Canadians Famous Quotes & Sayings
100 Canadians Famous Sayings, Quotes and Quotation.
I think I'd work on making sure that Canadians have opportunities to find good jobs, to grow, to gain stability in terms of pensions. The reality is that Canadians don't feel that our economy is working for us.— Justin Trudeau

The Canadian Identity, it seems, is truly elusive only at home. Beyond the borders Canadians know exactly who they are, within they see themselves as part of a family, a street, a neighbourhood, a community, a province , a region, and on special occasions like Canada Day and Grey Cup weekend and, of course, during the Winter Olympics, a country called Canada. Beyond the borders, they pine; within the borders, they more often whine— Roy MacGregor

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

The typical backpacker is unmarried, educated, but not yet on the career track. Among the backpackers, there are always a lot of young Europeans who work for a year or two at home, save their money, then travel until it runs out. Canadians and Australians are also backpack travelers; so are Israelis, taking a year off after serving in the army, and New Zealanders on their great "OE," overseas experience. There are Americans as well; but the Americans are usually on a tighter schedule, and I find them less friendly, at least to me.— Rita Golden Gelman

It was easy not to like the other foreigners. I wondered how I'd fallen in with such a band of freaks. There were so many odd, wandering types— Cullen Thomas
a host of bent Australians, warped British, tainted Canadians, tormented runaway Americans. (I considered myself fairly well balanced among this cast, but then look what became of me.) I'd expected it to a certain degree, but I was still surprised. Most of them seemed like misfits. Only a few content. But all of us found teaching work with astounding ease. It didn't matter that, on the whole, we were ragged and suspect because the demand for English in Korea was so great that almost anyone was accepted.

Cyberbullying is an issue that affects all of us and demands that Canadians work together to put an end to it. This national public awareness campaign is an important step in protecting our children online. Along with our government's introduction of Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, we are taking clear action to tackle cyberbullying.— Peter MacKay

This country must be governed, and can be governed, simply on questions of policy and administration and the French Canadians who have had any part in this movement have never had any other intention but to organise upon those party distinctions and upon no other.— Wilfrid Laurier

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

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

I think Canadians are tired of politicians that are spun and scripted within an inch of their life, people who are too afraid of what a focus group might say about one comment or a political opponent might try to twist out of context, to actually say much of anything at all.— Justin Trudeau

The zombies were like Canadians, in that they looked enough like real people at first, to fool you.— Kelly Link

As the years go by, the circle of the Ojibway gets bigger and bigger. Canadians of all colours and religion are entering that circle. You might feel that you have roots somewhere else, but in reality, you are right here with us. I do not know if you feel the throbbing of the land in your chest, and if you feel the bear is your brother with a spirit purer and stronger than yours, or if the elk is on a higher level of life than is man. You may not share the spiritual anguish as I see the earth ravaged by the stranger, but you can no longer escape my fate as the soil turns barren and the rivers poison. Much against my will, and probably yours, time and circumstance have put us together in the same circle. And so I come not to plead with you to save me from the monstrous stranger of capitalist greed and technology. I come to inform you that my danger is your danger too. My genocide is your genocide.— John Ralston Saul

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

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

The way you might fear a cow sitting down in the middle of the street during rush hour, that's how I fear Canadians.— Maria Semple

Canadians have been very generous toward Haiti after the earthquake and, thanks to you, our most vulnerable people have received food, drinkable water, shelter, medical care and education. For that, we are extremely grateful.— Laurent Lamothe

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

We have to change public perception of ex-convicts. Most Canadians don't realize that when you come out of prison, you're a complete pariah. You can't get a car loan or money from a bank to start a business. So most end up back in prison within 24 months. It's just so wrong. We need to fix this problem.— Kevin O'Leary

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

I've made the commitment to Canadians that I'm going to stay myself, and I'm going stay open about it, and I'm going to make sure that the thoughtfulness with which I approach issues continues to shine through.— Justin Trudeau

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'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

So you're a vampire, eh?"— Temple West
"'Eh'?" he asked.
"I've decided to turn Canadian."
"I thought you were dead."
"They don't have Canadians in heaven?"
"I've never met any.

