Transition

We are going through a transition. The archives are still here, but for updates, go to http://balanceoffood.typepad.com/canadian_crossing/.

So if you want to know how the Raptors and the Habs are doing plus other tidbits from Canadian culture, check us out.

2008 NHL Playoffs schedule

2008 NHL Playoffs
all times Eastern

2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Montréal vs. (6) Philadelphia
all games on CBC and RDS
* broadcast on Versus in the United States

Tied 1-1
Game 1: Montréal 4, Philadelphia 3 (OT)
Game 2: Philadelphia 4, Montréal 2*
Game 3: Monday, April 28 7p at Philadelphia*
Game 4: Wednesday, April 30 7p at Philadelphia*
Game 5: Saturday, May 3 7p at Montréal*
Game 6: Sunday, May 4 7p at Philadelphia*
Game 7: Tuesday, May 6 7p at Montréal


(1) Montréal vs. (8) Boston
all games on CBC and RDS
* broadcast on Versus in the United States

Montréal wins series 4-3
Game 1: Montréal 4, Boston 1
Game 2: Montréal 3, Boston 2 (OT)*
Game 3: Boston 2, Montréal 1 (OT)
Game 4: Montréal 1, Boston 0
Game 5: Boston 5, Montréal 1
Game 6: Boston 5, Montréal 4*
Game 7: Montréal 5, Boston 0*

Pittsburgh (2) vs. Ottawa (7)
all games on CBC and RDS
* broadcast on Versus in the United States

Pittsburgh wins series 4-0
Game 1: Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 0*
Game 2: Pittsburgh 5, Ottawa 3
Game 3: Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 1
Game 4: Pittsburgh 3, Ottawa 1

2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE
San Jose (2) vs. Calgary (7)
all games on CBC
* broadcast on Versus in the United States

San Jose wins series 4-3
Game 1: Calgary 3, San Jose 2*
Game 2: San Jose 2, Calgary 0
Game 3: Calgary 4, San Jose 3*
Game 4: San Jose 3, Calgary 2
Game 5: San Jose 4, Calgary 3*
Game 6: Calgary 2, San Jose 0
Game 7: San Jose 5, Calgary 3*

2008 NBA Playoffs schedule

2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE
(3) Orlando vs. (6) Toronto
all times Eastern

Orlando leads series 3-1

Game 1: Orlando 114, Toronto 100
Game 2: Orlando 104, Toronto 103
Game 3: Toronto 108, Orlando 94
Game 4: Orlando 106, Toronto 94
Game 5: April 28: at Orlando, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
Game 6: May 1: at Toronto, TBD (TBD)
Game 7: May 3: at Orlando, TBD (TNT)

Harper, Bush, Calderon all meeting in New Orleans

There is more going on other than sports:

The leaders of the NAFTA nations: United States, Canada, and Mexico are meeting in New Orleans this week. The three leaders have had annual meetings in recent times to discuss issues concerning all three countries.

NAFTA has been an issue both in the meetings and from the government represenatives. Officially, the word is that NAFTA is great and shouldn't change. But there were rumblings in the Democratic Party primary that NAFTA would be investigated.

The "everything is pleasant" cries aren't accurate, at least among the workers in the U.S. and Canada. And there are cries on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border to improve NAFTA based on certain trade disagreements.

These annual meetings haven't produced anything earth-shattering so far. Perhaps there are subtle talks, inklings for future things, but so far we haven't seen any proof. And you can't help but wonder if Canadian PM Stephen Harper and Mexico President Felipe Calderon are running out the clock waiting to see who takes over the U.S. Harper will likely have his own federal election to deal with, likely in 2009. Canada currently has a minority government with Harper as the prime minister. Calderon's term expires in 2012; re-election is not an option in Mexico.

Montréal, Calgary split Game 7s; And then there was one

Montréal wins its Game 7, and Calgary doesn't. I wondered out loud whether Canada would have any teams get past the first round of the NHL playoffs.

Then when Montréal won Monday night, I tried to hold out for 2 teams, but that didn't quite work out. So the Habs are Canada's last shot with Detroit as a border team. The ideal matchup: Detroit-Montréal going 7 games with the Canadiens pulling it out in overtime.

I hate to nitpick this (again), but why was Versus only giving us the 2nd round scenario if San Jose won. What a cheap shot. And don't give me that it was 2 vs. 7, since San Jose was the favored team. Versus would have been better off not giving any scenarios.

And then Versus turns around and doesn't even give us Game 1 of the Montréal-Philadelphia 2nd round matchup. There will be no U.S. television for a 2nd round game -- unbelievable. I love how there is no assigned television in the U.S. for the potential 7th game. There is no other game in that time slot, and yet no one sure whether the game would be broadcast. That will change if there is a Game 7, but wow.

By contrast, Pittsburgh and Detroit will have full coverage, including games on NBC. I figure the first games NBC will do from Montréal will be the Stanley Cup Finals if the Canadiens make it.

As badly as Versus is about ratings, NBC is even worse. The Penguins and the Red Wings are the security blanket to NBC's Linus.

While we were fortunate to get CBC coverage on some of the first-round games, notably the Calgary series, I doubt we would get CBC in the 2nd round; the only prospect for that is the Montréal series. CBC and RDS will carry all games in the Montréal-Philadelphia series.

Since NBC has the U.S. over-the-air rights, it would seem fair that the network should carry games missing from the U.S. market on extra digital channels on its NBC stations. But perhaps that is thinking before its time. If NBC were able to run its advertising and carry the CBC feed on an alternative digital channel, the network would actually make money since they would pay zero in production costs.

Montréal forced into a Game 7

For those who don't follow sports, coming back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-7 series is rare, but not completely outrageous. Well, Boston has forced a 7th game with the Montréal Canadiens, set for Monday night.

And yes, Game 6 was on Versus. I was hoping (pleading, begging) for CBC coverage, but it wasn't meant to be. I realize there are accusations (yes, I read the feedback) that I want CBC coverage since they would be pro-Canadian. Well, not exactly.

The folks at CBC do acknowledge both teams, and quite frankly, know the sport much better than the folks at Versus. After watching Versus' coverage of Game 6, I'd rather have watched the Boston announcers at NESN (New England Sports Network). Yes, they are rooting for Boston, but they have more of a sense of the Canadiens than the national announcers that are supposed to be neutral. The Versus announcers were way more excited about Boston's goals than Montréal's.

The "funniest" moment was when the sideline reporter was interviewing Tomas Plekanec after the second period. Plekanec had scored a goal to put Montréal up 2-1. He asked Plekanec about coming into this series about being physical with Montréal. Well, Plekanec plays for Montréal, but he ignored the mistake by the reporter.

You can argue that reporters make mistakes, and that it was an innocent mistake. Since they talk so infrequently with the Canadian teams, perhaps he really thought he was talking with a Boston player. But they wouldn't have made that mistake in talking to a American-team player, and if they did, someone would have caught it. It's not the mistake so much as the refusal to acknowledge bias against the Canadian-based teams.

The announcers were rooting for Boston to win and Montréal to lose throughout the game. But only part of that is the bias against Canadian-based teams. Versus isn't a successful network in just about anything it does -- the network sees its only chance for success if American-based teams do well.

In other words, Versus roots against Canadian-based teams not because they are from Canada, but because they perceive their ratings will go down. I want the playoffs in my home, and I'd rather have CBC and TSN, fair and impartial. The Canadian announcers are fair to both teams. In the Calgary-San Jose coverage on CBC, they are very fair to both sides. In the Calgary-San Jose coverage on Versus, the bias goes to San Jose. To be fair, the West Coast announcers have been less biased than the Boston-Montréal crew.

But if I can't get CBC/TSN, at least give me the home crew of the American-based team. I know they're biased, but they are upfront about that, and I will scream less at my television.

Tonight, it's Game 6 for the Flames-Sharks on Versus (give us CBC) and in a surprise move, Game 7 of Canadiens-Bruins will be on Versus. Either give the Versus announcers some Valium (so they will root less for Boston) or give us professional unbiased announcers.

* Note: Versus' Web site listed Flames-Sharks Game 6 as being on the channel. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. So you just never know.

Raptors in playoffs again

While the Maple Leafs didn't make it, and the Blue Jays struggling (and having released future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas), well the Raptors are in the NBA playoffs.

I'm not the biggest NBA fan, so as for strategy or how well Toronto will do, I'm not sure. Canada isn't a big deal in the NBA, and David Stern seems content to treating Canada as second-class. So having the Raptors in the playoffs is extra fun.

Don't know much about NBA TV, except I don't think I get that channel. TNT is on my cable package. Hopefully, better coverage in Round 2, if there is a Round 2 for the Raptors.

Hillary Clinton drinks a Canadian whiskey

To "prove" that a presidential candidate can be "one of the people," sometimes they indulge in activities they otherwise might not do.

Pancake dinners, eating whatever is placed in front of them, even bowling. Well, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was drinking a beer in a bar in Crown Point, Indiana when the bartender asked the presidential candidate if she wanted a shot.

Clinton asked that it not be something sweet. The bartender suggested a shot of Crown Royal whiskey. She took a couple of sips before then downing the rest of the shot.

What Sen. Clinton may not have realized is that Crown Royal is a Canadian whiskey. Crown Royal is apparently the number one selling Canadian whiskey in the U.S.

The faux pas is that Clinton probably should have picked an American whiskey. But it is magnified since Clinton is now not supporting NAFTA after she had supported it. Imports from Canada are a huge part of NAFTA.

NFL comes to Toronto

In case you blinked, the NFL schedule came out today. And we can confirm what we already knew: the NFL is coming to Canada.

The Buffalo Bills, very close in proximity to Toronto, will play one regular-season game and one pre-season game at Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) in downtown Toronto.

The Bills take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a pre-season game on August 14 and the Miami Dolphins travel to Toronto for a game that counts on December 7.

The December contest was scheduled late in the year so there wouldn't be a conflict with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. The Blue Jays of the American League in baseball also shares the stadium.

Unlike the cold weather normally associated with football in Buffalo in December, the two teams will likely be playing under the dome in Toronto. Kickoff for the December 7 battle will be 4:05 p.m. EST.

The Dolphins are a intriguing choice since Miami running back Ricky Williams recently played for the Argonauts in the CFL.

The eight-game set, marketed as the Bills Toronto Series, includes a regular-season game each year from 2008 to 2012 and pre-season contests in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Seating capacity for the game at Rogers Centre will be around 54,000; the game is expected to easily be a sellout.

NHL playoffs: So far, so...

Montréal up 2-0, Ottawa down 2-0. Can't say I'm surprised. Calgary won 1 at San Jose. Actually, not surprised.

The Canadiens looked good even when they let Boston back in. Just remember, Boston has not led Montreal during a game, regular season or playoffs, this year. HAS NEVER LED. Total dominance.

Was hoping that the Canadiens -- historically well-known -- would see more U.S. TV time. But no, welcome to a bad TV contract in the United States. Even Sidney Crosby, Gary Bettman's pet, has only 2 games scheduled in the early rounds.

Part of the problem is that Detroit is in the Eastern time zone and yet, the Western Conference. Versus and NBC love the Red Wings. The other part is the NHL's newest pet, Alex Ovechkin, is on 5 times during the first round.

Montréal had 1 time scheduled, and that was Saturday night's Game 2. We could have hoped that Versus would be nice and give us the CBC Hockey Night in Canada feed for that one. But no, we had the Versus crew that actually made it to Montréal. To show you why hockey fans get upset at the U.S. TV coverage, during Boston's first power play, the graphics on the screen, including success rates, were for Montréal's power play -- the entire 2 minutes.

To be fair, Versus did some expanded coverage, including talking to Canadiens' legend Jean Béliveau. And they did more games with Canadian-based teams this year. But they did NO games involving the defending Eastern Conference champion Ottawa Senators.

But Montréal is the number one seed. And when they advance, the audience is going to wonder, "Who are these Canadiens?" Too bad, we won't see much of them in the first round, unless you live near the border. All Canadiens games air on CBC. The irony is that if the series goes 6 or 7 games (it won't), you might see them on Versus if there aren't many other games left. But there is a anti-Canadian bias at Versus, just like in Gary Bettman's office.

Calgary is getting the CBC touch. Hopefully, we will see more of them as that series continues. Calgary, 7 seed in the West, will see more U.S. air time than the Canadiens. And hopefully, most of not all will be from the CBC. They do it so much better.

2008 NHL playoffs set

Welcome to another round of Canadian Corner NHL postseason coverage. We have had 3 straight Stanley Cup finals with a Canadian team. Will this be a 4th?

Well, not likely. But there is a tiny bit of hope. After all, Edmonton got to the finals as the 8th seed. Last year, we had 3 teams. This year, we have 3 teams.

Montreal went from barely missing the playoffs last year to the #1 seed. The Canadiens clinched the top spot with a 3-1 win over Toronto and Pittsburgh's loss on Sunday. Montreal will take on Boston in an Original 6 matchup in the first round.

Ottawa, a dominant team and last year's Eastern Conference rep in the Stanley Cup finals, had a rough year, but finished 7th. The Senators have significant injuries, especially to Daniel Alfredsson on a cheap shot by Toronto's Mark Bell this week. Ottawa has the unenviable task of matching up with Pittsburgh and the NHL glamour boy, Sidney Crosby.

Calgary is the only Western Conference team. The Flames struggled finishing 7th, but barely hung on to make the playoffs. Their "reward": the San Jose Sharks, even at #2, perhaps the most dominant team in the West.

Toronto (once again), Edmonton (much later than expected), and Vancouver (a shocker) were all eliminated late. The Oilers and the Canucks were only eliminated in the last few days. Other than Montreal, no Canadian-based team had a good finish to the season.

Times and dates to be released soon. Hopefully, Versus will step up and show Canadian-based teams in the first round. The CBC and TSN will have FULL coverage in Canada. NBC will show some games later in the playoffs in the United States.

Obama, NAFTA, and Canada

We usually don't get dragged into politics, especially U.S. politics, but it's fair to say this is relevant to our audience.

As you may know, Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both said they would re-open NAFTA.

There were allegations leaked by the Canadian government that Obama had said one thing to the voters and another behind closed doors. Clearly, we know that isn't true. Everyone involved has denied the wording.

There were also allegations that the Harper government tried to meddle in the U.S. Democratic Party race, as featured in this video. The first gentleman who is speaking is Jack Layton, an MP and head of the New Democratic Party (no relation to the U.S. Democrats). The NDP could be described as a left-leaning party. The second gentleman in the video is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is from the Conservative Party.

LAYTON: The prime minister’s office has been interfering in the Democratic primaries with false accusations trying to silence Barack Obama who simply wants to amend the NAFTA. It is completely unacceptable for that kind of interference to be stalking place. Will the prime minster fire the source of the interference, fire his chief of staff?

HARPER: The Canadian embassy in Washington has issued a statement indicating its regret at the fact that information has come out that would imply Sen. Obama has been saying different things in public than in private. Mr. Speaker, the government of Canada does not not condone this and certainly regrets any implication… (the video ends)

We at Canadian Corner are eager to see if and how NAFTA is renegotiated in the new administration, whether it be Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John McCain. McCain has not indicated any interest in renegotiating NAFTA, and hasn't spoken on the matter.

Threatening to move to Canada

This link is from a blog devoted to stuff that white people like.

A portion:

Though they will never actually move to Canada, the act of declaring that they are willing to undertake the journey is very symbolic in white culture. It shows that their dedication to their lifestyle and beliefs are so strong, that they would consider packing up their entire lives and moving to a country that is only slightly similar to the one they live in now.

I have threatened to move to Canada -- this is true (and I am white). But I know more about Canada than most people who want to move there.

One minor word of caution: some of the comments are a little oft-kilter. Just as the site wouldn't acknowledge that it reflects the view of the blog, it doesn't reflect the view of this blog as well.

NAFTA re-negotiation works both ways, er, three ways

Weighing on the potential NAFTA re-negotiation, I send you to a piece I wrote for BuzzFlash.com (yes, I have a relationship with the Web site).

Here it is for your knowledge and enjoyment.

The essentials is that Canada has suffered from NAFTA as has Mexico. The United States tends to see things only from its perspective, and needs to understand that re-opening NAFTA requires listening to Canada and Mexico. A new NAFTA could be made stronger for all three countries, if there is a sincere desire to make it work throughout the continent.

NHL commissioner addresses perceived Canada bias

Gary Bettman is the commissioner of the National Hockey League. Yet a lot of hockey fans have a strong dislike for the man.

They blame him for the strike that cost the league an entire season. They blame him for the fact that this is the 3rd year in a row where every team doesn't play each other. And they blame him for having an anti-Canadian bias, a bad idea given that hockey is Canada's sport.

I should point out that I agree that Bettman is biased and a horrible commissioner. So when Gary Bettman did a chat for the Washington Post, I submitted a question. Although my question was not selected, a similar question did come up.

New York: Many hockey fans in historic markets contend you are simply wrong with your formula for growing the league. They believe you are committed to developing hockey in the "Red States," to use an euphemism, to the point you will ignore much larger opportunities elsewhere, especially in Ontario. My question is, do you have anyone in your close circle of advisers who plays "Devil's Advocate" and challenges your philosophy here?

Gary Bettman: Yes -- and that's NOT my philosophy. Please don't believe everything you read about what I'm thinking! Here is what I'm thinking: If we have to relocate a franchise, or if we decide, at some point, to expand, then ALL potential locations will be considered, and we will go to the one that is the best. That someone who unsuccessfully tried to buy a club, apparently with the intent to move it in violation of its lease, suggested that we are anti-Canadian in any way or anti-Ontario in any way does not make it a fact. In fact, those assertions were fabrications.

The reference Bettman refers to is potentially moving the Nashville Predators to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Reasonable minds can disagree, but the impression has been that the gentleman, who wanted to move a team from a market that didn't come out and appreciate a team into a market that salivates over having a team, was denied over where he wanted to move the team. If the Nashville Predators wanted to move to an American city, the NHL would be more likely to want to cooperate.

Quebec City and Winnipeg both lost franchises in the 1990s: the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver and the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix.

When Bettman says "we will go to the one that is the best," that has usually meant the U.S. South.

From Wikipedia, "During his tenure, franchises have been established in Raleigh, Denver, and Phoenix through relocation from Hartford, Quebec City, and Winnipeg, respectively; in Nashville, Atlanta, St. Paul (Minnesota), and Columbus teams sprouted up by means of expansion. While Denver and St. Paul have been successes, Raleigh, Phoenix, Nashville, and Atlanta have not enjoyed such fan support (though, as of late, the Hurricanes have drawn sizable crowds). Nashville was unable to draw an average of 14,000 in paid attendance during the 2006-2007 season, despite being one of the top teams in the league."

The NHL has franchises in Miami, Tampa, Raleigh, NC, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, and two in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. And yet no franchises in Hamilton, Quebec City, and Winnipeg along with U.S. cities such as Milwaukee and Hartford.

To again, quote Wikipedia: "Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie attempted to purchase the team well above its market value in 2007, and many speculated that he would move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. While many within the NHL thought of this as a potential economic shot in the arm for the NHL, ESPN.com has reported that Bettman directly interfered in the sale of the team to Balsillie, paving the way for talks to be opened up with Nashville-area groups to buy the team.^[4] The reaction to this incident in Canadian media was that Bettman cared little about the game in Canada and consequently spawned an article in Canadian magazine MacLean's entitled 'Why The NHL Hates Canada'."

Canada and the NHL will be better off when Gary Bettman retires as NHL commissioner.

Split awards for Ellen Page

Ellen Page did not win the Oscar for Best Actress for "Juno," but she did win Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.

If you had said that all the Oscar acting awards were going to people born outside the U.S., you would have thought the Halifax-born Page had a good shot. Then again, four out of the five entries for Best Actress were foreign-born (Laura Linney was the only U.S. born nominee).

Still, it was a good weekend for Page. Hopefully, we will see her other work get more notice, such as "The Tracey Fragments," which played in the Toronto International Film Festival last September along with Juno. Page will be around for a long, long time.

