's quite laughable actually.
You only WISH you lived in the US where large houses and many cars are so easy to achieve ;)
True story:
I was at college studying in the Library. Two Canadian members of the hockey team I knew were at the next table. There was some anguish about an upcoming report they would need to turn in regarding Germany. One was leafing through an encyclopedia, bemoaning the absence of any information about the country. I glimpsed the volume spine:
It was the "J" volume, you know, like J.e.r.m.a.n.y. Canucks! They are precious.
This idiotic Canadian fantasy of a northern Shangri-la!
I love Canada and many normal and thoughtful Canadians love their U.S. brethren.
It's really only the elitist lefty whiners who espouse this ridiculous notion of this great, peaceful, colorblind society.
Canada's multinationals behave like the multinationals of any country. They work for profit. Sometimes they do bad things. Like Talisman Oil. With the knowledge and support of the Canadian government, they perpetuated the obscenely destructive Sudanese Civil War-A "blood for oil" conflict that makes the Iraq conflict look like child's play.
They continue to export most of the third world's and Europe's asbestos. A slow genocide that may be responsible for a million deaths.
Canada wouldn't even be able to brag about her "virtues" were it not for the generous "contact-buzz" they get by being so fortuitously located.
Speaking of a buzz, Fret, take another pull on that doobie, try to hammer out a Hendrix-like version of the Star-Spangled Banner, mellow out and thank God your big brother to the South has made life oh-so livable for y'all up there. Yee-f'in-Ha!