Canadians should realise when they are well off under the Monarchy. For the vast majority of Canadians, being a Monarchy is probably the only form of government acceptable to them. I have always been for parliamentary democracy and I think the institution of Monarchy with the Queen heading it all has served Canada well.— Pierre Trudeau

Mostly this problem is contained in the fact that the US makes it so difficult for Canadians to get green cards (you heard it here), but if an American orchestra really wants a player, they have their ways.— Lara St. John

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

I was asked to speak about Canadian politics. It may not be true, but it's legendary that if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country. Which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians.— Stephen Harper

Canadians need to start thinking of themselves as a petrostate, and they need to start thinking of the kinds of controls needed to protect the country from the excesses of oil.— Andrew Nikiforuk

Yeah, you always have to be there and remind people of you. It's complicated when you do music, or when you do anything in general. You need time. I don't know if it's because of the weather or what, but [Canadians] seem to have a relationship to time that I like very much.— Lou Doillon

He says Canadians are scary.— Abigail Roux

I am the first prime minister of this country of neither English nor French origin. So I determined to bring about a Canadian citizenship that knew no hyphenated consideration ... I'm very happy to be able to say that in the House of Commons today in my party we have members of Italian, Dutch, German, Scandinavian, Chinese and Ukrainian origin and they are all Canadians.— John Diefenbaker

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

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

Canada will be a strong country when Canadians of all provinces feel at home in all parts of the country, and when they feel that all Canada belongs to them.— Pierre Trudeau

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

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

Representing Canada as a hockey player is always a tremendous honor, which also comes with a lot of responsibility. Being able to compete and win a gold medal on our home soil made it a once in a lifetime experience. Capping off the best ever performance by not only the Canadian athletes, but also Vancouver and all Canadians, made for an amazing Olympic experience.— Scott Niedermayer

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

I am very excited to accept the role of Honorary Patron with Hope Air because of the national scope of the organization and the very real impact they have on Canadians who need to travel to healthcare.— Rick Mercer

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 are the best, they're the best.— Brody Jenner

The vicious circle has been shattered. Canadians now enjoy the benefits of the virtuous circle.— Paul Martin

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

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

They are the largest collection of freshwater lakes in the world. They border eight U.S. states and the Canadian Providence of Ontario and at time have supplied water to one-third of Canadians and one-seventh of Americans. They're vaster than the entire New England region and define beachfront to many people who have never seen an ocean.— Susan Magsamen

Gay and Lesbian Canadians are entitled to equal treatment under law and are part of Canada's diversity.— Stephen Harper

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

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

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

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 tired of being cynical.— Justin Trudeau

I think that Scottish people, like Canadians, are often misunderstood and what I like about my Scottish friends and relatives is how quickly it can go from love to anger. It's a great dynamic.— Mike Myers

We must now establish the basic principles, the basic values and beliefs which hold us together as Canadians so that beyond our regional loyalties there is a way of life and a system of values which make us proud of the country that has given us such freedom and such immeasurable joy.— Pierre Trudeau

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

Trust the Canadians to produce a game about mutual funds that is actually more boring than the real thing.— Alex Berenson

Lets make it known that we don't want to give away our beautiful homeland to corporate interests. It is our right as Canadians to be part of these decisions. The only thing standing between this world and environmental catastrophe is us— Grimes

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

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

What are these guys?" He whispered— Rick Riordan
"Canadians," Percy said.
Frank leaned away from him. "Excuse me?"
"Uh, no offense," Percy said. "That's what Annabeth called them when I fought them before. She said they live in the north, in Canada."
"Yeah, well," Frank grumbled, "we're in Canada. I'm Canadian. But I've never seen those things before.

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

We'll support the government on issues if it's essential to the country but our primary responsibility is not to prop up the government, our responsibility is to provide an opposition and an alternative government for Parliament and for Canadians.— Stephen Harper

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

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

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

Canadians are often a friendly bunch.— Henry Rollins

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

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don't be discouraged that my own journey hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope.— Jack Layton

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

Canadians don't have a very big political lever, we're nice guys.— Paul Henderson

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

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

My point is, or should be, simple: history happened. The object is not to undo it, distort it, or to make it fit our present political attitudes. The object of history, which each generation properly interprets anew, is to understand what happened and why. A multicultural Canada can and should look at its past with fresh eyes. It should, for example, study how the Ukrainians came to Canada, how they were treated, how they lived, sometimes suffered, ultimately prospered, and became Canadians. What historians should not do is to recreate history to make it serve present purposes. They should not obscure or reshape events to make them fit political agendas. They should not declare whole areas of the past off-limits because they can only be presented in politically unfashionable terms any more than they should fail to draw object lessons from a past that was frequently less than pleasant and less than honourable. Because the past was not perfect, it must not be made perfect today.— J.L. Granatstein