Sarah Polley didn't win Best Adapted Screenplay either, losing to the Coen brothers for "No Country for Old Men." But she has received a great deal of recognition for her first writing and directing of a movie: here is a list of awards and nominations she has received.

There will still be more of Polley, on and off screen, for a long, long time to come.

Codeine from Canada

When I try and explain to my friends in the United States how you can get codeine over-the-counter in Canada, they are very skeptical. After all, it's illegal without a prescription in the United States.

Well, it's not pure codeine. It's acetaminophen with up to 8 mg codeine/tablet in Canada. Still, it packs a little punch.

When you buy the pain medication, you have to ask the pharmacist. You won't find it on the regular shelves. Often, you will have to pay for it at the pharmacy.

Chris Berman of ESPN fame explains it pretty well in this clip. His characterization of the exchange between an American and the pharmacist is spot-on.

He does refer to smuggling, which BTW is not legal. There are ways to legally bring in small amounts of the drug -- the last time I looked it up, you were allowed to bring in for your own personal purpose up to 50 tablets per person per 30 days. I don't know if that is still the case, so you are on your own.

Canadian TV coming to the U.S.

The writers strike in the United States might be an advantage for Canadian TV programs to get exposure in the U.S.

This article highlights some of the shows coming to the U.S.

NBC is finalizing a deal to pick up 13 episodes of CTV's upcoming drama series "The Listener."

The distributors of another Canadian drama, CBC's "The Border," are in discussions with several U.S. networks, including CBS and ABC.

And ABC Family is in talks to pick up 13 episodes of CBC's comedy series "Sophie." That follows CBS' deal this week to acquire 13 episodes of CTV's new drama series "Flashpoint."

I can't vouch for these shows, but anything that gets more Canadian content on U.S. networks is heartily approved.

Having Canadian content on U.S. networks is not a completely foreign concept. "SCTV" is perhaps the most famous on those programs, airing on NBC. But CBS' late-night lineup in the 1980s featured shows such as "Night Heat." And another CBS show, "Due South" has Canadian origins.

And having Canadian programming in a strike is also not uncommon. NBC aired CFL games during the NFL strike of 1982.

Canadians to shine at Oscars

I haven't seen the whole list, but there are some notable Canadian nominees.

Ellen Page, as expected, has been nominated for Best Actress for her work in "Juno." Page will be up against Julie Christie for her work in the Canadian film "Away from Her."

Sarah Polley was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Away from Her." It would be too much to ask that Polley would also be nominated for Best Director in her directorial debut, and being 28.

Jason Reitman, also a Canadian, was nominated for Best Director for "Juno."

"Eastern Promises," from Canadian director David Cronenberg, got a nomination for Viggo Mortensen for Best Actor.

The Oscars will be February 24.

Golden Globes results split for Canadians

In the subdued affair that was this year's Golden Globes, there were two races in particular to follow from a Canadian angle.

The good news is that Julie Christie won a Golden Globe for Best Performance in a drama for her role in "Away From Her." Well, Christie isn't Canadian, but the movie is, directed by Canadian Sarah Polley in his directorial debut. (BTW, she's 28.)

The win by Christie also will give more attention to the movie.

The flip side is that Ellen Page did not win Best Performance in a comedy or musical for her role in "Juno." Page lost out to Marion Cotillard in " La Vie En Rose." The good news within that is Cotillard wouldn't be up against Page in a possible Oscar battle.

Page is a 20-year-old actress from Halifax, who has been the hot thing lately. When I was in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival, Page had three movies playing there, including Juno.

Having seen both movies, Christie deserved to win and so did Page. But Ellen Page could get "revenge" with an Oscar, if the Academy is friendly to a comedy.

Playing Canada's game -- outdoors

You may have flipped around the dial this afternoon and seen a hockey game played outdoors. Yes, Pittsburgh and Buffalo battled at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills. The Penguins edged the hometown Sabres 2-1 in a OT shootout.

The Canadian angle? They billed this game as the first NHL outdoor game ever -- in the United States. Montreal took on Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton (home of the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos). Also, the CBC carried the game 4 years ago and the one on New Year's Day 2008.

On November 22, 2003, Montreal skated past the Oilers 4-3.

Watching 70,000 some fans watching hockey was very exciting, but it wasn't much of a game -- the weather played a negative factor. Pittsburgh's 2 second-period shots were barely shots if at all. Still, showing off the great game of hockey in the United States has been a problem for marketing-challenged officials of the NHL. So even if it wasn't much hockey-wise, for a day, more people were talking about hockey.

The secret of being Canadian

The beauty of trolling the Net is stumbling upon long-lost videos. This classic clip comes from "NewsRadio" where the employees discover that Dave (Dave Foley) is Canadian.

Well, of course, Foley is Canadian, especially being in "Kids in the Hall." Still, it's fun to see the "outrage" of his co-workers discovering he's ... Canadian.

Enjoy the clip.

Saskatchewan is your Grey Cup champ

Congratulations to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the CFL champion for 2007. Saskatchewan downed Winnipeg in the "Battle of the Prairie" 23-19.

For more details, click here.

More on my impressions later.

Prairie Grey Cup

For the first time ever, the prairie teams will play for the Grey Cup.

There has been a criticism of late that says the big-market teams (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) have a huge advantage in getting free agents, and therefore having success.

And if you add Edmonton to the mix, the winners have come from these 4 cities lately.

Here's a basic guide to the last time a team won the Grey Cup

B.C. (Vancouver) -- 2006
Edmonton -- 2005
Montreal -- 2002
Toronto -- 2004
Calgary -- 2001
Hamilton -- 1999
Winnipeg -- 1990
Saskatchewan -- 1989

As you can see, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan are at the bottom of the list. But after next Sunday, one of them will be at the top.

The 95th Grey Cup will be Sunday in Toronto at Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome). It will be the last CFL game to be carried on CBC, and except for possible TSN simulcasts on CTV, the last CFL game to be broadcast over-the-air.

Conservatives flip on Canadians on Death Row

The Stephen Harper Conservative government has flipped on protecting Canadians who are on Death Row in the United States.

Canada does not have the death penalty, and has for the last few decades, regardless of the party in power, argued on behalf of Canadian citizens caught in the U.S. justice system.

Just so we are clear, Canada (and other countries) hasn't argued innocence or guilt, not has the country ever argued that a person should be freed. The objection is purely for the sentence (and culmination) of putting someone to death.

Here at Canadian Corner, we realize that those in the U.S. audience who thinks the death penalty is okay are probably horrified that Canada would step in to a U.S. situation. However, Canada does have a right and obligation to protest harsh punishments for its citizens around the world. Doesn't mean it will work, but refusing to do anything seems immoral.

In a possibly parallel twist, Canada has a law that allows it to prosecute sex crimes of its citizens, even if those crimes don't happen in Canada. If that law is okay, then the U.S. could wonder why Canada can reach out to crimes not on its soil, yet the U.S. can't sentence crimes on its soil.

Conservatives in Canada, though in a minority government, clearly are more harsh on many issues than the Brian Mulroney years when the Progressive Conservative Party was in charge from 1984-1993. It would never have occurred to Mulroney to not fight for Canadians to be spared the death penalty.

Banned from Canada for protesting U.S. war effort

This penalty against Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin is extremely harsh and has two key components: 1) it feels like the U.S. is strongly interfering in Canada, and 2) this never would have happened before 11/9/01 (September 11 for the U.S. audience).

Wright and Benjamin had been convicted in the United States of peaceful, non-violent protests against the war on Iraq, and Canada has banned them for that reasons.

This essay, written by Wright, explains this scenario in more detail.

Canada does have the right to ban people from their country, especially on criminal charges. Those with DUI convictions have a very tough time entering the country, understandably. But people arrested under questionable circumstances, especially these days, in anti-Iraq war protests, should get more of the benefit of the doubt.

Canadian tourists coming to America

This are more anecdotal moments to show that Canadians are even more eager to come to America, even if it's just to shop. Strong Canadian dollar and the exceedingly weakening U.S. dollar led to higher spending power for Canadians in the U.S.

Not that the U.S. is treating foreign visitors well (see various customs and other issues lately), but Canadians who love the U.S. are paying us a visit. To our Canadian friends, I saw Bienvenue and Welcome.

Keep your passport on your person

Well, that can't always be possible, but these Canadians wish they had their passports on them in this instance.

Their car was seized for a possible connection, though based on the story, the connection is questionable. But Canadians should know police will seize cars and anything on the slightest chance it's involved.

One good trick I tried recently was keeping a copy of the passport in an e-mail account. If my passport is lost, stolen, or confiscated, I can always print out a copy and hope that works. Not the best solution, but better than being stranded like these Canadians.

Canadian flavor in the World Series

No, the Toronto Blue Jays aren't back in the World Series (was it really 1992 and 1993 when they won it all?). But the 2007 World Series does have more Canadian flavor than normal.

Jeff Francis, starting pitcher for the Colorado Rockies, became the second Canadian ever to start a World Series game.

Francis, a Vancouver native, was pitching after 12 days off and gave up 10 hits and 6 runs in 4 innings.

The first Canadian native to start a World Series was Reggie Cleveland (Swift Current, Sask.) started the fifth game of the 1975 World Series, giving up five runs on seven hits in five innings and taking the loss for Boston against Cincinnati.

Last year's series featured Detroit, the closest MLB city to Canada. In fact, Comerica Park is less than a mile from the Detroit River.

Buffalo Bills in Toronto?

The NFL wants to play around the world, such as London on Sunday when the NY Giants battle Miami in London. And Canada should get a piece of that action. It might come sooner than expected.

This story goes into more detail on a possible connection between the Buffalo Bills and nearby Toronto. Bills fans already know that Canadians make up quite a bit of the Buffalo fan base.

The plan calls for the Bills to play one pre-season game and one regular-season game a year at the Rogers Centre, the home of the MLB Blue Jays and the CFL Argos.

Toronto is probably the most NFL-centric of the Canadian cities. I walked away with that impression in my trip to Toronto in September.

Toronto or Vancouver will likely get a regular-season NFL game anyway as part of the NFL world expansion. But Toronto's chance of getting a NFL team for real is fed by Buffalo's uncertainty once owner Ralph Wilson dies. And Toronto is realistically the best shot for a Canadian city to get a NFL team.

Hopefully, the NFL and CFL can co-exist in Toronto; the birth of NFL in Canada shouldn't mean the demise of the CFL in Canada's largest city.

Impressions of Canada from an Oscar winner

This Oscar winner is Denys Arcand, who won the Oscar for best foreign-language film for "The Barbarian Invasions" (2003). Another film Americans might be familiar have from Arcand is Stardom (2000) with Jessica Paré.

His next movie is debuting now in film festivals, "The Age of Ignorance."

The Q&A sessions are a fun part of film festivals for fans to get a better sense of the director and what he/she was trying to do with the film. But this Q&A session slipped into a bit of the U.S. vs. Canada. One person asked why he shot his films in Montreal. Well, he lives in Montreal and he likes shooting his films there.

Then someone asked Arcand what he liked about Canada. Arcand described Canada as a peaceful country, a country that has never really had a war. "No one attacked us like Pearl Harbor." Not even a civil war.

Arcand also noted that Canada is an equalitarian society with very few rich and a huge middle class. He said there isn't much difference in class structure.

When people ask me what I love about Canada, I find it difficult to put into words, which is sad since I am a writer. But I think it's because I get emotionally attached to my feelings. I thank Denys Arcand for putting so eloquently part of how I feel about Canada.

Yes, Fred knows who Stephen Harper is

In case you missed last night's Republican political debate, former Senator Fred Thompson was asked, in what some would call a "gotcha" moment, who the prime minister of Canada was.

Thompson's answer of "Harper. Prime Minister Harper" sufficed.

But was it a trick question? We realize that those running for U.S. president have a lot of pressure, and perhaps, the leader of Luxembourg might not be at the tip of the tongue.

But in running for the job of leading the United States, one should know the names of the prime minister of Canada and president of Mexico (even if MSNBC didn't). And they should know that Canada has a prime minister (Obama said president and quickly corrected himself).

Update on the passport situation

For those few U.S. readers remaining who don't have a U.S. passport, here is an update.

"An exception granted in June allowed passport applicants to fly back into the U.S. with a government-issued photo ID plus proof that they had applied for a passport. But that waiver expired on Sept. 30. So, air travelers will now need a passport to enter the U.S. from those destinations."

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

The second Monday in October is when the Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. Similar to the football/shopping holiday that the U.S. Thanksgiving has become, the Canadian Thanksgiving version has a football doubleheader:

Hamilton at Montreal 1 p.m. ET
Saskatchewan at Calgary 4 p.m. ET

If you live near the Canadian border, both games are available on CBC.

The shopping part has been heightened due to bargains on the U.S. side. The strength of the Canadian dollar (now even above the U.S. dollar) has made the U.S. an ideal shopping place for Canadians.

For those in believe in more than just football and shopping, have a Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving.

Raptors in Rome

The NBA tries to expand beyond the U.S. (and Toronto, but no longer Vancouver). So it's appropriate to send the Toronto Raptors to Rome.

It's still the pre-season so these games don't count.

Canadian NHL teams on Versus

Not counting the Kings-Ducks opener in London (why is the NHL worried about London when it struggles in North America?), the NHL starts on Wednesday. Unless you get NHL Center Ice or live close to Canada where you can get the CBC, you don't have too many shots to see Canadian teams in action.

After all, each of the last 3 years, a Canadian team has made it to the Stanley Cup finals. Could it be Calgary this year? Perhaps. Toronto? Not likely.

So here are the Canadian-based teams on Versus:

Hockey on Versus
All times Eastern
Tue. Oct. 9 Carolina at Toronto 7p
Mon. Oct. 15 Toronto at Buffalo 7p
Mon. Oct. 22 Boston at Montreal 7:30p
Tue. Nov. 20 Boston at Toronto 7p
Tue. Nov. 27 Calgary at Detroit 7p
Tue. Dec. 4 Detroit at Montreal 7:30p
Tue. Dec. 18 Ottawa at Boston 7p
Tue. Jan. 15 Montreal at N.Y. Islanders 7p
Tue. Jan. 22 Boston at Montreal 7:30p
Tue. Jan. 29 San Jose at Edmonton 9:30p
Tue. March 4 Vancouver at Colorado 9:30p
Tue. March 11 New Jersey at Montreal 7:30p
Tue. April 1 Colorado at Vancouver 10p

A (financial) difference between U.S. and Canada

For those who still think the U.S. and Canada are similar, think about the financial situation.

Canada has reported a double-digit budget surplus for a second straight year. The surplus came in at C$13.8 billion. The previous year's surplus was C$13.2 billion.

The U.S. economy is in much worse shape than Canada's. BTW, reporting on the strength or weakness of the economy is not a political issue. We have received a few shots that claims that the bashing of the U.S. economy is politically motivated. Facts are facts.

There have been times where Canada's econony has suffered while the U.S. economy was better. But Canada has made me more of a priority to pay off the debt. This started under former PM Jean Chretien (Liberal) but has continued under PM Stephen Harper (Conservative). The article notes that Harper's government has paid down C$14.2 billion in debt in the last fiscal year, reduce the cost of servicing the debt by nearly C$750 million.

About a decade ago, the philosophy was that if the U.S. economy caught a cold, Canada got the flu. Times have changed, and theories have changed. Having a loonie nearly equal to the U.S. dollar changes a lot.

Do you want a job in Canada?

Maybe after reading this blog, you might want to come live in Canada. Or perhaps you don't have much hope for the 2008 U.S. presidential race.

Well, the Daily Show ran a segment about how Mexicans are recruited to come to Canada to take jobs.

As an example, correspondent Dan Bakkedahl put Raffi Torres in the spotlight. Torres, a forward for the NHL Edmonton Oilers, is of Mexican and Peruvian descent. However, Bakkedahl didn't point out that Torres was born in Toronto. Torres is one of three people on this Wikipedia list under the category "Canadians of Mexican descent."

When Dan Bakkedahl asked immigration lawyer David Rosenblatt about why they didn't take Americans, Rosenblatt replied: "We do get contacted by a lot of Americans and we are interested in bringing up Americans. If there are any Americans that do want to come to Canada, we have jobs and we're happy to take Americans' applications."

Bakkedahl talked over part of Rosenblatt's answer as part of the comedy, saying there aren't really jobs. But the message was clear: Americans are welcome.

I confess to being one of those who wanted to jump in 2000 and 2004. But I'm still here. yet, I'm thinking about it. The money (it does cost to switch countries) is an issue. It's a lot easier if you have an offer from an employer to work in Canada.

Loonie equals U.S. dollar

It was 1976, the last time the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar were equals. The crying you hear is U.S. travelers not getting a discount when they travel to Canada. The cheering is Canadian travelers getting much more bang for their travel buck when visiting the States.

As you may know from my travels to Toronto earlier this month, I did not enjoy any sort of discount. Still, I travel there because I love Canada. I do wish that the discount was at the level of 70¢ to the dollar or even 65¢.

The U.S. dollar has done miserably in the last couple of years. If you have traveled to Europe, you know what I mean. But the Canadian dollar is also stronger than normal; its economy is doing much better than that of the United States.

The hope in traveling to Canada is that, even without the discount, Canadians will be appreciative of U.S. citizens traveling to their country. Canadians have always been nice to me, in part, because I show I know their country.

Maclean's: How Bush became the new Saddam

The difference between U.S. media and Canadian media:

The current cover story of Maclean's features a look at how George W. Bush has become a Saddam-like figure in Iraq. The cover picture is Bush dressed up like Saddam right down to the mustache.

Read the piece before you decide on the story's validity. The analysis is strong and well thought out, whether you agree or not.

But the question I've been asking is whether the U.S. mainstream media would ever run a story like this. Despite the "land of the free" concept, the conclusion is that no U.S. MSM outlet would even dream of doing something like this.

Maclean's is as mainstream a news magazine as there is in Canada. But Canadian media isn't as afraid to run stories as U.S. media is. Fortunately, the alternative media isn't afraid.

* A special shout-out to this site, which first mentioned the Maclean's piece to Canadian Corner.

Uncensored clip of Sally Field from Canada

As you may have heard, FOX censored the conclusion of Sally Field's acceptance speech during the Emmys Sunday night. There was a potentially disputable word that she used, but FOX chose to censor the entire statement rather than selectively bleep a word.

We aren't going to play through the political ramifications of whether a newsworthy show should have censorship, especially from a network that seems to support the war. All we are doing is presenting, in its entirety, the UNCENSORED clip from the show.

You are asking, "If it was censored, then how did I get an uncensored clip?" Thanks to CTV and Canada, you can see it right here. Of course, you should be warned there is a "naughty" word.

Canada is less concerned with swear words than the U.S. CTV is an over-the-air network, so it would be the equivalent of ABC, CBS, etc. And if the censorship had to do with its political nature, well, Canada isn't in Iraq.

Back from Toronto

My first trip to Toronto since 1988. Sad that it has been that long. I truly had forgotten what a nice place it is.

-- Yonge Street, the longest street in the world, has been cleaned up since I was last there. Not too much, let's say, adult entertainment, at least compared to my last trip.

-- Celebrities were there for the Toronto International Film Festival. You might have read that the festival is pretty significant. You can't truly feel that unless you are there. I got up Saturday at 6:30 a.m. to wait in line for movie tickets at 7 a.m. I was 24th in line, but still got my tickets. Saw 2 shows that day, the first one at 9 a.m.

I'm not giving the title of the first film I saw since, ironically, it might not get through U.S. spam filters. In Toronto, all but one of the newspapers ran the title as is. It is a Canadian film and, while it's not for 8-year-olds, was not as extreme as the title would indicate.

-- They say Toronto is a city of different ethnic neighborhoods. This is an understatement. The cultures, races, creeds truly get along well here. More than in New York or Chicago.

-- Toronto Islands were a lot of fun. Hanlan's Point even has Ontario's only official clothing optional beach. And yes, I did participate. I have the sunburn to prove it.

-- People there were very friendly. I never got lost, so I didn't have to ask for directions. But I met numerous people. The only strange people I met were "Ugly Americans" who were waiting for Brad and Angelina.

Off to Toronto

If you don't hear from us for a few days, there's a very good reason. Off to Toronto.

Hoping for a bit of sun to try out the beaches, a few films at the Toronto International Film Festival. But mostly to walk through neighborhoods and explore a few other things (Hockey Hall of Fame).

More when we are back.

Corner Gas schedule announced

"Corner Gas" will make its debut on U.S. television later this month. We had mentioned it earlier in the blog, so go here for that story.

The program will air on the Superstation WGN feed only (not available in Chicago and nearby areas that carry the local feed. If you get CW programming, you have the local feed.)

The show, set in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, depicts small-town life centering on a gas station and coffee shop. The broadcasts begin September 17 on 8-9 p.m. Wednesdays, midnight Mondays through Thursdays; also, Friday nights at 2:30 a.m., Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. and midnight. All times are Eastern.

No CFL updates

I wish I had more to say about the CFL this season. Unfortunately, I have lost the ablity to access CFL games on my cable.

The folks at Comcast Sports Chicago have taken the games off the air in the middle of the season. Their excuse is that they have so much more programming. Yes, it is carrying more college football this year. But I even saw a rebroadcast of a soccer game. And this doesn't even count the infomercials it carries.

I have argued to not much avail that taking the games off in the middle of the season is completely unfair, not to mention that there are quite a few fans who love watching the sport. They don't seem impressed.

So hopefully, in your part of the country, you are having more luck getting the games than I am. That being said, I do plan to take in the Argonauts-Tiger Cats battle Saturday in Toronto.

I will check in from Canada's largest city throughout my trip.

Can't MSNBC figure out who Stephen Harper is?

We figure the MSM has issues with Canada with the lack of coverage it gives the country. But mixing up Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon seems difficult even for the MSM. Oops!

This link shows us that might not be true. Admittedly, Harper looks a little orange. But Calderon looks to be more of Mexican descent than Harper.

We don't expect ordinary citizens to know this, but we do expect basic knowledge in a newsroom.

If you're coming to the U.S., don't admit drug use

Though Stephen Colbert had some fun on his August 20 program "Colbert Report," the matter of Andrew Feldmar is not funny.

Feldmar, a Vancouver-based psychotherapist, is barred from the United States for writing on the Internet that 40 some years ago, he took LSD.

Yes, Canada does have rules, such as banning those with DUI convictions from crossing the border. As we mentioned before, George W. Bush had to get a waiver to enter Canada, and has to get a waiver each time he enters Canada due to his DUI conviction.

But in those cases, a conviction is required. Feldmar has never been tried on a drug case.

Our advice is never to lie to customs. We believe in a honest process. However, you will have to decide on your own how you want to answer certain irrelevant questions that may get you denied from entering the United States.

Obama says president, not prime minister for Canada

Sorry, Barack, we understand it was a slip of the tongue. But you did say "president of Canada."

While we know you now know it's a parliamentary system, be careful out there.

If you do win, be sure and meet with the PRIME MINISTER of Canada more often than the current White House occupant.

Michael Ignatieff says about Iraq "My bad"

Michael Ignatieff is an intriguing character. A longtime Harvard professor, he recently came back to Canada, ran for the Liberal Party leadership, and is a Liberal MP in Parliament.

Yet, he has been very pro-Iraq-war, a position inconsistent with Canada (even Conservative PM Stephen Harper won't send troops to Iraq) and the Liberal Party.

Now in The New York Times, Ignatieff apologizes but not in a way where he seems very credible. This synopsis gives you a better flavor (the link is a solid analysis, but has a naughty word in the title. Canadians are much less hung up on language as opposed to the U.S.).

The comments below the piece are also well worth reading.

Americans moving to Canada reach 30-year high

Given my fondness for Canada, people ask me if I have thought about moving there. Well, yeah.

Turns out I'm not the only one. According to this story, the number of Americans admitted to Canada last year reached a 30-year high. The numbers look small, but they have grown this century: 10,942 Americans to Canada in 2006, 9,262 in 2005, and 5,828 in 2000.

By contrast, in 2006, 23,913 Canadians went to the U.S.

Canadians who are here in the States speak of a "brain drain" from Canada, though I wonder if that only applies to certain industries, such as medical research.

Unfortunately, the study doesn't go into why Americans are going to Canada. So why do you think Americans would leave for the Great White North?

Canada and the All-Star Game

Yes, Canada loves baseball, too. And Canadians are shining, especially around the midseason classic. Here's a nice writeup on future Canadian-born major leaguers.

Also, Vladimir Guerrero (former Montreal Expo) beat out Alex Rios (current Toronto Blue Jay) for the Home Run Derby crown Monday night. Canadian-born and reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau also participated in the home run contest.

Happy Canada Day

July 1 is Dominion Day, or Canada Day, when Canada first became a country in 1867. So happy birthday Canada.

Be sure to wear red and white today, the colors of the Canadian flag.

From Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

July 1, 2007

Ottawa, Ontario

"Greetings fellow Canadians…

On July 1, 1867, three small colonies joined together as the Dominion of Canada.

Today 140 years later, we are a federation of 10 provinces and three territories, stretching to the coasts of three oceans.

But our vision reaches beyond our shores.

We are building successful business in world markets.

We are working to deliver aid and enhance security throughout our globe.

And, in concert with other countries, we are wrestling to address the environmental challenges that confront our planet.

From championships in hockey to humanitarian and military leadership roles in Afghanistan and Haiti, we can say again this year, Canada is a citizen of the world and we make our contribution a positive one.

And why shouldn`t we? From the natural wealth of the land that God created, to the talents, energy and imagination of people drawn from all the nations of the earth, we are a country that has been truly blessed.

I believe that whether our ancestors came from the East, the West, or the South, as Canadians we always look to the North for the true definition of our country.

This past year, I visited our Canadian Forces and public service personnel at Alert on Ellesmere Island, the most northerly human habitation on the planet.

As I looked at the vast gleaming expanse of the Arctic I could not help but think it is as limitless as the potential of Canada itself.

On behalf of Laureen, Ben, and Rachel as well as all of our government, I wish you, your friends and your loved ones, a happy Canada Day."

— Prime Minister Stephen Harper
July 1, 2007

More on SiCKO and Canada

As promised, more on Canada and SiCKO.

As I mentioned last week, I saw a sneak preview of SiCKO, and it features quite a bit about Canada. Michael Moore has been friendly to Canada for years, ranging from singing the Canadian anthem at a Detroit Tigers game to his fiction film, "Canadian Bacon," to featuring Canada in "Bowling for Columbine."

I wanted to save a lot of what was said about Canada until the movie came out. If you didn't see it Friday, well, spoiler alert.

SPOILER

Some of Moore's praise for Canada's health care system starts with Tommy Douglas. Tommy Douglas was recently voted the greatest Canadian of all time. He was instrumental in getting universal health care for Canada.

Moore didn't really explain much of who Douglas was. Here's a helpful page. Douglas was the longtime leader of the CCF Party (now the New Democratic Party).

From Michael Moore:

For more than 50 years, his staunch devotion to social causes, rousing powers of speech and pugnacious charm made Tommy C. Douglas an unstoppable political force. From his first foray into public office politics in 1934 to his post-retirement years in the 1970s, Canada's 'father of Medicare' stayed true to his socialist beliefs -- often at the cost of his own political fortune -- and earned himself the respect of millions of Canadians in the process.

As a trivia note, Douglas' grandson is Kiefer Sutherland of "24" fame.

I particularly enjoyed the story of the woman who drove across the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor to get medicine. Yes, she was breaking Canadian law, which makes it illegal for non-citizens to get medicine. She had apparently listed the address of her Canadian friend in Windsor. But I can understand her predicament.

Ironically, as the film notes, she could have married her friend, and then legally received the medicine.

Moore also talks with a couple of his relatives who are Canadian. We see them buying insurance for when they travel to the U.S. This isn't travel insurance, this is health insurance in case something happens while they are in the States. I had the understanding that Canadians were covered as they travel outside the country, but perhaps I am mistaken.

He also speaks with a gentleman in a golf cart. Moore asks him if he is some kind of liberal for his views on health care. I laughed when he said he was in the Conservative Party. Regardless of party affiliation in Canada, universal health care is accepted in Canada.

For those who argue that Moore has exaggerated the praise for Canada, perhaps that is so. But compared to the U.S. system, every consensus is that Canada's system is better. Nobody has argued otherwise. We could discuss how long some have to wait for elective surgeries or the tax impact (though Moore does address that in the movie).

Does Canada's program need improvement? Yes. Is it still better than the U.S. and can the U.S. learn from how Canada does things? Yes.

Canada, its health care, and SiCKO

I got a chance to see a sneak preview of the new Michael Moore film "SiCKO."

I don't want to spoil it for the many who want to see the movie. Needless to say, Canada is featured prominently in portraying a better-run health care system. Yes, Canada, like every industralized Western country (except for the U.S.) has free, universal health care. And yes, Canadians do pay for it through taxes.

Moore does focus on the tax issue somewhat, though I'm curious to hear from Canadians as to their experience. I know a couple of Canadians came up to Moore at Cannes and said the Canadian system wasn't as good as he made it out to be. Then again, when Moore offered to trade insurance cards, they refused.

I would argue, perhaps naively, that recent setbacks in Canadian health care is due to money being cutback from budgets.

There are precious Canadian moments that I will share once the movie opens nationwide. I will run my piece on Saturday morning at 12:01 a.m. CDT, so if you don't want it to be spoiled, see it Friday.

I will share one funny note during the credits: the offer that if you want to marry a Canadian for health care coverage, there is a Web site hook-a-canuck.com/. If you click on the site, it shows a picture of Josh Kanuck, "SiCKO" Assistant Editor, a play off his last name. But then you can click to find Canadian matchmaking services found online. I've thought about marrying a Canadian for that purpose (and to move up there).

Hillary's campaign song a nod to a Canadian

We are generally non-political at Canadian Corner, at least outside of Canada. We do love when the president of the U.S. has a warm relationship with Canada, makes visits, or even knows where Canada is.

But we do have to congratulate Canada's own Celine Dion, whose song "You and I" was selected as Hillary Clinton's campaign song.

The irony of picking a song by a Canadian is rich to us at Canadian Corner, though I don't suppose that many in the MSM will pick up on that. Then again, Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" (Bill Clinton's theme song) features both U.S. and British performers. Christine McVie, the song's writer and singer, is British.

So perhaps it doesn't matter. And this way, people will get to find out Celine Dion is Canadian.

Temporary reprieve on passports

Good news for your summer vacation in Canada!! If you are a U.S. resident who has applied for your passport, from now until the end of September, you can fly to Canada with a government-issued identification, such as a driver's license, and a receipt from a State Department Web site showing you have applied for a passport.

All the warnings we gave didn't help since there has been a mad dash to get passports.

At Canadian Corner, we think it's great to see an increased interest in passports and the international travel it provides. Hopefully, your view of traveling to Canada hasn't been deterred by these changes. If so, it's not Canada's fault. Just remember that.

Using the Internet to get Canadian content

This blog item (from the other blog in the empire, Balance of Food) does remind us that getting Canadian content is much easier thanks to the Internet.

I met a producer from the CBC who reminded me that even in the U.S., you can access good video through the Web site, such as this piece.

I have friends who would love to have a "CBC America" as it were. And they aren't as much into Canada as I am. They just want good quality news.

Once again, the Canadian team loses

Disappointment reigned for those who hoped the third time would be the charm. The third consecutive Stanley Cup featuring a Canadian-based team ends in the U.S.-based team winning the Cup.

Ottawa ran out of gas, or something, losing in 5 games to Anaheim after having played so well.

Having Canadian-based teams in the Stanley Cup has been great for Canada, but the drought of victories has been frustrating. Regardless of which Canadian team they root for, Canadians would like the Cup to reside north of the border.

But we do congratulate the Eastern Conference champs, the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa had a great team and played very well until the end.

NHL playoff update

All times listed are Eastern Daylight time. * if necessary

Stanley Cup Finals
Ottawa vs. Detroit/Anaheim
Anaheim wins series 4-1
Game 1: Anaheim 3, Ottawa 2
Game 2: Anaheim 1, Ottawa 0
Game 3: Ottawa 5, Anaheim 3
Game 4: Anaheim 3, Ottawa 2
Game 5: Anaheim 6, Ottawa 2

Eastern Conference
(4) Ottawa vs. (1) Buffalo
Ottawa wins series 4-1
Game 1: Ottawa 5, Buffalo 2
Game 2: Ottawa 4, Buffalo 3 (2 OT)
Game 3: Ottawa 1, Buffalo 0
Game 4: Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2
Game 5: Ottawa 3, Buffalo 2 (OT)

(4) Ottawa vs. (2) New Jersey
Ottawa wins series 4-1
Game 1: Ottawa 5, New Jersey 4
Game 2: New Jersey 3, Ottawa 2 (2 OT)
Game 3: Ottawa 2, New Jersey 0
Game 4: Ottawa 3, New Jersey 2
Game 5: Ottawa 3, New Jersey 2

(4) Ottawa vs. (5) Pittsburgh
Ottawa wins series 4-1
Game 1: Ottawa 6, Pittsburgh 3
Game 2: Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 3
Game 3: Ottawa 4, Pittsburgh 2
Game 4: Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1
Game 5: Ottawa 3, Pittsburgh 0

Western Conference
(3) Vancouver vs. (2) Anaheim
Anaheim wins series 4-1
Game 1: Anaheim 5, Vancouver 1
Game 2: Vancouver 2, Anaheim 1 (2 OT)
Game 3: Anaheim 3, Vancouver 2
Game 4: Anaheim 3, Vancouver 2 (OT)
Game 5: Anaheim 2, Vancouver 1 (2 OT)

(1) Detroit vs. (8) Calgary
Detroit wins series 4-2
Game 1: Detroit 4, Calgary 1
Game 2: Detroit 3, Calgary 1
Game 3: Calgary 3, Detroit 2
Game 4: Calgary 3, Detroit 2
Game 5: Detroit 5, Calgary 1
Game 6: Detroit 2, Calgary 1 (2 OT)

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Dallas
Vancouver wins series 4-3
Game 1: Vancouver 5, Dallas 4 (4 OT)
Game 2: Dallas 2, Vancouver 0
Game 3: Vancouver 2, Dallas 1 (OT)
Game 4: Vancouver 2, Dallas 1
Game 5: Dallas 1, Vancouver 0 (OT)
Game 6: Dallas 2, Vancouver 0
Game 7: Vancouver 4, Dallas 1

NBC does better once it gets to Ottawa

After all the justified teasing NBC received over its shameful Ottawa-Buffalo coverage, the network made Ottawa look sharp Saturday night.

There were beautiful shots of the river, nice displays of rabid Senators fans, and even a map of where Ottawa actually is. We noted that NBC is rarely in Canada's capital, and so even I could justify a map. Very nicely done.

The anthems were gorgeous. I noticed during last year's Stanley Cup in Edmonton that Western Canada tends to sing the whole anthem in English while most of Eastern Canada (especially around Quebec) sings the bilingual version.

So I'm sure some NBC viewers may have wondered where the subtitles were in the middle of the anthem. Ottawa rests on the Ontario/Quebec border with Hull, QC, being part of the Ottawa metropolitan area. So it is a very bilingual area.

The bilingual anthem caught me by surprise when I was in Montreal, singing it during an Expos game. I kept singing it in English because I could not have even tried it in French, unless I had the words written out. Even then, my accent would have been tres mal.

I could never imagine a scenario in the U.S. where the anthem would be loud as it was when the singer pointed the microphone away from himself, and you could still hear the crowd really well. I noticed this last year in Edmonton, too.

And hopefully, there won't be any bad blood between the two countries as they was with the San Jose incident when the Sharks fans booed the Canadian anthem.

Plus, Monday night, NBC said we will get to see Don Cherry on its airwaves during one of the intermissions. Set your recording device for that one. And if you've never seen Cherry do his stuff, you are in for a treat.

How hard is it to cross the Canada-U.S. border?

It can be a really easy experience or it may take a while. But if you have TB and you are on a list at the border, and your exposure is a significant health concern for everyone around you, hopefully crossing would be a hard task.

We all know by now the story of Andrew Speaker, who flew from Italy to Montreal and drove across the border at Champlain, NY rather than stay where he was or fly into the United States directly.

Forgotting the health issues and the inherent stubbornness, it actually was clever to enter the U.S. the way he did. When I first found out he flew to Canada and then made it across to the U.S., I assumed he flew to Toronto. I wasn't sure of any flight histories between Canada and Italy, but figured Toronto was the logical choice.

Perhaps Speaker, anticipating that pressure would be higher in Toronto and major crossings (e.g., Detroit/Windsor, Niagara Falls) would also have more pressure, picked an end-around, and found a city where it was less likely that he would be found, and a border crossing more likely to let him go through easily.

Being a personal injury lawyer might make it easier for him to seem cool at a border crossing. At the last crossing into Canada, I got asked how much money I had on me. And I didn't have TB.

Here at Canadian Corner, we have always subscribed to the idea that you never lie at customs, but how often are you asked, "Do you have a communicable disease?"

The thing to learn from this is that if you need to cross and not be caught, pick an obscure crossing area. Don't pick the Peace Bridge. Port Huron and Detroit are out. But you didn't hear that from us.

NBC travels north of the border, again

In the first time since the 2007 adaptation of "Heidi," NBC carries an Ottawa Senators game. The network makes its first appearance in Ottawa since ... since ... who knows.

I made a point last year that NBC hadn't been in Edmonton since the Eskimos were on during the NFL strike in 1982. Well, it's possible that the Ottawa Rough Riders were on back then. But I have no proof one way or another.

NBC will carry Games 3 and 4 from Ottawa. Since the May sweeps period is over, there should be no reason for the network to switch or do anything damaging to its already distorted image.

So let's see both anthems and plenty of shots of Ottawa. Let's showcase Canada's capital on NBC. But if I were watching in Buffalo, Detroit, Seattle, etc., I still might watch CBC, just in case.

Latest Canadian trip

I decided for as long as I am in the Midwest that at least once a year, preferably more, I will do a trip to Windsor.

I realize Windsor is considered the armpit of Canada and Southwestern Ontario. But I always discover new things, more than just the Windsor Ballet.

I made another trip to its Little Italy. Unlike Chicago's, Windsor's Little Italy is continuous and is a rather fun experience. I had a good dinner and a nice stroll. In fact, I strolled back to my hotel since the Little Italy is fairly close to downtown.

I also discovered the mall in Windsor. I wanted a hockey hat, and hockey hats are hard to find in the States. I found all I wanted at the mall.

I also did some food research, buying sweetened products that taste less sweet in Canada.

Canada tourism profiled in WSJ

This article, which may not last for long, examines Canada's rebranding. Despite my trips, Canada is receiving fewer U.S. visitors.

The 10 million ($C) package is designed to update Canada's image. Yes, Canada has its rugged adventure areas, but it does have world-class cities as well.

One thing that will hurt Canadian tourism from the U.S. is the value of the dollar. Above 90 cents at the moment, U.S. travelers won't get as much bang for their buck as they might be used to.

And having been up there recently, gas was running about $1.08/Canadian per liter, which even with the exchange rate, is more expensive than the U.S.

Ottawa vs. Anaheim in the finals

The headline could have read "Good vs. Evil" but that seemed mean.

Ottawa, the Canadian-based team, would be "Good." The Southern California team with the original nickname based on a Disney film, would be "evil."

But it is Canada vs. U.S. (again), frozen river vs. sunny beaches.

It's not good vs. evil, but it is a battle between having the Cup where it belongs vs. where it doesn't belong.

The fun starts Monday. Keep it here for details.

NBC pulls the plug

"We're in the middle of this exciting NHL contest going to overtime, one team's season on the line, but we're not going to show it to you because we'd rather show you PRE-GAME coverage of a horse race."

This was not the actual phrase used, but this was what happened Saturday when NBC bailed out of the Ottawa-Buffalo action after regulation.

Fortunately, I was in Windsor (across from Detroit, MI) watching the game on the CBC while on a brief vacation. In fact, I turned over to NBC just to see how its coverage was going, and I saw a feature on a horse. I thought "Oh, they must have lost its signal."