I've always felt, and I don't like to say this because I sound like an ex-patriot, I always feel quite a bit more comfortable sometimes in Canada. For a variety of reasons. I just think it's a politer place. Kind of. You don't have quite the population to deal with but you don't immediately get into skirmishes with everybody. If you had any passport, any terrorist would let the Canadians off the plane.— Tim Allen

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

One in three Canadian teens are bullied. That's nearly two million young Canadians who are teased and excluded. Nearly two million who are silenced in the classroom, losing out on their education.— Shawn Desman

Canon Campbell told me that most smart-ass Canadians tend to move to the United States. I— John Irving

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 let the debate of the day mask the fact that Canadians care deeply in their country. Including Quebecers - from all origins and language. Quebecers care deeply about their country. The idea of Canada and its unity is not something that is set in stone forever, or that is solved. We need to always work towards building this country.— Jean Charest

Our Government is proud to support the Provincial Metis Housing Corporation and its local partners, like Yorkton Parkland Housing, and all of the important work they do in our province to help those in need. With a roof over their heads, all Canadians can prosper as we work together towards eliminating homelessness.— Garry Breitkreuz

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

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 want to give as many Canadians the opportunity to be successful and if we can use their athletic gifts to get them a free degree or a free diploma across the border then I guess I'm doing my job.— Donovan Bailey

We had season tickets to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, and, as only we Canadians can say, we had prime seats right on the fifty-five-yard line. And— Martin Short

Tommy looked blank. "What's a flashlight?"— Susan Cooper
"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.

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

Nate had been born and raised in British Columbia, and Canadians hate, above all things, to offend. It was part of the national consciousness. "Be polite" was an unwritten, unspoken rule, but ingrained into the psyche of an entire country. (Of course, as with any rule, there were exceptions: parts of Quebec, where people maintained the "dismissive to the point of confrontation, with subsequent surrender" mind-set of the French; and hockey, in which any Canadian may, with impunity, slam, pummel, elbow, smack, punch, body-check, and beat the shit out of, with sticks, any other human being, punctuated by profanities, name-calling, questioning parentage, and accusations of bestiality, usually-coincidentally- in French.)— Christopher Moore

Canadian official multiculturalism has developed through the 1970s and '80s, and has become in the '90s a major part of Canadian political discourse in Canada rather than in the United States, which is also a multi-ethnic country, may be due to the lack of an assimilationist discourse so pervasive in the U.S. The melting pot thesis has not been popular in Canada, where the notion of a social and cultural mosaic has had a greater influence among liberal critics. This mosaic approach has not been compensated with an integrative politics of antiracism or of class struggle which is sensitive to the racialization involved in Canadian class formation. The organized labour movement in Canada has repeatedly displayed anti-immigrant sentiments. For any inspiration for an antiracist theorization and practice of class struggle Canadians have looked to the United States or the Caribbean.— Himani Bannerji

As a city powered by our country's knowledge economy, Toronto will continue to benefit from developing, attracting and retaining the world's most promising young researchers at the University of Toronto. Our government will continue to invest in research awards that lead to long-term social and economic benefits for Canadians.— Peter Van Loan

I'd put it this way: Canadians want politicians to work together on their behalf. So that's what I'm committed to doing. I think it's been the goal of every NDP leader. Because we had a profound belief that we could do a good job on behalf of Canadians ... if we were given that opportunity.— Jack Layton

Americans are pushy, obnoxious, neurotic, crass - anything and everything - the full catastrophe as our friend Zorba might say. Canadians are none of that. The way you might fear a cow sitting down in the middle of the street during rush hour, that's how I fear Canadians. 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. The thing Canadians don't understand is that some people are extraordinary and should be treated as such.— Maria Semple

The story of the Amazon is a story that has been told by Europeans, you know, by Germans, by Canadians, by Americans.— Ciro Guerra

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

The federal government's role is to establish a process whereby industry can pitch a project, and Canadians can be reassured that this project is worth the risk. That's at the heart of governments granting permits and communities granting permission. People understand we do need economic growth. We do need natural resource projects.— Justin Trudeau

Five Minute Marketing is entertaining and thought provoking marketing advice by a Canadian for Canadians.— Dan Poynter

You know you've reached a new plateau of group mediocrity when even a Canadian is alarmed by your lack of individuality.— Sarah Vowell