If I had been watching the game on U.S. soil, or taping it, I would have been beyond furious. Switching for the horse race itself, maybe I could understand. But PRE-GAME?!?

The long-term solution is digital TV, so when this comes about, one digital signal can carry hockey (ideally, the same stream that started the game) and one digital signal can carry horse racing coverage.

Many questions were asked as to whether NBC would have done this if the New York Rangers were playing the New Jersey Devils. I don't think there is an anti-Canadian bias, but it looks bad when Ottawa's celebration after scoring in the first overtime is moved from NBC to Versus, and NBC never even comes back to say "Here's what you missed."

The CBC would never have done something like that, regardless of who was playing.

Ottawa in the Stanley Cup

Congratulations to the Ottawa Senators, winners of the Eastern Conference. Most of Canada (hey, Toronto fans, jump on the bandwagon) is rooting for the Cup to come back to Canada.

This is the third straight year a Canadian-based team has reached the Stanley Cup finals. Calgary and Edmonton have done it the last 2 years.

Now, every Canadian-based team has made the Stanley Cup finals at least once. Every Canadian-based team has made it since 1994, when Montreal was the last Canadian-based team to win the Cup, except for Toronto.

There is a source of pride to keep the Cup in Canada and not have it go to the South (or Southern California).

Ottawa advances

Nice job and congrats to the Ottawa Senators, heading to the Eastern Conference finals. The Senators have only lost 2 games so far, rather impressive. The guarantee is that Ottawa will play a team from New York state. The Senators play the winner of the NY Rangers/Buffalo series. If the Rangers win, Ottawa is the home team; otherwise, a Buffalo win gives it home ice.

A Canadian-based team hasn't won since 1994 (Montreal). The modern Ottawa team has never won the Cup.

As far as the West goes, Canadian Corner is officially behind Detroit. The Red Wings get our Western Conference hearty endorsement for 2 good reasons: 1) Original 6 team, and 2) slightly more than a swim across the Detroit River from Canada. The Detroit metro area even has a CBC affiliate, CBET. In fact, good ol' Channel 9 carries Detroit Red Wings games when offered as a regional game on Hockey Night in Canada.

An Ottawa-Detroit Stanley Cup battle would be almost as good as it gets, and the best we can hope for now. Canadian Corner has similar feelings for Buffalo, given its proximity to the border, though Ottawa is more of a favorite than Buffalo.

Au Revoir, Vancouver, Toronto

And then there was Ottawa. The Senators are the only Canadian-based team left in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Anaheim was the favorite going in, and the Canucks had problems with injuries and a lack of scoring. The Canucks had a good year. But they know they need a lot more to get past the elite of the Western Conference.

So no more exposure of the great Pacific Northwest, and that is the saddest news of all.

The NBA saga wasn't a surprise, though the end was disappointing. No last shot at all. The Raptors are young, and it was nice having casual NBA fans see life north of the border.

Easten Conference
(3) Toronto vs. (6) New Jersey
New Jersey wins series 4-2
Game 1: New Jersey 96, Toronto 91
Game 2: Toronto 89, New Jersey 83
Game 3: New Jersey 102, Toronto 89
Game 4: New Jersey 102, Toronto 81
Game 5: Toronto 98, New Jersey 96
Game 6: New Jersey 98, Toronto 97

Bad weekend to be a Canadian-based team

Ottawa had a really nice comeback Saturday but couldn't pull it out in double overtime. Vancouver lost a nailbiter at home to Anaheim. And the Toronto Raptors are now down 3-1 in its series against New Jersey.

The Senators are in the best position, series tied at 1, going home for the first time in this series. The Canucks are not in good shape in its fight to stay alive, down 2-1 in the series. The Raptors are probably toast, a young, inexperienced team up against a solid ball club.

Keeping Canada's name alive in the playoffs is a tough, but noble, quest. Having Edmonton alive for as long as it was last summer was great publicity for the country. The Raptors have brought notice about Toronto and Canada to more casual basketball fans this time.

Right now, the best shot to advance to the next round is Ottawa, and they will likely have to play Buffalo, the consensus for best team in the NHL.

Second round begins

Ottawa won and Vancouver lost. Could have predicted that rather easily. You might not have predicted Ottawa would get off to a 4-0 lead. You would have predicted Vancouver would look tired, and they did.

It looks like all the games from here will air on Versus with U.S. feeds. I thought, maybe, Vancouver's Game 1 might be on the CBC feed. I was hoping Versus would come up with a way to show Game 1 for Ottawa. The best place to be might have been Detroit where you could have flipped back and forth between Detroit on Versus and Ottawa on CBC.

There is a scenario where Buffalo, Detroit, Ottawa, and Vancouver would be the Final Four. If Canadian teams don't make it, our next best scenario is teams near the border such as Buffalo and Detroit. In the above scenario, it would be a virtual no-lose situation.

If Detroit plays Anaheim, Canadian Corner will absolutely root for Detroit. If Buffalo plays New Jersey, Canadian Corner will absolutely root for Buffalo. But our goal is for the Stanley Cup to reside in Canada.

Ottawa, Vancouver advance; Calgary is gone

Was it the old-school blue and green uniforms? Was it the leadership of the "old" man Trevor Linden and his game-winning goal?

Well, it was something as Vancouver advances to the next round with a deceiving 4-1 win over Dallas. The Canucks scored 2 empty netters at the end.

Vancouver now plays Anaheim and will start on the road Wednesday.

The other Canadian-based team to advance, Ottawa will play New Jersey. The Devils eliminated Tampa Bay on Sunday.

No Southern team will win the Stanley Cup. Dallas had the last shot.

Calgary embarassed itself in Game 5 on multiple levels. The Flames gave it a gallant try in Game 6, but couldn't pull it out against a more-talented Red Wings team.

The next round of the playoffs start Wednesday. All of the Vancouver series will air in the U.S. The same can not be said for Ottawa: Game 1 will not air in the U.S. and possibly Game 7. Unbelievable!! Anyone who thinks the NHL has a good TV deal in the States is in serious denial.

Hopefully, somehow, on tape-delay or something, all the games will be available. If there are changes, we will post them here on Canadian Corner. All the games will air in Canada on a combination of CBC, TSN and RDS.

Please don't let Vancouver choke

Snake-bit would be an understatement if Vancouver blows a 3-1 lead. Yes, Dallas and Vancouver are fairly well-matched. But when a 3 seed blows a 3-1 series lead and is forced to play a Game 7, it looks bad even if they win the series.

There were high hopes for the Canucks: a hot goalie in Roberto Luongo and a team hungry for success. You knew Ottawa would have some success, for Calgary, you were hopeful for any success. You hoped for much more than just getting out of the first round for Vancouver.

Even though the Canucks haven't scored a goal since game 4, it is still very likely Vancouver will advance. The Canucks are on home ice Monday night. The crowd, perhaps hungrier than the players for success, will be in a white-towel waving frenzy.

The sad part is by Tuesday morning, we could be down to one Canadian-based hockey team. If Calgary wins Sunday night, Game 7 will be Tuesday.

As for the second round, if New Jersey wins its series, Ottawa will play the Devils. Ottawa would be the lower seed in the matchup, so it would open on the road. Buffalo would then play the New York Rangers.

Provided the Canucks advance, Vancouver would play Anaheim if Detroit win its series, San Jose if Calgary pulls off the upset. Provided the Flames advance, Calgary would play Anaheim.

There are a few basic goals in the NHL playoffs: Advance as many Canadian-based teams as far as they can go, give props to the Original 6, and make sure no Southern teams win the Cup. The last two years, Tampa Bay and Carolina have won the Cup. The New Jersey Devils in 2003 were the last non-Southern team to win. If Tampa Bay is eliminated and Dallas loses to Vancouver, the Stanley Cup shall not rise in the South, a good thing for hockey.

Toronto Raptors start playoffs today

It is almost guaranteed we here at Canadian Corner will cover the NHL playoffs since Canadian-based teams are extremely likely to make the playoffs. After all, Canadian-based teams make up 20% of the league.

Much less likely is our coverage of the NBA playoffs, since the Canadian-based team is 3% of the league. After the Grizzlies moved from Vancouver, Toronto is the only team left. And for the first time since 2002, the Raptors are in the playoffs.

The Raptors are Atlantic Division champions and will play the New Jersey Nets. Vince Carter, perhaps the team's best-known franchise player, now plays for New Jersey. This is the first division crown for Toronto.

The TV coverage will be spotty at best. NBA TV is a digital cable channel I don't even get. All the games should be available nationwide on cable in Canada. A game here and there could air in the states on ABC, though Toronto will likely have to advance to the next round for that to happen.

In the NBA culture, Toronto is out there whereas Toronto has fit in well in the MLB culture. So little attention will be paid to Toronto unless they do something huge in the postseason.

No more U.S. newspaper bureaus in Canada

Great article about a sad topic. Now no major newspaper will have a reporter stationed in Canada. The Washington Post was the last major newspaper with a reporter (Doug Struck).

The article makes a great point that the States could learn a lot simply by seeing how Canada deals with the problems of the world. It is an American trait to think we do things the best way and we couldn't learn from anyone else.

Well, Canada deals with the same issues, they are in North America, and most of them speak English.

The Associated Press still "maintains a full-time bureau." But Canada is a large country to cover under those circumstances.

The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and other major newspapers have reporters across the world: London, Paris, Moscow, the Middle East and more. But they can't be bothered to have one reporter in Toronto or Vancouver.

Well, we may not be a fancy bureau, but we will continue to write about Canada here at the Canadian Corner.

Triple Canadian win

Ottawa and Vancouver look very good to advance to the next round. Each team eeked out a 2-1 win on road ice and both go home to try to clinch.

When you only have 3 of the 16 teams, it looks bad if you can't even get 2 into the next round.

The third team, Calgary, did survive, winning on home ice over Detroit. The CBC feed of this game was carried in the States on Versus. The impression given is that the West Coast games in this round are more likely to get a CBC feed.

I don't think Ottawa will be shown with the CBC feed for one simple reason: Sidney Crosby. If you don't know who Crosby is, you might not be paying any attention to hockey. Crosby plays for Pittsburgh, in his first playoff series, and not old enough to drink legally in the States.

The U.S. hockey media is obsessed with getting Crosby as much as ice time as they can. So we knew every game in the Ottawa series would be on Versus with no CBC feed, and not because it's Ottawa. The Senators will win this series and perhaps do really well. Soon the U.S. media might pick up on that fact.

Changes to GST/HST Visitor Rebate Program

One of the joys of traveling to Canada from the U.S. has been getting rebates on the GST and HST on major purchases you made (e.g., hotel rooms).

Unfortunately, on March 19, the GST/HST Visitor Rebate Program was sacked in favor of the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program.

Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) are the provincial taxes comarable to the state and local taxes in the U.S. They are generally more punishing than the U.S. ones, then again, you get what you pay for. Since U.S. visitors are not citizens, it was felt that in certain situations, they shouldn't have to pay them. But even for me, it's complicated.

Visitor rebate claims filed, to recover GST/HST on purchases of goods and short-term accommodations made after March 31, 2007, will be held by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) until the legislation has passed.

The bottom line is you may not get back as much as you used to do, but check out the details here to see what you can get back in the future.

First CBC game in the postseason

Just when you wondered whether Versus would carry a CBC feed, we were greeted with Jim Huson and Harry Neale from Dallas. It was the 3rd game of the day, so it was an ideal spot for a CBC feed.

I realize no U.S. TV setup will ever match the CBC (or TSN), but the difference is huge. I would think the average hockey fan would appreciate the sport more if they had the CBC feed year-round.

Still, we have been able to see more Canadian-based teams in the playoffs. Given the rarity at which they aired during the regular season, the playoffs give you our first national looks at Ottawa, Calgary, and Vancouver.

Calgary is going to have a rough series with Detroit. Edmonton won 2 of the first 3 last year, so the Red Wings, up 2-0 in the series, is already at an advantage over last year.

Ottawa and Vancouver look quite strong. The Canucks are now 19-3 in OT games this season, and 2-0 in the playoffs. You must think the Stars would be scared at OT.

Versus seems to be treating the playoffs more seriously this year. But even if they run it tape-delayed from the CBC Vancouver feed in the middle of the night, it should still run Game 4 of the Dallas-Vancouver series.

Calgary loses Game 1

Detroit suffered the humiliation of being the #1 seed and losing in the first round last year to a team from Alberta (Edmonton). This year, the Red Wings are the #1 seed and playing a team from Alberta (Calgary). The Red Wings aren't as good as they were last year, but they are not going to overlook any team from Alberta.

All times listed are Eastern Daylight time. * if necessary

Eastern Conference
(4) Ottawa vs. (5) Pittsburgh
Ottawa 1-0
Game 1: at Ottawa 6, Pittsburgh 3
Game 2: Saturday, April 14 3p at Ottawa (CBC, NBC)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15 6p at Pittsburgh (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 17 7p at Pittsburgh (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 5: Thursday, April 19 7p at Ottawa* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 6: Sunday, April 22 7p at Pittsburgh* (NBC, CBC)
Game 7: Tuesday, April 24 7p at Ottawa* (VERSUS, CBC)

Western Conference
(1) Detroit vs. (8) Calgary
Detroit 1-0
Game 1: at Detroit 4, Calgary 1
Game 2: Sunday, April 15 1p at Detroit (NBC, CBC)
Game 3: Tuesday, April 17 10p at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 4: Thursday, April 19 TBD at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 5: Saturday, April 21 3p at Detroit* (NBC, CBC)
Game 6: Sunday, April 22 TBD at Calgary* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 7: Tuesday, April 24 TBD at Detroit* (CBC, VERSUS)

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Dallas
Vancouver 1-0
Game 1: at Vancouver 5, Dallas 4 (4 OT)
Game 2: Friday, April 13 9p at Vancouver (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15 9:30p at Dallas (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 17 8p at Dallas (CBC [JIP])
Game 5: Thursday, April 19 TBD at Vancouver* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 6: Saturday, April 21 8p at Dallas* (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 7: Monday, April 23 TBD at Vancouver* (CBC, VERSUS)

Ottawa, Vancouver take early leads

Ottawa and Vancouver did as expected and got off to a flying start in the NHL playoffs. The Senators scored 2 quick early goals to easily put away Pittsburgh 6-3.

Roberto Luongo's first playoff game will always be memorable. The Canucks goalie had 72 saves as Vancouver edged Dallas 5-4 in the 4th overtime period. No goofy shootouts in playoff hockey.

The Sedin twins were the heroes at the end. Henrik Sedin took a pass from his brother Daniel and scored at 18:06 (for neophyte hockey fans, 18:06 means that amount of time into a 20-minute period, so there was 1:54 left in that period when he scored).

In the U.S., we have the coverage on Versus, though it is not nearly as good as the CBC. The Versus crew couldn't even get the scorer of the first goal within the TV frame.

I wasn't even sure we'd get an American feed for these games. Versus is very reluctant to travel north of the border for coverage. So for the first time all season, Ottawa and Vancouver were featured on Versus, and at home as well.

It's difficult to build momentum when you wait until the playoffs to introduce two of the top teams in the league.

One treat you get with the CBC coverage has been Coaches Corner with Don Cherry. The bombastic former coach is part John Madden, part Terry Bradshaw, and part something you can't translate into American. He is a treat in the in-between periods segments.

Cherry is also going to do some work for NBC, giving the American audience a peek into this controversial personna. Hopefully, he won't have to tone it down for the Americans.

All times listed are Eastern Daylight time. * if necessary

Eastern Conference
(4) Ottawa vs. (5) Pittsburgh
Ottawa 1-0
Game 1: at Ottawa 6, Pittsburgh 3
Game 2: Saturday, April 14 3p at Ottawa (CBC, NBC)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15 6p at Pittsburgh (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 17 7p at Pittsburgh (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 5: Thursday, April 19 7p at Ottawa* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 6: Sunday, April 22 7p at Pittsburgh* (NBC, CBC)
Game 7: Tuesday, April 24 7p at Ottawa* (VERSUS, CBC)

Western Conference
(1) Detroit vs. (8) Calgary
Game 1: Thursday, April 12 7p at Detroit (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 2: Sunday, April 15 1p at Detroit (NBC, CBC)
Game 3: Tuesday, April 17 10p at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 4: Thursday, April 19 TBD at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 5: Saturday, April 21 3p at Detroit* (NBC, CBC)
Game 6: Sunday, April 22 TBD at Calgary* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 7: Tuesday, April 24 TBD at Detroit* (CBC, VERSUS)

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Dallas
Vancouver 1-0
Game 1: at Vancouver 5, Dallas 4 (4 OT)
Game 2: Friday, April 13 9p at Vancouver (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15 9:30p at Dallas (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 17 8p at Dallas (CBC [JIP])
Game 5: Thursday, April 19 TBD at Vancouver* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 6: Saturday, April 21 8p at Dallas* (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 7: Monday, April 23 TBD at Vancouver* (CBC, VERSUS)

NHL playoff schedules are set

Here are the Canadian teams and when they will play in the first round. For the complete first-round schedule, go to nhl.com.

All times listed are Eastern Daylight time. * if necessary

Coverage in Canada airs on CBC, TSN, and RDS. Coverage in the United States airs on VERSUS, and weekend games on NBC.

Other media notes: Games on NBC may be offered on a regional basis, so check your local NBC affiliate if you aren't sure which game will be carried. No word on whether NBC stations will offer different game feeds on its digital signals, but it might not hurt to ask politely.

As for Game 4 in the Vancouver/Dallas series, the JIP indicator may not apply to CBC on the West Coast, especially CBUT/Vancouver. You may have to politely ask your local CBC station. Apparently, no one in the U.S. will carry the game.

And yes, Games 2 and 5 in the Detroit/Calgary series will be available over-the-air on NBC on WDIV/Detroit and CBC on CBET/Windsor. In Detroit, you will have your choice; you probably know which one I would pick.

Eastern Conference
(4) Ottawa vs. (5) Pittsburgh
Game 1: Wednesday, April 11 7p at Ottawa (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 2: Saturday, April 14 3p at Ottawa (CBC, NBC)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15 6p at Pittsburgh (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 17 7p at Pittsburgh (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 5: Thursday, April 19 7p at Ottawa* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 6: Sunday, April 22 7p at Pittsburgh* (NBC, CBC)
Game 7: Tuesday, April 24 7p at Ottawa* (VERSUS, CBC)

Western Conference
(1) Detroit vs. (8) Calgary
Game 1: Thursday, April 12 7p at Detroit (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 2: Sunday, April 15 1p at Detroit (NBC, CBC)
Game 3: Tuesday, April 17 10p at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 4: Thursday, April 19 TBD at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 5: Saturday, April 21 3p at Detroit* (NBC, CBC)
Game 6: Sunday, April 22 TBD at Calgary* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 7: Tuesday, April 24 TBD at Detroit* (CBC, VERSUS)

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) Dallas
Game 1: Wednesday, April 11 10p at Vancouver (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 2: Friday, April 13 9p at Vancouver (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 3: Sunday, April 15 9:30p at Dallas (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 4: Tuesday, April 17 8p at Dallas (CBC [JIP])
Game 5: Thursday, April 19 TBD at Vancouver* (CBC, VERSUS)
Game 6: Saturday, April 21 8p at Dallas* (VERSUS, CBC)
Game 7: Monday, April 23 TBD at Vancouver* (CBC, VERSUS)

NHL playoffs set

There have been a few e-mails that ask an obvious question: "Why is it important about whether Canadian teams make the NHL playoffs? Shouldn't it just be about which teams are the best?"

Theoretically, it shouldn't matter. But it does. One obvious reason is that Canadians have a certain pride in their sport. Canadian teams used to dominate, but now they don't. Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto entered this week begging for the worst seed in the playoffs. Edmonton would need a high-powered flashlight just to see 9th place in the conference.

The other reason is that Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner, has a strong anti-Canadian bias. Every Canadian team that squeaks in is once less American team, and if that makes Bettman shed a tear, the world is a better place. Besides, Edmonton barely made it as the 8 seed and came one game away from truly making Bettman cry: having to present the Stanley Cup to a Canadian team. He hasn't had to do it yet, but there is hope.

On Saturday night, Toronto eliminated Montreal 6-5 from playoff contention. Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs were eliminated on Sunday by the Islanders shootout win.

In the Eastern Conference, the lone Canadian representative is Ottawa at the #4 seed with 105 points. A far cry from last year's #1 seed mark, the Senators will play the upstart Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the Western Conference, Vancouver won the Northwest Division with 105 points, gaining the #3 seed (division winners get the top 3 seeds regardless of how many points). Calgary gets the #8 seed with 96 points.

Playoffs start Wednesday. I might even be able to see the first couple of games on the CBC, thanks to the preview package of MLB and NHL. Schedules are posted above; keep it here at Canadian Corner for all the updates.

Last Stanley Cup win

	Team	Year
	Montreal	1993
	Edmonton	1990
	Calgary	1989
	Toronto	1967
	Vancouver	Never
	Ottawa	Never

So here are the Canadian-based teams, the seeds, and who they will play:

Eastern Conference

	Team	Seed	First-Round Opponent
	Ottawa	4	Pittsburgh

Western Conference

	Team	Seed	First-Round Opponent
	Vancouver	3	Dallas
	Calgary	8	Detroit

NHL sneak peek after all

Thanks to MLB, the NHL preview is back, and hopefully through April 15, which includes the first few days of the playoffs. This reversal is best explained here.

The news is really good to hear because the last spot in the East could come down to Montreal and Toronto. And the Canadiens are in Toronto tonight for the last regular season game of the year. If the Habs win, they are in as the 8 seed. If Toronto wins, they have to hope for a New York Islanders loss.

In the long storied history of both of these Original 6 franchises, they never have met in the season's final game with a playoff berth on the line for both.

So as part of the CBC tripleheader, Montreal and Toronto battle in the East (Game 2), Vancouver looks to clinch the division title against San Jose (Game 1), and Calgary tries to nail down the 8th seed (Game 3).

Playoffs start April 11, and Canadian Corner will help you keep track of all the Canadian teams.

No sneak peek into NHL this year

Thanks to the greedy idiots at MLB, I am deprived of NHL games this week.

That probably doesn't make sense, but when MLB games were available in a cable package, they would show the first week of MLB for free. They are on the same channels as the NHL, so those NHL games would also be free.

I could watch NHL games from the CBC and TSN, and see cool Canadian commercials. But this year, I am out of luck.

Yes, I could purchase the NHL package, especially since the Versus/NBC deal shows as few Canadian teams as possible. Consider that Edmonton, which came 1 game away from a Stanley Cup victory, could not be seen at all on either Versus or NBC.

So in the exciting last week of the NHL season, I get games that have nothing to do with the final playoff chase. If it weren't for MLB's greed for taking things to DirecTV (which I can't get at all, Bud Selig), I would bring you fun NHL notes. So thanks, Bud, once again for nothing.

Toronto Raptors in playoffs

Stephen Colbert's least favorite NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, are in the playoffs.

This is a big deal. The Raptors are in the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The franchise, hobbled by expansion and bizarre anti-Canadian rulings from the NBA (the only teams denied a chance at the first pick were Toronto and Vancouver [now Memphis]. Allan Iverson could have been a Toronto Raptor, but the NBA prevented it.).

Toronto has only won one postseason round in its history in the spring of 2001, beating the New York Knicks 3 games to 2.

Here at Canadian Corner, we will keep track of the Raptors postseason run as well as the NHL franchises from Canada. As of right now, with a week to go in the season, Ottawa and Montreal are in and Toronto is barely out. In the West, Vancouver and Calgary are in and Edmonton, last year's Stanley Cup finalist, is way out.

Canadian judge allows marijuana for inmate

A sentence you wouldn't hear in the U.S. but did happen in Canada...

A judge ruled that a medical marijuana activist in Calgary should receive access to marijuana while behind bars. Grant Krieger suffers from multiple sclerosis and has legal permission to smoke marijuana for medical purposes.

Krieger was sentenced to four months in jail for trafficking in marijuana.

Canada is a lot more relaxed about marijuana than the U.S. A bill to effectively decriminalize had a chance while the Liberals were in power, but hasn't been brought up since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister.

HNIC remains on CBC

This story is most relevant for those who live near the Canadian border and receive the CBC either through an antenna or cable.

The CBC and the NHL announced a extension to keep Hockey Night in Canada on the CBC until 2014.

The CBC has suffered a few blows lately, losing the CFL after this upcoming season as well as the 2010 Olympics, both going to the TSN sports cable network and CTV. (CTV owns the Canadian part of TSN, with ESPN owning the rest.)

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is currently in its 54th season on television.

You can't get TSN unless you live in Canada, and in most markets near the border, you can't get CTV nearly as well as the CBC. In Detroit, you only need a cheap antenna to get Channel 9 (CBET - Windsor). Even Seattle cable subscribers can get CBUT/Channel 2 in Vancouver.

The CBC is a great window for those who live along the border to get a great peek into the Canadian world. And hockey is truly part of that world.

Canadians love vinegar

Yes, vinegar and fries is a delight most Canadians love. It's a British thing. Except in French Canada, poutine is fries with cheese curds and gravy.

Columnist John Kass of the Chicago Tribune wrote a nice "homage" to Canadians. Chicago is the site where Conrad Black is on trial. If you don't live in Chicago or Canada, you probably don't know who he is.

Anyway, there are a bunch of Canadian journalists in the city covering the trial. So Kass wrote his thoughts on Canadians. Some of them are charming and a bit overstated. But here at Canadian Corner, you get perspectives from someone who knows and loves Canada. It's fun to see how other Americans view Canada.

In case you can't access the full article (the newspaper requires free registration):

Today, I ask all readers to slip a bottle of malt vinegar in their purse or pocket, or those mini-packs of white vinegar--in case you run into a Canadian who has just ordered french fries.

They'll no doubt ask for vinegar for their "chips" and we don't serve it that way, which will induce panic among them.

Canadians insist that we Americans are the loudest people in restaurants, but if you ever see a Canadian suffering vinegar withdrawal, you'd notice their lips pucker up as they twitch, stubbornly determined not to be loud like Americans, which only increases their pain.

So, if you see a Canadian hunched over a plate of fries having a silent panic attack, please reach over, without asking, and surprise them. Sprinkle vinegar on that stranger's spuds and say, "Welcome to Chicago, eh?"

Windsor is not that bad

We heard the jokes, even those who don't know much about Canada know about Windsor.

I figure this is where the "Windsor Ballet" came into the lexicon. As proof when defending Windsor, the "Windsor Ballet" is tauted as being an example of culture in the mostly blue-collar city. However, if you click on the link, you will know the real meaning of the "ballet."

By Canadian standards, Windsor may not be so great, but it is a fun city located next to a still-large metropolis across the Detroit River (Detroit).

The Colbert Report took a shot at Windsor last night. Stephen was talking about the worst places in the world when "Windsor, Ontario" came up on the screen.

Having been there numerous times, I like going there and staying there. When I visited Detroit last May, I deliberately stayed in Windsor. Cheaper room, better nightlife, and I felt safer.

So Windsor may not be Toronto, but at least it's not Detroit.

Canada will also move its clocks

Yes, the parts of Canada that observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) will make its adjustments along with the United States.

The U.S. government recently passed a law changing the DST parameters from the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October to the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.

When the U.S. passed the law, there was some question as to whether Canada will go along. Given the economic relationship, 3-4 weeks with different time zones would have way too unusual.

There are a few anamolies to the DST switch in Canada. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the change is made to Daylight Saving Time at 12:01 a.m. instead of 2 a.m. Also, most of Saskatchewan does not move its clocks, a similar pattern to the American states of Arizona and Hawaii (and until recently, most of Indiana).

The extension of a week has made sense for years to allow an extra hour of light for Halloween trick-or-treaters. Whether the 3 weeks extra on the front end will be helpful remains a debate to be determined.

Canada did not go to Vietnam

Ask yourself honestly: Did you know Canada didn't send troops to Vietnam?

Think about it for a second. Why were draft dodgers going to Canada if Canada sent people to Vietnam?

I ask this because I ran across this video. It's an interview with Ann Coulter on the CBC show "Fifth Estate." No matter which side of the political glass you reside, Coulter has told plenty of untruths.

In the interview, she says Canada sent troops to Vietnam. Watch carefully when she is told that she is wrong. She literally can't deal with the fact that she is wrong.

I know a lot of Americans don't know much about Canada, but if you're in politics, you should know that Canada did not fight in Vietnam.

Canada is 7th in tourist destination: report

In picking world destinations, you have at least 124 choices. Of those, Canada ranked 7th in the Geneva-based World Economic Forum's first ever Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report.

The country scored well for its travel and tourism infrastructure.

Criticisms included needing to reduce air ticket taxes (definitely true) and offering a friendlier face to visitors from abroad. The second part surprises me: I have been treated very well by Canadians. Admittedly, I seem like I know what I am doing.

Canada placed above the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Australia, and New Zealand. Topping the list was Switzerland, followed by Austria, Germany, Iceland, the United States, and Hong Kong.

Restoring Rights in Canada

When people say there isn't much difference between the U.S. and Canada, they don't see the subtleties.

The 9-0 Canadian Supreme Court decision struck down a law used to detain foreign-born terrorism suspects indefinitely.

"The overarching principle of fundamental justice that applies here is this: before the state can detain people for significant periods of time, it must accord them a fair judicial process," wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

This would seem to be a decision that would have been made by the Warren Court about 50 years ago, perhaps even in a 9-0 decision.

The New York Times editorial paints a broader picture of the difference between the two countries, especially in the Maher Arar case.

Passport exceptions, if you're under 16 years old

Good news in your U.S.-Canada travel, but only if you are under 16 years old. Both U.S. and Canadian children will be exempt from new rules requiring passports when entering the United States.

Those children will need parental consent and will still need certified copies of their birth certificates.

Also, U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 16 through 18 traveling with school, religious, cultural, or athletic groups and under adult supervision can also get by with birth certificates.

It's definitely great to see exceptions made to ease the transition. I confess I would get a passport even for a child, since it never hurts. Traveling with certified copies of birth certificates seems more daunting than a passport that can be replaced if lost or stolen.

Way to learn more of Canadian culture

We don't normally endorse other Web sites, and we have no connection to this one. But in running across www.missyoucanada.ca, we figured it was a good way to take a peek into Canadian pop culture, if you are from the States, and a way to see what you used to have, if you're from Canada and live in the States.

You can find products exclusive to Canada. I have talked with a number of ex-pats with fond memories of food items that loved back home but can't find in stores in the U.S. They may be products you might recognize from visits to Canada.

Police kick it all off in Canada

The Police, a combination of Brits and Americans, start off their return to the stage in Canada, specifically GM Place in Vancouver.

In fact, there are now 2 shows (May 28 and May 30). Montreal and Toronto are also on the Police's tour list.

Don't know why they picked Vancouver, but late May is a pretty time to be in that part of the world.

Canadian government misrepresent Gore remarks

Al Gore and Stephen Harper rarely get mentioned in the same sentence. Gore is pro-environment and the Conservative Party, well, hasn't been pro-environment.

This article notes the issue of Harper's government trying to use Gore's words to its advantage and Gore calling them on it.

The Harper government will likely come up for election soon, perhaps this spring. And it wants to show some progress on the environment. The Liberal Party, the major rival, has a strong pro-environment track record. A generalization, perhaps, but Canadians seem to care more about their environment than Americans do.

Making it easier for Canadians to come to U.S.

Oh, the nightmare of the passport issue continues. . .

This article notes that the Canadian side is working hard to decrease the excuses not to travel back and forth between the two countries.

The Nexus card referred to in the story doesn't seem all that less expensive than a passport, only lasts 5 years, and only works in the U.S. I confess I might be missing the advantages to this card. But at least a government official of either country is trying to do something.

New proposal to make it easier to cross border

I don't have much faith in this proposal, but it's good to see someone is thinking about easier ways to deal with the passport issue between U.S. and Canada.

For numerous reasons, Americans (and yes, Canadians) are skittish about passports. To claim cost is an issue surprises me, since it averages out to about $10/year, but I know cost affects people. $10 is less than a carton of cigarettes and about 2 Starbucks drinks.

Stephen Jr. back in the States

There has been some criticism that we spend too much time on Stephen Colbert. But few shows on U.S. TV focus as much on Canada as Colbert does. Plus, news items are a bit slow right now.

Amazingly, the eagle known as Stephen Jr. has returned to the United States. On December 7, 2006, Stephen Jr. was still on Canadian soil. But now, he is in southwestern Washington state.

What made him come back? Well, it could be as simple as migration. Could be the horrible weather in southwestern British Columbia. Or maybe it was the fishes a few Colbert fans held up to lure the bird back to the States. Colbert had asked viewers in Bellingham to lure the eagle with fish.

Colbert teased Canada as not being the best place for his adopted eagle son. The Colbert Report airs in Canada on the Comedy Channel and CTV as well as Comedy Central in the U.S.

You can track previous adventures with Stephen Jr. here, here, and here.

Stephen Colbert gets day in Oshawa

For those following the saga with Colbert and "his" Saginaw Spirit, the Spirit beat the Oshawa Generals 5-4. The win gives Colbert the win in the bet he made with Oshawa, Ontario mayor John Gray.

So Stephen Colbert will get a day in his honor in Oshawa, Ontario. The day will be March 20, the birthday of Gray. Gray wanted the day on Colbert's birthday, but Colbert shifted the focus to Gray's birthday.

Unless Colbert is off that week, he won't be able to be there in person, but I'm sure Oshawa will get its day in the sun when Colbert gets his day.

Oshawa rests on the northern bank of Lake Ontario, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Toronto.

Today is the day... your life will really change

With deep apologies to The The, if you are trying to get back into the U.S. from Canada by air without the passport, you won't forget the experience.

I won't yell and scream about this -- if you are trying to get a passport, you just may not have received it yet. Get it soon and plan a trip.

If you haven't tried, it's not that difficult, it's an investment in your ability to make a trip to beautiful places. We here at Canadian Corner obviously think Canada has many beautiful places to go.

Denny Doherty 1940-2006

Unlike Glenn Ford and Yvonne DeCarlo, I did know Denny Doherty was Canadian. Born in Halifax, he was a part of the Montreal scene in the early 1960s before his rise with the Mamas and Papas.

Doherty always seemed the quiet one in the group. We knew about Mama Cass and who could forget John and Michelle Phillips. But Doherty was crucial to the success of the group: California Dreamin' and Monday Monday were tracks where Doherty shined.

I was reminded that Doherty was Canadian when I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The Mamas and the Papas were inducted into the museum in 1998.

So farewell, Denny. Your music will live on.

U.S. entertainers can have trouble at border

For U.S. entertainers used to getting their way, they are not always thrilled with having to deal with the border patrol. This Toronto Star article discusses this issue.

While the article focuses mostly on rap artists, we can't forget the Martha Stewart incident in October 2005 when she needed a special permit to enter Canada to shoot a pumpkin festival in Nova Scotia for her talk show.

Convicted felons need permission as do DUI offenders (e.g., U.S. President George W. Bush). Unlike regular people, celebrities do get exceptions.

Profile on Canadian food

For those who might not think there is such a thing as "Canadian food" should read this piece in the Washington Post. There is much more to Canadian cuisine than poutine.

Like the U.S., there are regional favorites. This seems especially true when it comes to not so much French fries, but what you put on them.

Ontario = mayonnaise
Quebec = poutine
British Columbia = vinegar

Yes, ketchup is prominent, too. Then again, I think Canadian ketchup tastes better than U.S. ketchup (no high-fructose corn syrup in Canada).

Using another country's money

When you travel in Canada anywhere near the border, your U.S. money is welcome. Just about anybody will take the greenback. Though in the old days, given the then-value, Canadians would have been really happy for U.S. money.

You won't get a good exchange rate using U.S. money in Canada, but you can use it. Try paying with Canadian money in downtown Detroit, even with the current exchange rate, they might call the cops. It can't be done.

Now, there's a story of a pizza place in Dallas that takes Mexican pesos. The controversy appears to be more tie into immigration than accepting another country's money.

I'm curious as to whether pesos are accepted in cities such as El Paso or even San Diego. There are a few border businesses that will take Canadian money. If you have a good border money story, pass the word on to us.

Canadian company on U.S. arena advertising

One of the joys of watching hockey is seeing the local businesses featured on the boards. Games in Canada have their own unique set of companies, but more than likely, appearances by Canadian companies are limited to Canadian venues.

Well, we may be onto something here in Washington, D.C. at the Verizon Center. This anecdote shows how much Canadians love hockey.

We pick this up from the chat by the Washington Post by staff writer Tarik El-Bashir:

Caps in Canada: I am wondering how many people around North America have been tuning into Caps games. Did you notice the recent addition of the Pizza Pizza logo on the boards? The closest Pizza Pizza location is Niagra Falls, Ontario. That has to tell you something about Canadians watching the Caps on Center Ice.

Tarik El-Bashir: Man, you have good eyes. I've noticed that, too. I'm told that the Caps have "excess inventory" (a.k.a. empty spaces on the boards). So they sell those Pizza Pizza ads for Canadian telecasts.

Now can I ask you a question? I've been driving by those joints in Canada for years. Never stopped. Am I missing something?

Are Canadian coins spying on U.S.

Canada does have more coins than the U.S., the $1 loonie and $2 toonie coins being more prominent than the various U.S. dollar coins.

However, the U.S. Defense Department has cautioned its American contractors over Canadian coins with tiny radio frequency transmitters hidden inside.

The government said the mysterious coins were found on U.S. contractors with classified security clearances on at least three separate occasions between October 2005 and January 2006. This happened while the contractors traveled through Canada.

No one is accusing the Canadians of doing the spying. But if someone is spying, they seem to think the Canadian coins would not be suspected. Then again, the CIA has acknowledged using hollow, U.S. silver-dollar coins to hide messages and film.

I think the average citizen has nothing to fear when carrying around Canadian money. I know many travelers who are barely or briefly into Canada won't even exchange money for Canadian money (not for that reason). They would rather pay a bad exchange rate for purchases than be bothered. Part of the joys of traveling are playing with different money.

Yes, 'Lily Munster' was Canadian

Similar to the theme when Glenn Ford died, we discover in death that Yvonne De Carlo was Canadian.

She was born Peggy Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver, British Columbia.

While being known in the land of TV as Lily Munster, she had quite a movie career in her 84 years. She was Moses' wife in "The Ten Commandments." Other prominent films included her sultry femme fatale "Salome, Where She Danced" (1945), "Slave Girl" (1947), "Criss Cross" (1949), and "Band of Angels" (1957).

As a true tribute to her, I prefer to run a picture of what she really looked like, under the Munster makeup. Thanks, Yvonne.

Good to see Red Green again

Loss and gain in Canadian programming...

Lost: The local public radio station dropped "As It Happens" from its weekday lineup. I can still listen online at CBC radio, but it's not the same.

Gain: "The New Red Green Show" is back on my television. I'm not clear on what makes it "new," especially since the shows are no longer being done. Red Green has a special place in conveying Canada. Even if people I meet have no idea about Canada, they know about Red Green and Possum Lodge.

The program is not deep, characters are easy to follow, and problems get solved with duct tape. But it feels cozy.

Between "The Newsroom," Red Green, and my Twitch City DVD collection, I can pretend through the magic of TV of being in the Great White North.

Successful International Bowl

The first U.S. college football games outside the U.S. in 70 years can be considered a rousing success. The University of Cincinnati Bearcats edged the Western Michigan University Broncos 27-24 to win the first International Bowl at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The better news was a crowd of 26,717 fans who showed up to watch the game. That crowd sounds small, but given that there wasn't much prep time, the newness of the sport in Canada, it was better than expected.

The crowd was just under what the CFL Toronto Argonauts draw on average.

With another year under their belts, they should do even better.

Happy New Year

When the clock hits 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles, California and Vancouver, British Columbia, it's midnight in North America, specifically Newfoundland and Labrador. Newfoundland and Labrador are 1/2 hour ahead of Atlantic Standard Time.

So what kind of year will we have in Canada? More strange weather in British Columbia? A Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup? A federal election?

Of those three choices, the most likely is a federal election. When and where are the beauty of the Canadian political system. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will try and position that move to the best of his abilities. But the Liberals have a leader and a new direction. The Bloc Quebecois (and the Liberals) are itching to gain back their lost seats in Quebec. And Harper wants a majority.

It's seem fairly safe we will get a federal election. Now if we just get an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final.

No 'cloned' food in Canada

As the U.S. FDA is looking into approving meat and milk from cloned animals, that food won't travel to Canada. Under current regulations, selling food from cloned animals is forbidden in Canada.

William Yan of Health Canada's health products and food branch told the press that the agency will examine the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's risk assessment draft. But exhaustive research would have to be done before potentially allowing the food from cloned animals.

I would imagine that you could not bring across meat and milk from cloned animals into Canada. One issue in the U.S. is that the proposed no-labeling policy doesn't give U.S. consumers the opportunity to steer away from cloned products if they choose to do so. The lack of labels would be a problem entering a country that doesn't allow the products, such as Canada. So the food would get labeled for the government's sake, but not the consumers.

Gerald Ford and Canada

Given the recent U.S.-Canada relationship, it's good to reflect back to the days when Gerald Ford was president. Ford died this week at the age of 93.

The news reports have spoken of Ford's role in getting Canada admitted to the G7. That was a significant move. We have also read that Ford and then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau got along well.

But I also want to give a shout-out to one key point. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and went to school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Having grown up in Michigan myself, traveling to Canada is not a big deal.

Ford had an understanding of Canada that few presidents have had in recent memory. The trend of presidents from the South and West has been extensive. Very few presidents have come from states that border Canada (more if you count Ohio).

Ironically, Ford never got a chance to visit Canada during his brief term as president. But according to John Books, an expert on presidential politics at the University of Texas, Ford developed a "better-than-average" understanding of Canada while growing up in Michigan and during his years in the House. Books describes Ford as having a friendly working relationship with then prime minister Pierre Trudeau, mostly through regular phone conversations.

The more familiarity U.S. residents have with Canada, the more they seem to like the country. Ford had an intimate knowledge of Canada few presidents have ever had, especially the current resident.

Signature for sending packages from Canada?

Hello, and Happy Boxing Day. This is an appropriate story to tell on Boxing Day, a holiday celebrated in Canada. (The "boxing" refers to boxes, as in presents, not Muhammad Ali.)

Since I was good this year, I received the "Twitch City" DVD set I had recently mentioned. My mother, who gave me the present, told me the post office wanted her to sign for the package. She said they told her she had to come down and sign for the package because it was sent from Canada (it came from amazon.ca). They told her the procedure was necessary due to Homeland Security rules.

I didn't realize packages from Amazon.ca fell under potential terrorist concerns. Let me assure Homeland Security and all of you that the package contained only the complete DVD collection of the "Twitch City" series and nothing more.

Penguins going north??

That may sound like a headline from the South Pole. It may even be true, since when you are standing at the true South Pole, every step you take brings you north.

In this case, we are talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie wanted to buy the team, but the NHL refused to allow him to move the team from Pittsburgh. Now the Penguins are looking to leave Pittsburgh on their own.

Winnipeg and Quebec City have lost NHL franchises. Many would argue that Hamilton could support a NHL franchise. But no Canadian city is likely to get the Penguins should they move.

Many Canadians feel NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has a bias against Canada, and it would be difficult to argue against them. From a marketing standpoint, they feel Bettman does not want Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh's young sensation, to be north of the border.

Some of the possible U.S. relocation destinations include Kansas City, Houston, and Portland, Oregon. But then again, Penguins might be better suited for the temperatures of Winnipeg than Houston.

Hey Americans, why not go to Canada?

Travel from the U.S. to Canada continues to be down, as we see in this article from the Globe & Mail.

Those from the U.S. made 2.29 million trips to Canada in October, the lowest level in 34 years, according to Statistics Canada. This is 12.1 percent down from a year ago.

Ironically, I was going to make a trip to Canada in early November. I postponed my trip due to not enough money, and I had planned a cheap trip to Windsor. But I will make that trip in late winter.

The Canadian dollar has slipped a bit in the last month or so. Besides, it's cheaper than Europe, and depending on where you go, it can feel like Europe. Montréal and Quebec City give you that feeling. Vancouver can feel like Asia for a lot less money.

This ought to be get much worse, short-term, with the passport situation.

To see more on that report from Statistics Canada, click on the link to the right of this posting.

Explanation for 'Good Night Canada'

Even if you don't know what PTI means, you will appreciate this story.

PTI stands for "Pardon the Interruption" on ESPN. It's a sports talk show where two Washington Post sports reporters talk about the sports news of the day. The show is a bit silly and doesn't have the screaming matches sports radio can be.

At the end of every show, Tony Kornheiser would wave a Canadian flag and say, "Good Night, Canada." I did wonder what about Tony's apparent love for Canada, but never enough to do research.

On Monday, Michael Wilbon (the other host of PTI) was asked the question on a Washington Post chat. Here was his response:

"The salute to Canada at the end of our PTI is there because TSN, Canada's sports network, which carries our show, signs off then and doesn't carry our final segement which appears on ESPN in the U.S. during SportsCenter...So, without that specific goodbye, we'd never have a sign-off in Canada."

I was hoping Tony had a soft sense for the neighbors to the North.

more Canadian TV shows coming to U.S.

On the heels of the "Corner Gas" deal, U.S. stations will also get "Degrassi: The Next Generation." Led by Tribune Broadcasting and its stations, the show will be in 60% of U.S. households in the fall of 2007.

The program has aired in the U.S. on the N cable channel. But not a lot of viewers have the channel. If "Degrassi" sounds familiar to U.S. people, it is an extension of "Degrassi Junior High" and later "Degrassi High," which aired on PBS stations in the U.S.

Some of the child actors from the original series now star as adults (as their original characters) on the new show.

Director Kevin Smith ("Clerks"), a long-time fan of the original show, has guest-starred on "Degrassi: The Next Generation." The show airs in more than 150 countries.

The series of shows has been heralded for tackling tough issues, such as pregnancy and homosexuality, with frankness and without condescension.

U.S. still considers Arar a threat

Though Maher Arar has long been cleared of any possible wrongdoing, the U.S. still considers him a terrorist threat.

Arar, a Canadian citizen, was taken by U.S. authorities in 2002 and sent to Syria, where he was tortured for a year.

U.S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins has said an unspecified, secret assessment of intelligence is keeping Arar out of the U.S. and even aircraft that would fly over the U.S.

It's not clear whether the information is the same that led to the false imprisonment. It should also be pointed out that the U.S. has always had the right to extradite him; you don't have to look any further than the case of Marc Emery. To extradite Arar, the U.S. would need to charge him with a crime, something the U.S. has not done.

The investigation in Canada into what happened has resulted in shakeups in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). There has been no investigation on the U.S. side.

Stephen Jr. hanging out in Vancouver

Kudos to Stephen Colbert who acknowledged that Vancouver is close to the U.S., but much to his chagrin, his adopted eagle still resides in Canada.

As we have seen in previous adventures, Stephen Jr. went from San Francisco and has spent the fall in British Columbia. Hopefully, Stephen Jr. doesn't mind tons of rain, wind, and even a snowstorm. Southwestern British Columbia has seen so really horrible weather in the last month or so. Power outages have been rampant and there was even a boil order.

It's always nice when Colbert gives a shoutout to Canada. In fact, Dan Savage was on last night, promoting Canada as friendly to "socialized medicine, gun control, decriminalized marijuana to a great extent."

The Colbert Report airs four nights a week on Comedy Central in the U.S. and CTV and the Comedy Channel in Canada.

'Twitch City' on DVD

If you saw the running of "Twitch City" on Bravo (in the U.S., back when Bravo showed culture) a few years back, you will be thrilled to find out the show is available on DVD.

I read about it through this link.

For those who don't know about this show, Don McKellar created, wrote, and starred in this look about a man who don't leave his apartment, watches a lot of TV, and thrives under the circumstances. My description doesn't show how great this show was; it's a look at television, survival. It's delightful, well-written and the acting is marvelous. It's a nice way to get a taste of Canadian TV. If you do get the set, look for an unusual (even for her) performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh.

It was my first introduction to Molly Parker and certainly not my last.

McKellar also did a great movie called "Last Night," starring famous Canadian actress Sandra Oh of "Grey's Anatomy."

What do leadership changes mean for Canada?

Boy are there leadership changes coming about in this hemisphere. Mexico has a new president, Felipe Calderón. Fidel Castro hasn't been in public in some time in Cuba. And closer to home for Canadians, Stephane Dion is the new leader of the Liberal Party, which makes him the opposition leader in Parliament.

Calderón was inaugurated last week to succeed Vicente Fox. Calderón has a tough road ahead of him; he got less than 50 percent of the vote in a disputed election and his party controls less than half of Congress. But Mexico is important to Canada in NAFTA and other areas. Hopefully, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will welcome Calderón with open arms and talk about issues important to both countries. So much is placed on the U.S. element to this trilateral relationship. But Bush has been distracted/uninterested in the process, so Harper and Calderón should grab the initiative.

The question in Cuba is the extent of Raul Castro's influence, and how much will that grow when Fidel Castro dies. Canada has had a healthy relationship with Cuba; unlike the U.S., Canadians travel there on a regular basis and you can freely spend Canadian dollars in Cuba. It's possible that when things do change in Cuba that Canada will benefit from their previous relationship. But a growing U.S. influence will change the dynamic currently held between Canada and Cuba.

Dion has a rough road ahead of him. He must rally supporters of other key rivals, such as the controversial pro-Iraq-war candidate Michael Ignatieff and former Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden. And he must also step up his English, which is coming along (his native tongue is French).

He has been a member of Parliament since 1996, has served as minister of Intergovernmental Affairs under Jean Chretien and minister of environment under Paul Martin. For all the questions people might have of the new Liberal Party leader, the biggest question is how well will he do against Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the next general election. Now that we have a Liberal leader, we might find out quite soon.

CN Tower's honor threatened

The CN Tower in Toronto is the world's tallest free-standing structure. You learn this if you grew up in Canada, have been to Toronto, or have actually been in the tower.

Since I have been in the tower (I love heights), I note with pride that I have been in the world's tallest free-standing structure. Unfortunately, this may only be true until 2011. Plans for a communications tower have been unveiled in Tokyo.

The CN Tower is 553.33 meters (1,815 feet, 5 inches) high. The New Tokyo Tower is planned at 610 meters (2,001 feet).

Though people get to go up in the CN Tower, you don't actually get to the top of the tower. But the Lookout Level is 346 meters (1,136 feet) high.

Press reports have stated that the new tower will be fitted with observation platforms at the 350-meter and 450-meter levels. If that happens, the CN Tower will even lose that distinction. But for most of my readers, the CN Tower is closer, it's still there, and it's in Toronto.

No 'Corner Gas' for the Chicago area

I have received confirmation that my suspicions were correct, and that "Corner Gas" will not be on the local feed for Superstation WGN.

So for those in the Chicago area as well as pockets of Southeastern Wisconsin, Northwest Indiana, and Southwestern Michigan, you won't get "Corner Gas." If you are not sure which feed you get, the Superstation logo is rather distinct. Superstation viewers don't get the local morning news, and most of the Bulls NBA games.

Superstations, such as WWOR in New York, WTBS in Atlanta, and WGN in Chicago, have distinct rules about what can be broadcast on their local feeds vs. national feeds. I don't want to bore you with the details.

So enjoy "Corner Gas." And for those Chicago-area people, get a good friend or loved one to tape a few episodes for you.

U.S. college football bowl game comes to Toronto

UPDATE: Cincinnati will be the Big East that will play Western Michigan in the initial International Bowl on Jan. 6 in Toronto. Cincinnati had a 7-5 record and 4-3 finish in the Big East. However, the Bearcats did upset then-No. 7 Rutgers.

The trip won't be too far for Cincinnati to travel as well. Cincinnati is 2-0 all-time against Western Michigan but the teams haven't played since 1950.

While the Cincinnati Reds have played the Toronto Blue Jays, it never happened in Toronto, so this might be the first contest involving Cincinnati in Toronto.



U.S. college football bowl games used to be concentrated in the South and West. Nice weather for the alumni and fans to spend some money. Lately, we have seen bowls cross the Mason-Dixon line. Idaho has a bowl and the Detroit area has a bowl.

Now bowl games have crossed a different line: the U.S.-Canada line. The inaugural International Bowl will be held in the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) in Toronto.

The International Bowl will feature Western Michigan University from the Mid-American Conference. The Broncos (8-4, 6-2 MAC) were the West Division runner-up. The opponent will be a team from the Big East Conference.

Western Michigan hasn't been to a bowl game since 1988. Kalamazoo is not that far a drive for their fans and alumni, though who knows what I-94 and the 401 will look like in early January.

The bowl game will also be the first NCAA college football bowl game played outside the U.S. since the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba.

The International Bowl will be played on Saturday, January 6, 2007 with a Noon EST kickoff. The game will be televised on ESPN2 in the U.S. and TSN in Canada.

Movie to be made about gay Toronto Maple Leaf

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL have given permission to use their likeness in an upcoming movie.

The title is "Breakfast With Scot" about a gay ex-Leaf and his partner, the team's lawyer, whose lifestyle and relationship are turned upside down when they become the guardians of an 11-year-old boy. The primary star is Tom Cavanagh, known for his TV work in "Ed" and "Scrubs."

The movie is being shot in and around Toronto.

I thought it was a nice touch for the Maple Leafs to give their permission. Sports and homosexuality are sensitive areas, though Ontario (and therefore, Toronto) allow gay marriage.

Corner Gas coming to the U.S.

It's official: Episodes of Corner Gas will air in the U.S. in 2007 over Superstation WGN.

As I wrote a while back, the show was being shopped to U.S. outlets. Details on when the show will ait have not been released. But I will keep you informed.

It's a nice slice of Canada that doesn't get much airplay in the U.S.

As for those in Chicago, it's not clear whether Chicago-area viewers will get the show. For those who may not know, there are two WGN feeds: local and national. Those in Chicago and the immediate surrounding areas get the local feed, the rest of the U.S. carries the national feed. Shows such as Corner Gas are ideal since there are no local rights, ideal to be broadcast on superstations. If a station had the local rights, the superstation feed (and the commercials) would be blocked.

Hopefully, those in the Chicago area will either get the show or know someone willing to tape the show. If I learn more details, I will pass them on.

What is a nation when it comes to Quebec?

Can a nation exist within a country? When it comes to Quebec, the issue is touchy. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has weighed in on the matter, stunning Parliament by introducing a motion recognizing the French-speaking province of Quebec as a nation within Canada.

The separatist party Bloc Quebecois intended Thursday's motion to not say "within Canada." But the party's motion ended up stating that Quebec forms a nation "that is currently inside Canada."

There has been a cynical nature to the Conservatives kissing up to Quebec. Provincial rights (a common issue among Alberta and Quebec) and the fact that the margin of error for Harper is the Conservatives from Quebec are reasons Harper likely weighed in on the "nation" issue. Still, it is a bold move by Harper.

Piling on to the cynicism is that controversial Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff, a front-runner for the Liberal Party leadership, said the French language, history and culture mark Quebecers as a separate people who should be recognized as a nation under the Constitution. Ignatieff is seen as much more conservative than other Liberal leaders, and perhaps Harper would like to see him as the new opposition leader.

This is mostly about symbolism, but symbolism people care a lot about. Harper isn't really giving Quebec much, Quebec appreciates it, and both hope the rest of the country isn't upset by it. Unlike in the U.S., the regions do battle each other much more than in the United States.

Get those passports ready

Happy American Thanksgiving to you all. And speaking of traveling, I have received 3 e-mails noting the Final Air Rule on New Entry Requirements for Air Travel as part of the U.S. government's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. So I thought I would pass it along to you.

Effective January 23, 2007, everyone (including Canadians and Americans) entering or transiting the United States by air will require a passport. Canadians should obtain a passport before leaving Canada.

This only applies, for now, if you are traveling by AIR. This doesn't apply to land or sea travel, YET. Right now, they are saying "As early as January 1, 2008" for other forms of travel.

Given how long it takes to get a passport, I would do it now, U.S. or Canadian residents. Here is information on getting a Canadian passport and a U.S. passport.

The hope is that U.S.-Canadian travel won't suffer as a result. Given how few U.S. residents have a passport, the fears are understandable. Convincing Americans will be difficult, especially with the new passports with the chips in them. The technology fear is unfounded in that the info is the same as found in the regular passport.

If you wish to see the final rule, go to may visit http://www.dhs.gov or http://travel.state.gov/. The rule will be published in the U.S. Federal Register on Friday, at http://www.regulations.gov/.

Here is the actual press release in case you need further details.

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Rule Outlines New Document Requirements for Air Travel

Release Date: November 22, 2006

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: (202) 282-8010

Today, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of State announced the official requirement for citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part of the Western Hemisphere beginning January 23, 2007.

"The ability to misuse travel documents to enter this country opens the door for a terrorist to carry out an attack. We can not continue to allow loopholes that could facilitate access to the United States through false claims of citizenship or fake identities," said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. "This initiative strengthens our border security by designating verifiable secure documents that may be used at our air ports of entry."

The travel document requirements make up the departments of State and Homeland Security's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). This change in travel document requirements is the result of recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, which Congress subsequently passed into law in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requires all citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda to have a passport or other accepted document that establishes the bearer's identity and nationality to enter or re‑enter the United States from within the Western Hemisphere.

By limiting the types of documents presented will result in a more efficient border. There are more than 8,000 different state and local entities in the U.S., which issue birth certificates and driver's licenses. Currently, a CBP Officer needs to assess the authenticity of each birth certificate and license, regardless of when or where it was issued. The challenge at the borders is how to assess individual travelers, based on the documents they present, without significantly slowing the processing time for admission into the United States.

CBP Officers intercepted more than 75,000 fraudulent documents in FY2005 and apprehended over 84,000 individuals at the ports of entry trying to cross the border with fraudulent claims of citizenship or documents.

The only acceptable alternative documents to a passport for air travel will be the Merchant Mariner Document (MMD) and the NEXUS Air card. The MMD or "z‑card" is issued by the U.S. Coast Guard to U.S. merchant mariners and the NEXUS Air card is issued to citizens of Canada and the United States, lawful permanent residents of the United States and permanent residents of Canada who meet certain eligibility requirements. The NEXUS Air card may only be accepted when used in conjunction with the NEXUS Air program. The MMD card may only be accepted when used on official business by U.S. Citizen Merchant Mariners. Members of the United States military, when traveling on official orders, may continue to present their military ID and orders for entry.

A separate proposed rule addressing land and sea travel will be published at a later date proposing specific requirements for travelers entering the United States through land and sea border crossings. As early as January 1, 2008, U.S. citizens traveling between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea will be required to present a valid U.S. passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain acceptable documents for land and sea entries.

Those wishing to view the final rule may visit www.dhs.gov or travel.state.gov. The rule will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, November 24, 2006, where it can be viewed at www.regulations.gov.

Joining Canada with a dollar coin?

The new $1 coins launched in the U.S. reminds us of the loonie and twoonie in circulation in Canada. If you haven't been to Canada in the last 20 years, there are no $1 and $2 bills in Canada, just coins.

The U.S. coins feature the presidents and will be released 4 at a time. The list only features dead presidents (you have to be dead to be on a coin).

But getting U.S. residents to use any of the dollar coins has been difficult since the dollar bills are kept around. In Canada, you have no choice; the coins are the only way to go. The $1 dollar bill was phased out around 1988; the twoonie was introduced in 1996.

Personally, it takes some adjustment in carrying around more coins. I feel like spending them to get rid of the jingle in my pocket (an added incentive?). But if I did it every day, I'm sure I would quickly adjust.

Canadian wins AL MVP award

If you asked about the national origin of the American League MVP award, you might hear Dominican Republic (David Ortiz) or the United States (Derek Jeter).

But no, a Canadian took the award: Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins. Morneau led his team to a division-winning season with a .321 batting average, 34 homers and 130 RBI.

Morneau, a native of New Westminster, British Columbia, is the second Canadian-born player to win an MVP. Maple Ridge, British Columbia native Larry Walker won the award playing for Colorado in 1997. Walker coached Morneau at the World Baseball Classic in March, and even autographed a bat for him.

(You can read more about Morneau in the World Baseball Classic here and here.)

Amusingly, Morneau joins two other fellow Canadian-born athletes in winning an MVP in a major pro league this year, Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash and San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton.

It's great anytime Canadian sports prowess gets the respect it deserves.

How big is the Grey Cup?

I get some teasing for mentioning the Grey Cup on this blog. That's fine. I get a huge kick out of it. Their point is wondering how big the Grey Cup is outside of Canada.

Good question. ESPN has followed Ricky Williams' Toronto Argonauts career, given his previous prowess in the NFL (Miami) and college (Texas and a Heisman Trophy winner) as well as his marijuana usage (not an issue in the CFL). Well, the Grey Cup is the one CFL game where highlights actually appear on SportsCenter. This year, the highlights ran about 81 minutes into the 90-minute wrapup show. Oh, and a sidenote to anchor Steve Levy, the MVP of the game is Dave Dickenson, not Dave "Dickerson."

Also, the CFL points out that the game was carried on ESPN International, Fox Sports International, NASN Europe and the U.S. Armed Forces Network, with 61 million TV households attained in the U.S.

The league officials noted that the Grey Cup had its widest international coverage ever, reaching across the U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Rim as well as the first simulcast in Spanish to Mexico and 19 other countries in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

NASN (the North America Sports Network) Europe offered coverage to England, Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Monaco, Russia, Latvia, Moldova, Lithuania and 10 other countries.

The Grey Cup was also available to listeners of SIRIUS Satellite Radio, which carried CFL play-by-play throughout the season.

Grey Cup is back in Vancouver

Congratulations to the B.C. Lions, winners of the 94th Grey Cup Sunday night. The Lions handled the Montréal Alouettes 25-14 at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg.

Quarterback Dave Dickenson won his first Grey Cup as a starter. Paul McCallum tied a Grey Cup record with 6 field goals in the game.

There wasn't much offense. Each team scored only 1 touchdown. Montréal added a field goal and scored 2 safeties.

The Lions won its first Grey Cup since 2000, when B.C. also beat Montréal.

Nelly Furtado performed 3 songs during her halftime show of the Grey Cup. Furtado is a Canadian native (Victoria, BC), an occurrence that has happened each year except last year when the Black Eyed Peas performed. She looked a little cold performing outside in Winnipeg, but did a nice job.

She opened with "Forca," the theme song at the Euro 2004 soccer championship played in her ancestral homeland of Portugal. Then she followed up with "Promiscuous," where Canadian rapper Saukrates subbed for Timbaland. The final track was a cover of the Hall and Oates song, "Maneater."

In the regular version of "Promiscuous," Furtado asks, "Is your game MVP like Steve Nash?" in tribute to the Phoenix Suns NBA star from her hometown. She adjusted the lyrics to include the starting quarterbacks "Is your game MVP like Dickenson? Is your game MVP like (Montréal Alouettes QB) Calvillo?"

Eva Avila, 19, the 2006 Canadian Idol winner from Gatineau, QC sang the national anthem.

The fans of Vancouver have suffered off the field. The Pineapple Express, a strong storm, has drenched southern British Columbia for some time. The area is dealing with a boil-water order for the first time in a long while. I'm sure the Grey Cup win makes some fans feel a little bit better about the water.

Hopefully, you were able to catch the game live. I saw the game with a bunch of ex-pats. It's always nicer to watch the Grey Cup with other people. For those who waited for the tape-delayed broadcast in the U.S., hope you enjoy(ed) the game.

Next year's Grey Cup will be in the Rogers Centre in Toronto, which will be warmer inside than Winnipeg was this year (-7°C/19°F wind chill at kickoff).

Stephen Jr. is still in Canada

Despite Stephen Colbert's joyous news this week that his eagle son is heading home to the United States, Stephen Jr. is still in Canada.

As you can see by tracking his moves, Stephen Jr. has been in British Columbia, the western most province since August 10. He reached the furthest point north on September 2. While he has headed south, as of November 6, he is still in Canada.

Click here for the back story to this saga.

The eagle has had a taste of the "Pineapple Express," a storm system that has devastated southern British Columbia with deluges of rain. So if Stephen Jr. can survive the Pineapple Express, he might stay for good.

Stephen thanked his viewers for going to the Washington-British Columbia with salmon to draw him back in. As much as the smell of salmon can permeate, Stephen Jr. is still too far away.

And one more thing, Stephen. The picture of an eagle with a Canadian flag was cute. But some might take offense at the Edmonton Oilers jersey. After all, Stephen, Jr. has only been in British Columbia. You would think he would have a Vancouver Canucks shirt. Then again, maybe Stephen Jr. jumped on the Oilers bandwagon given their success last summer in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Hiding research from the U.S.

The increased intensity in the Patriot Act in the U.S. may have an unintended side effect when it comes to Canadian research. Quite a few Canadian universities are changing their online research efforts.

The Patriot Act potentially allows U.S. authorities to sweep through databases such as RefWorks. Switching to a Canadian server, such as one housed at the University of Toronto, works around that issue.

RefWorks is a popular U.S.-based Internet tool that allows for personal accounts and the ability to store research information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies.

The Patriot Act allows for searches without letting the party know of the search. That frightens Canadian researchers.

Canadian authorities could still investigate the Canadian servers, but would feel protected by judicial oversight.

Home teams advance to Grey Cup

Sometimes being the home team has its advantages. Both the Montreal Alouettes and the B.C. Lions won their divisional finals Sunday to go to the Grey Cup next Sunday at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg.

The Lions go to its second Grey Cup berth in three years with a 45-18 West Division final win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Montreal downed the Toronto Argonauts 33-24 to win the East crown.

It will be a battle of two teams that haven't had as much Cup success given their fine track records. Montreal makes its 5th trip to the Grey Cup in 7 years, yet has only 1 championship in that stretch. The Lions will make its third trip to the Grey Cup in the 2000s, a small number given its regular-season prowess.

The teams last met in the Grey Cup in 2000, when B.C. edged Montreal 28-26. The Lions swept the season series, 48-13 on September 1 at Molson Stadium and a 36-20 home victory September 16.

Nelly Furtado will be the halftime musical guest for the game. The kickoff is just after 6 p.m. EST and will be carried on the CBC in Canada, and hopefully live on the usual U.S. outlets. If not, the game should be aired on a tape-delayed basis in your market.

Vancouver-related celebrity news

Vancouver, even more than Toronto, is the film capital of Canada. Numerous productions have come to Canada because of the difference in dollars and the ability to shoot in all kinds of terrain and weather. In fact, I saw Nicholas Cage in Vancouver in the summer of 2005.

So Denise Richards is in Richmond (a Vancouver suburb) filming a movie, and she is in trouble with the law for throwing laptop computers off a balcony. The laptops apparently belonged to a photographers who was trying to take pictures. The computers struck a 90-year-old woman and a wheelchair-bound 80-year-old woman.

The women suffered minor injuries that didn't require hospitalization. Neither of them are pressing charges. But Richards might still be charged with mischief, including damage to personal property.

It is a reminder that American celebrities, used to being treated like, well, celebrities on American soil, don't always get that luxury on Canadian soil. So just to let you celebrities know, come to Canada. Enjoy the many gifts the country can bring. But be nice, OK.

*Richards is filming a movie with Vancouver native Pam Anderson. In much sadder Vancouver-related celebrity news, according to US Weekly, Anderson suffered a miscarriage. She is married to Kid Rock.

Canadian-born Granholm re-elected

There isn’t much to talk about from a Canadian standpoint of the U.S. elections earlier this evening. The midterms don’t affect the U.S.-Canadian relationship nearly as much as the presidential election will in 2008. Then again, who knows who the prime minister will be on January 20, 2009.

But Canadian-born Jennifer Granholm was re-elected as Michigan’s governor earlier this evening. Granholm, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, defeated businessman Dick DeVos to win a second term.

The state of Michigan has a two-term limit on governors, so this will be Granholm’s last term as governor of the state. She could jump into a Senate seat, though Carl Levin’s term is up in 2 years (her term is 4 years) and Debbie Stabenow was re-elected earlier this evening. The one job Granholm can’t get is president (or vice president). Being Canadian born prohibits her from seeking the office of the president.

Who controls the Northwest Passage

The answer from Canada is "Canada." Not every country agrees with that assessment.

There is agreement that Canada owns the Northwest Passage, a strait through the Arctic waters. The passage is more prevalent given the melting of the icebergs in that part of the world.

The United States says the passage is an international strait with free passage for all, similar to other straits. The issue is unimpeded movement of U.S. ships. Canada notes that it has sole jurisdiction over the passage and wants to enforce its own laws.

There is a twist to the story. Former U.S. ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, was quoted in Canadian newspapers as agreeing with the Canadian position. "It is in the security interests of the United States that it be under the control of Canada."

Current U.S. ambassador David Wilkins says the Northwest Passage is an international strait.

Unlike numerous U.S.-Canadian disputes, this isn't so simple. No one is the "bad guy" in this battle. Then again, they aren't arguing over whether U.S. ships can use the passage; they can. Canada wants control and to be able to set the laws of the area. The U.S. wants nothing to get in the way of its ships.

CFL Championship lineups set

In the first three passes by backup quarterback Michael Bishop, two of them went for touchdowns as the Toronto Argonauts came from behind to edge the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 31-27. The Argos advance to the East final Sunday at Olympic Stadium in Montreal (1 p.m. EST).

Charles Roberts, with 176 yards for the Bombers, helped give Winnipeg the third-quarter lead. However, his fumble gave the Argos the ball for the go-ahead touchdown.

The CFL game has been criticized for not being as exciting as usual. This game was thrilling all the way through the contest.

The West semifinal proves you can't truly predict what will happen. Saskatchewan pulled off the upset over Calgary 30-21. The Roughriders scored the last 25 points of the game, 18 of those in the second half. The Stampeders, who many feel was the best team in the West, had 6 turnovers and didn't score a single point in the second half.

Kenton Keith had 141 yeards on the ground for Saskatchewan, including a career-high 76-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the second half.

The Roughriders' journey to the Grey Cup stops off in Vancouver to play the B.C. Lions (4 p.m. EST)

Both championship games will be on the CBC and tape-delayed in the usual places. If you live near the Buffalo, Detroit, Bellingham/Seattle areas, you could pull in the CBC either over-the-air or through cable. Both games ought to be exciting.

One final quirk: In the Winnipeg-Toronto game, they must have taped it off the Atlantic Canada CBC feed, because I saw commercials specifically geared toward Halifax. Apparently, Q104 is the place for classic rock and roll in Halifax.

CFL postseason preview

For those who follow the CFL (and I tried to help you out if you don't follow it), this is the best time of the year: the playoffs. Things shaped up long ago in the West, though don't count out any team left standing in this division. The East came down to the last day, with almost interchangable pieces.

In the West, the Edmonton Eskimos stay home for the first time since 1971, snapping the longest playoff streak in professional sports. Pierre Trudeau was prime minister the last time the Eskimos stayed home from the playoffs.

The B.C. Lions won the division, getting a bye. The Lions host the Calgary-Saskatchewan winner November 12 in Vancouver. Calgary hosts the Roughriders on November 5.

Though B.C. has the home-field advantage, the road for the Lions will not be easy. Buck Pierce or Dave Dickenson will be the quarterback. Dickenson is the more seasoned of the two, but his health has been a gigantic issue for some time. Plus, Calgary and Saskatchewan are playing well. Still, being indoors will help B.C. simply because it won't be Calgary or Regina.

The East turned out to be far more bizarre. The matchups came down to the final weekend when Montreal finally grabbed the top spot, hosting the East Final at Olympic Stadium on November 12. Toronto will host Winnipeg in the East semifinal on November 5. The Blue Bombers had a chance to host the East semifinal, but lost to B.C. in the final game.

I know home field advantage has been traditionally huge in the CFL playoffs, but several of us smell a potential upset or two.

The Grey Cup will be at Canad Inns Stadium in Winnipeg on November 19. The halftime entertainment will feature Nelly Furtado and the Canadian Idol winner.

The semifinals and finals begin at 1 pm EST and 4 pm EST. The Grey Cup is at 6 pm EST. All the postseason games will air live on CBC and tape-delayed on those outlets that have carried the CFL in the U.S.

Update to sex offender story

The American sex offender I wrote of earlier this week was released from custody on Friday and ordered to live at his family's home in St. Catharines, Ontario.

“I'm satisfied that as a danger, you're at the low end,” said immigration review board member Ken Thomson. Malcolm Watson had been arrested trying to re-enter Canada from the U.S., where he was reporting to his probation officer.

Some of you wrote in to ask about Canada's age of consent. The way I understand it, the age of consent is 14, HOWEVER, in a teacher-student or similar relationship, the law jumps up to 18. So since it would also be a crime on Canadian soil, Watson should be treated like a criminal on Canadian soil. But nobody in power seems to understand that.

U.S. political ad takes a shot at Canada

What was Canada doing in a U.S. political ad, of all places, for a U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee?

Canadian Corner doesn't normally weigh in on the U.S. political campaign, but has to respond to this ad. We should also point out that the ad in question, now pulled off the air, has been labeled as racist (for other reasons).

This ad, run by the Republican National Committee, portrays actors in a "man on the street" setting. One actor expresses the view that Democrats and Canada are soft on global security. "Canada can take care of North Korea," the man in the ad says. "They're not busy."

Democrat Harold Ford Jr. and Republican Bob Corker are running for an open seat in Tennessee.

It has been reported in the press that the Canadian ambassador to Washington Michael Wilson had expressed concerns on behalf of the Conservatives to a White House official. Hopefully that Harper-Bush relationship can help in this instance.

For those who don't follow political advertising, commercials such as these are run for shock value, so it's not so much how many people watch it as talk it (which Canadian Corner is guilty of as well).

Also, Corker gets to hide behind the fact that his campaign didn't run the ad, even if he benefits from the ad. And you should also know that Harold Ford Jr. is trying to become the first ever African-American elected U.S. senator from the South, and only the second in the U.S. Senate (besides Barack Obama).

Given Tennessee's proximity to the Canadian border, Canada was likely used as a symbol. But it's still a cheap shot against Canada, and given the racist overtones of the rest of the ad, amazingly the shot against Canada isn't the worst element in the ad.

Canada to host NFL regular season games

In an effort to expand beyond the U.S. borders, the National Football League will play more regular season games outside the U.S., including Canada.

The earliest game in Canada will be in 2008, though 2 regular-season games will be played outside the U.S. in 2007.

The target of the NFL is Toronto for a number of reasons. But for issues dealing with the 2007 Grey Cup being in Toronto, another Canadian city will get first shot. There was even an article in The New York Times about the close proximity between the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and the NFL Buffalo Bills.

There has been recent interest of a strong desire to have an NFL team in Rogers Centre in Toronto, including speculation of buying the New Orleans Saints and bringing them to Toronto.

The league has played numerous exhibition games in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton is the only other realistic site, given its large capacity.

Unusual justice forces man to stay in Canada

Update 10/27: The American sex offender I wrote of earlier this week was released from custody on Friday and ordered to live at his family's home in St. Catharines, Ontario.

“I'm satisfied that as a danger, you're at the low end,” said Ken Thomson, the immigration review board member who gave the ruling in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Malcolm Watson had been arrested trying to re-enter Canada from Buffalo, N.Y., where he was reporting to his probation officer.

Some of you wrote in to ask about Canada's age of consent. The way I understand it, the age of consent is 14, HOWEVER, in a teacher-student or similar relationship, the law jumps up to 18. So since it would also be a crime on Canadian soil, Watson should be treated like a criminal on Canadian soil. But nobody in power seems to understand that.



Can a convicted sex offender be sentenced to live in a country where the crime was not convicted?

Teacher Malcolm Watson chose freedom in Canada over American jail after being convicted of sexually abusing a 15-year-old student.

The sentence requires Watson to stay out of the U.S. for the next three years. Apparently Watson is a U.S. citizen with a Canadian wife and family. He can enter the United States, but only to report to his probation officer.

The case was imposed by Cheektowaga (N.Y.) Town Court. Watson lives with his wife and three children in Fort Erie, Ontario.

There are two major legal issues: can an individual be deprived of his own country as a condition of sentence? Does another country have to take that person?

If Canada kicks him out, Watson theoretically becomes a person without a country. However, he can go back to the U.S. to serve his sentence.

Think of it this way, if Watson were convicted, and ran away to Canada before going to prison, the U.S. officials would want to extradite him from Canada back to the U.S. But he didn't run away, and he gets to live in Canada scot-free.

It's unfortunate that a judge, especially one who lives so close to the border, thinks so little of Canada that it would be considered a dumping ground for sex offenders.

World Series comes to Canada (almost)

Boy it felt like winter as Detroit (not officially Canada's team) has advanced to the World Series. Again, it's the closest we can get given the close proximity of the stadium to the Canadian border.

MLB moved Friday's start, given the predicted freezing temperatures in Detroit. Ironically, Oakland's Game 3 starter, Rich Harden, is from British Columbia. He joked about looking forward to playing in the cold.

The spotlight of the baseball world will shine in Detroit (and maybe carry over to Windsor) as Game 1 of the World Series kicks off at Comerica Park Saturday night. Canadian Corner is on the Tigers bandwagon!

Canadian TV blog

I wish I had more access to Canadian television. The local public TV station does show reruns of "The Newsroom." But there aren't many options for those of us who live away from the border.

But I ran across one blog that helps me feel closer to Canadian television. It's called "TV, eh? What's up in Canadian TV."

I also get access to Canadian Football League games from CBC and TSN. I do confess to going back whenever CBC and TSN run promos for regular shows. (TSN will run promos for CTV, its sister network.)

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

While in the States, visions of turkey (and football) are 7-8 weeks away, Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. Given the traditionally colder weather, this time of the year is more viable for family celebrations as opposed to late November.

The food menus are similar to the American version, and the Canadian Football League obliges with a football doubleheader. The Thanksgiving games are Saskatchewan at Montreal followed by Edmonton at Toronto.

So if you have Canadian connections, or you are looking for an excuse for a huge turkey dinner, today is the day. Enjoy!!!

Playoff baseball in Canada (almost)

Postseason baseball hasn't been on Canadian soil since Joe Carter hit the World Series game-winning homerun in 1993. But last night, it came as close as it has come since.

Resting a mile or two from the banks of the Detroit River, the Tigers played their first playoff game in their downtown stadium, Comerica Park. It was the city's first postseason game since 1987 (the old stadium was a few more miles inland).

I visited the ballpark last May, so I know it's really close to the border. I'm certainly not implying Detroit is Canada's team. But the now-departed Montreal Expos hadn't been in postseason since the ill-fated playoff setup of 1981, and the Blue Jays, though finishing second this year, were still 8 games behind the wild-card Tigers.

But this may the closest to Canada for awhile, and I'm going to enjoy it.

Welcome to the NHL season

Yes, the NHL is back for its second full season in a row, starting tonight. The CBC and TSN will offer coverage throughout Canada. Versus, previously known as OLN, has the U.S. coverage with NBC coming along in 2007 for its broadcasts. There will even be an All-Star Game this year.

Versus doesn't look like it will offer much in the way of Canadian teams once again. One major problem with having Versus as the flagship network is that hockey fans (such as myself) don't normally watch Versus, so I don't always know when hockey is on.

As for who is going to win this year, even the experts aren't sure. Who would have predicted that Edmonton would barely make the playoffs and come within one game of the Stanley Cup? So the only thing for sure is that there will likely be another Edmonton this season.

So in the U.S., you will need to pay more attention. From Versus' Web site, here is the tentative coverage of Canadian teams on the channel.
* Exclusive coverage of hockey on Versus. All times Eastern.

Oct. 23 7p Buffalo at Montreal
Dec. 4* 7p Boston at Montreal
Jan. 1* 7p Boston at Toronto
Jan. 15* 7p Montreal at Detroit

Weird Al gives us the 'Canadian Idiot'

I heard Weird Al Yankovic on the Dr. Demento show last night. I particularly enjoy any Canadian-related music on the show. And Weird Al has a new song called "Canadian Idiot," a take on Green Day's "American Idiot."

I have written about another parody song also set to the Green Day song. That was Dino-Mike with "Canadian Immigrant."

And since I'm a fan of Weird Al and Canada, here are the unofficial lyrics to the song. Enjoy!!!

Don't want to be a Canadian idiot

Dont want to be some beer swillin' hockey nut
and do I look like some frost bitten hosehead
I never learned my alphabet from A to zed

They all live on donuts and moose meat
and they leave the house without packin' heat
never even bring their guns to the mall
and you know what else is too funny
their stupid monopoly money
can't take 'em seriously at all

Well maple syrup and snow's what they export
they treat curling just like it's a real sport
they think their silly accent is so cute
can't understand a thing they're talking aboot

sure they got their national health care
cheaper meds for prime rates and clean air
then again well they got Celine Dion
eat their weight in Kraft macaroni
and dream of driving a zamboni
all over Saskatchewan

Don't want to be a Canadian idiot

We'll figure out their temperature in Celsius
see the map they're hovering right over us
tell you the truth it makes me kinda nervous

always hear the same kind of story
break your nose and they'll just say sorry
tell me what kind of freaks are that polite
It's gotta mean they're all up to something
so quick before they see it coming
time for a pre-emptive strike

Canadian viewers get wrong 'Grey'

When American viewers get to watch a show is clear: the network sufficiently promotes it and launches it from the U.S. Canadian viewers are at the mercy of shows fed from another country. Sometimes, they get an advantage and sometimes they don't.

Canadian fans of "Grey's Anatomy" are understandably angry at CTV after the network aired the second episode of the season instead of the premiere. The network blamed the mistake last night on a "satellite feed error." CTV has promised to air the premiere of the third season next week.

The interesting part is that CTV airs the show Thursdays at 8p Eastern, while ABC airs the show at 9p Eastern. Canadian networks have flexibility to air programs later and sometimes earlier than in the States.

Those who live along the border, on both sides, have way more flexibility when it comes to television. In the states, if you can get a CTV affiliate through antenna or cable, you can choose which feed to take. Likewise, Canadians along the border who get the U.S. channels through cable or antenna have the same luxury.

You never know: if you are really into a show, you might want to tape both feeds, especially in a highly anticipated season premiere.

Fault determined in Canadian torture case

If you wonder sometimes why the rest of the world questions how the U.S. has dealt with alleged terrorists hold up the example of Maher Arar.

Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen and a computer engineer, was seized on September 26, 2002, at Kennedy Airport in New York on his way home from Tunisia. On October 8, Arar was flown to Jordan in an American government plane and taken to Syria; he was held for 10 months and beaten repeatedly with a metal cable. He was freed in October 2003, and returned to Canada.

A Canadian government commission has exonerated Arar of any ties to terrorism and issued a scathing report that faulted Canada and the United States.

The report noted that American officials acted on inaccurate information from Canadian investigators and misled Canadian authorities about their plans for Arar.

“I am able to say categorically that there is no evidence to indicate that Mr. Arar has committed any offense or that his activities constituted a threat to the security of Canada,” Justice Dennis R. O’Connor, head of the commission, said at a news conference.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the press that Canada planned to act on the report. “Probably in the few weeks to come we’ll be able to give you more details on that,’’ he told reporters.

The seizure of a Canadian citizen on U.S. soil is frightening enough; to be taken away where his family did not know what was going on, and then beaten and tortured is incomprehensible. And on top of all that, he was innocent. Thank goodness for the commission to find out more about this horrible act.

Special thanks to The New York Times for their help in this story.

Gather the children 'round for their passports

Taking the kids to Canada by air or sea for a field trip? On January 8, 2007, they will need a passport. Same goes for travelers returning from Mexico and the Caribbean by air or sea.

For those driving the kids to Canada, you have until January 1, 2008. The $82 U.S. passports for Americans younger than 16 last 5 years. Adult passports are $97 and last 10 years.

You should prepare your kids for the trauma that adults must face of the dreaded ID picture. Boy, if I had a passport when I was 10, I would be depressed at the picture and the wardrobe of that era.

Seriously, if your child needs a passport, get it now. Trust me, given the time it takes to get one, and knowing the last-minute rush, do it soon.

Even worse for parents, you have to go through a more complicated process with precautions designed to prevent separated or divorced parents from sneaking their child out of the U.S. without the consent of the other parent.

I found this handy dandy sidebar from Hearst Newspapers:

To obtain passports for their children, parents must:

- Appear together with their partner and any child younger than 14 to submit the application in person.

- Present proof of citizenship, identity and parental relationship.

- Make a sworn statement before a designated federal employee.

- If one parent has legal custody after a divorce or during a legal separation, that parent must present a notarized statement from the child's other parent approving the passport application.

Sean Penn caught smoking in Canada

Ontario and Quebec passed new smoking laws earlier this summer, removing smoking from public areas. Well actor Sean Penn was caught smoking during a press conference at the Toronto Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto to promote his new film All The King's Men. The film was playing at the just completed Toronto International Film Festival.

There is a outcry among writers and politicians to have Penn arrested (I assume retroactively) for the offense.

Penn was not fined because an individual can only be fined if they choose to ignore the law after a warning. There was no indication he had been warned. In fact, the hotel will pay a fine in part because it didn't provide proper signage.

Montréal shooting

The shooting at Dawson College in Montréal on Wednesday has led to this question. Yes, there aren't many shootings of this kind in Canada, but why do they seem to happen in Quebec.

After all, a number of people were shot at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and nobody makes an association with Pittsburgh.

The shooter, who killed a woman and wounded 19, noted in his blog that he hated humanity and wanted to die young in a hail of bullets.

But a number of people point out the alienation of the linguistic struggle. The infamous Bill 101 forces students into either English or French, depending on the circumstances. In a city where French reigns supreme, learning in English schools can put you behind in the society.

This week's killer, Kimveer Gill, attended English elementary and high schools in Montréal.

In 1989, Marc Lepine killed 14 women and wounded 13 at the University of Montréal's École Polytechnique. Valery Fabrikant, an engineering professor, was an immigrant from Russia who in 1992, shot four colleagues and wounded one other at Concordia University's faculty of engineering.

While Gill, Lepine, and Fabrikant were clearly mentally unstable, they were also immigrants. And for a long time, immigrant issues have been ignored in Quebec.

Many of the French-language issues and bills stemmed around the threat of English overtaking French in Quebec. The so-called "language police" while mocked, are a significant voice in Quebec society; especially in Montréal, where English has more dominance than any other Quebec city.

However, many immigrants to Quebec are not anglophones from the rest of Canada or even the United States, but those from other countries, where English is not their native language. If you speak Italian or Arabic, imagine yourself being forced into a language that, while technically one of the two official languages in your new country, is not the dominant one where you live.

Perhaps there isn't a direct correlation between these events, but the immigrant issue needs to be dealt with in Quebec. And so does the issue of taking guns in crowded colleges and shooting at random.

Rice and McKay sitting in a tree

One could easily find the insinuation that Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were having an affair to be insulting and bizarre. However, too many people were talking about it, and most of those people don't think it really happened.

Of course, an affair between Rice and MacKay would be further proof of an improved relationship between Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush.

The repartee back and forth did seem suggestive, as in MacKay (not seriously) wanted to plant the idea. He spoke of her sleeping with the windows open to enjoy the really great Atlantic Canada air. She called him Peter. They teased one another on who would pay for coffee at a Tim Hortons.

The trip to Halifax was to tie in with the fact that on September 11, 2001, many U.S. flights had to land in Halifax. Nova Scotia's capital has also hosted Bush for the same reason, several years after it happened.

You would think that MacKay would stay away from high-profile relationships, given that Belinda Stronach broke up with him and the Conservative Party in a rather public fashion. The look on MacKay's face the day after on his potato farm back in Nova Scotia in front of reporters is something you remember any time you break up with someone.

Whether relations improved may have taken a back burner to this melodrama. Hopefully, the "affair" was a smokescreen for actual work getting done.

Stephen's eagle finds home in Canada

This item is for fans of the "Colbert Report," which is also seen in Canada on the Comedy Channel and over-the-air on CTV.

But for those who aren't familiar, Colbert had a bald eagle named after him (referred to as Stephen Jr.) by the San Francisco Zoo. Well, the eagle was released into the wild, and much to Stephen's on-air chagrin, made its way to Canada.

The eagle currently resides several hundred kilometers north of Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia. You can follow the eagle's path at iws.org. Click on "Interactive" and then "Track an Eagle."

Stephen, Jr. was released on June 8 and stayed on Santa Cruz Island until July 6. He crossed the border on August 10.

I suppose bald eagles do migrate in a particular pattern, so we don't know when/if the eagle might return to the U.S.

Stephen's stage manager did point out that the eagle would be healthy since Canada has "national health care." Colbert asked his Washington state audience to go to its northern border and hold up a fish to get Stephen Jr. back in the States.

Glenn Ford was a Canadian

To those who know Glenn Ford, the headline isn't a surprise. To a lot of others, including me, I was surprised to find Ford was born in Sainte-Christine, Quebec, Canada. Ford died Wednesday at the age of 90.

Ford had a luminous career. He starred in "The Big Heat," "The Blackboard Jungle,", and "The Teahouse of the August Moon." Ford also had a solid on-screen partnership with Rita Hayworth, starting with "Gilda" in 1946.

He was also known as the father in the original movie "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" that sparked the TV series. Ford starred in the movie with Shirley Jones and a 9-year-old Ron Howard as Eddie.

Realizing that Ford was Canadian reminds me of a story about trivia. I was playing on a team in a bar when the question came up, "Where was William Shatner born?"

We did all know that Shatner is Canadian, but where in Canada was a good question. We got a chance to think about it for awhile. As the Canadian expert, the team looked to me. I wasn't sure, but I thought about it. I said that I think he was born in Montreal.

They seemed puzzled. Shatner was Jewish, they said (which I knew). How could he be from Montreal? They reluctantly trusted me and got rewarded when the correct answer was given as Montreal.

You wouldn't think Shatner was from Montreal and Ford was from Sainte-Christine in Quebec. Yes, Quebec is French-dominant. But anglophones are born and raised in Quebec. Some of them turn out to be actors.

Ottawa Lynx to leave town in 2008

Canada is losing another baseball team. While the Ottawa Lynx aren't the Montreal Expos in terms of talent, the loss is still significant.

The new owners intend to move the team to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the 2008 baseball season. The club will remain in Ottawa for the 2007 season as a Triple-A franchise for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lynx Stadium, a 10,000-seat state-of-the-art palace built by Ottawa taxpayers in 1990, is considered to be one of the better minor league stadiums. But the team has had the poorest attendance record in the league, averaging just 1,000 spectators per game.

The Montreal franchise was poorly run by Jeffrey Loria (ask the Florida Marlins fans what they think of him). I confess I don't know why the Lynx have suffered. But baseball hasn't thought much of Canada lately, outside Toronto.

I hear baseball say they want to expand around the world. Just so you know, Canada is part of that world.

More mad cow

I hate reporting these stories, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed on Wednesday a new case of mad cow disease in Alberta.

The agency says the latest cow is believed to have been old enough to have contracted the disease before Canada banned the use of cattle parts in cattle feed. That is good news in the sense that this was under the old rules. This is Canada's fifth case in 2006 and the eighth since 2003. The hope is that the system and that they are discovering these cows in time.

These cases do not stop me from eating Canadian (or American) beef. But I do wish I felt safer about the whole experience.

Where are the American tourists?

Yes, by American tourists, I mean U.S. tourists. And despite my efforts to pump up visits personally, American visits to Canada have sunk to a record low, according to a Canadian government report.

The three major issues are high gas prices, perceived hassles at the border, and a strong Canadian dollar. Gas prices haven't kept me away personally, I don't like not getting as much for my U.S. dollar, and I can deal with the border. But not everyone thinks the way I do.

The number of same-day U.S. travelers to Canada hit the lowest since recordkeeping started in 1972, according to Statistics Canada. Visits from the U.S. are 7.4 percent lower versus last year. June was the second straight month U.S. same-day car visits touched record lows.

My trip to Toronto got thwarted more by overall money for me. But I have to admit that the new "no liquids" policy made it much easier to postpone a trip.

When some of these issues gets softened, perhaps Canada will need to invest some marketing dollars and/or incentives to get U.S. residents to come to Canada. Canada is a great place to go; the world just needs to know how great it is.

The e-passports are here

For those who have followed our coverage of the joy of having a passport, and somehow don't have one, you might want to know the latest on e-passports.

The U.S. State Department will start issuing smart chip-embedded passports as of today. The new e-passports include a chip that contains all the data in the paper version -- name, birthdate, gender, etc. It can be read by electronic scanners at equipped airports. The State Department says the new e-passports will speed the customs process and help enhance border security.

However, good luck to you those using one since any potential hitches in technology (likely to happen) will make your delay much longer than those with the regular versions.

There is also legitimate concerns over privacy. Privacy groups have objected for some time over the security of the electronic information. Also, a major concern is that hackers, who could pick up the electronic signal when the passport is being scanned.

The new passports will cost more. New ones under this program are $97, which includes a $12 security surcharge added last year. (Not all new passports contain the technology as it's fully rolled out, which is expected to take a year.)

For those of us who have a passport, the good news is hopefully the bugs willbe worked out by the time your passport needs to be renewed. You do not need to renew your passport until their normal expiration date.

Tejada gives Toronto fans an aplogy

Hate to do another baseball story, but I have to mention that Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada has apologized for his obscene gesture toward the stands during Wednesday's game in Toronto.

"I want to apologize to everyone, especially to the Orioles fans and the fans in Toronto, for my action in Wednesday's game," Tejada said in a statement posted on the Orioles' Web site. "I was frustrated and should not have let things get to me. I am sorry and hope people will accept that and know that is not the kind of person I am."

Tejada is not normally that kind of guy. He has been the subject of recent trade rumors, and he plays on a bad team. And clearly the Toronto fans did not deserve the apparent middle finger.

I would like to see first-hand about the Toronto fans, but I may not be able to get up there like I planned. A new job and the absence of carry-on liquids on the plane may dash my chances.

Morneau hits 30 (home runs)

Justin Morneau was one of the star hitters for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. In his day job as Minnesota's first baseman, Morneau has done something no Twin, regardless of where he was born, has done in 19 years.

Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky, and Kent Hrbek all hit at least 30 homers - all of them in 1987. Morneau is also the first Minnesota player with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs since Gaetti. BTW, the Twins won it all that year, and also won in 1991 without a 30-home run hitter. This year, the Twins are in the fight for the wild card, but could easily not make the playoffs.

Morneau, 25, was born in New Westminster, British Columbia. There seems quite a few players who are in the major leagues from British Columbia. Larry Walker, the recently retired all-star outfielder, was from that province.

Needless to say, Morneau has plenty of home runs ahead of him. And when the next World Baseball Classic comes along, Morneau will still be a key player.

Happy provincial holidays

A number of provinces celebrate a holiday on the first Monday in August. The way of the calendar pushed it this year to August 7.

Different provinces and territories have their unique approach. Some don't even have a holiday. Here's the breakdown:

Statutory Holiday
Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Day)
British Columbia (British Columbia Day)
New Brunswick (New Brunswick Day)
Nunavut (Civic Holiday)
Northwest Territories (Civic Holiday)

Civic Holiday
Ontario (Simcoe Day + others)
Alberta (Heritage Day)
Manitoba (Civic Holiday)
Nova Scotia (Natal Day)
Prince Edward Island (Natal Day)

No Holiday
Newfoundland & Labrador
Quebec
Yukon Territory

I think it's very cool to have a holiday in the middle of the summer, especially since the U.S. celebrates no holidays in August (the one month that needs one). So enjoy your holidays in whatever form they take.

How does Cuba's situation affect Canada

As you likely know, Fidel Castro temporarily handed control of Cuba over to Raul Castro while recovering from intestinal surgery.

Those in the U.S. are aware the country has an embargo against Cuba, though they may not understand the politics behind the decision. But those in the U.S. may not be aware that Canada has no such restrictions against travel and spending with Cuba.

Canada has enjoyed a number of dollars from the U.S. restrictions, from money spent in Toronto on the way to Havana to Cuban cigars purchased in Windsor. If U.S. residents no longer have restrictions on travel and spending, that will remove the uniqueness of what Canada currently offers.

For those who have never been to Windsor, as soon as you come up on the Canadian side, there are numerous shops to buy Cuban cigars, illegal in the United States. This is also true in other border cities in Canada, but Windsor seems really known for this.

We here at Canadian Corner realize that some day, Canada will lose a specialness in dealing with Cuba, but also feels that the embargo is unfair and should be lifted. There is no guarantee this will happen soon, regardless of what happens to Fidel Castro, but Fidel's illness has started the wheels in motion to how the U.S. will treat Cuba in the future.

Calgary hits 1 million people

Canada has a lot of square miles, but not as many people. Until recently, only two Canadian cities had a million people: Toronto and Montréal. Now we can add Calgary to the list.

When you count the metropolitan areas, you can add Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull, and Edmonton.

Calgary has grown dramatically due to the nearby oil sands. The area is crying for workers, and plenty of Canadians are flocking to Calgary. The 1,000,000th Canadian officially was a baby boy named Dashiell Waite. For the honor, his parents won gift certificates, airline tickets, and a spa weekend.

Calgary is also seen as a governmental power source since Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a MP from Calgary.

Canada does its census in years that end in 6. Calgary's population in 1996 (city) was 768,082. The top metro areas in Canada as of 2001, according to Statistics Canada, are Toronto 4,682,897; Montréal 3,426,350; Vancouver 1,986,965; and Ottawa-Hull 1,063,664. Calgary's metro area in 2001 was listed as 951,395, but its suburbs add very little to the mix.

Canada benefits from stem cell research veto

Not to play politics, but Canada has benefited from George W. Bush's refusal to federally fund stem-cell research. Stem-cell research is federally funded in Canada.

Given that the U.S. Congress will be unlikely to gain the 2/3 majority needed to override a veto, Canada will continue to enjoy the brain gain of scientists leaving the U.S. to do research.

Michael Rudnicki, scientific director of the Stem Cell Network, told the Toronto Star of the benefits north of the border. "There has been a reverse brain drain going on because of the U.S. policy,'' he said, "and we've kept some scientists who might have otherwise moved south."

That brain gain for Canada has lasted over 5 years, since Bush took office.

At stake are embryos that are already scheduled to be destroyed. U.S. federal law prohibits funding to do research on those cells.

Canadian dream: Red paper clip for a house

Kyle MacDonald had a dream that took him from one red paper clip all the way up to a house. MacDonald, 26, from Canada, had a giant red paper clip, no job, but he had a Web site.

The premise was that he would trade things, one by one, and end up with a house.

MacDonald started with two women from Vancouver who offered a fish pen. So it went from one red paper clip for one fish pen for one door knob, for one camping stove, for one generator, for one instant party, for one snowmobile, for one trip to Yahk, British Columbia, for one cube van, for one recording contract, for one year of rent in Phoenix, for an afternoon with Alice Cooper.

Yes, the Alice Cooper. MacDonald traded the rest of his time with Cooper for a snow globe. Then actor Corbin Bernsen, an avid snow globe collector, wanted MacDonald's snow globe and offered a paid role in his new movie in exchange.

Then the people of Kipling, Saskatchewan wanted the movie role. And their offer? The house MacDonald said he wanted when it all started.

MacDonald said he had never been to Kipling. Well, now he has great incentive to go.

Yes, we've all read odd Internet-type stories, but this story seems somehow Canadian (admittedly with a U.S.-based rock star and actor), especially where Kipling came into it. The friendliness and gentle spirit is something I've admired in my trips to Canada. So when I saw this story, I felt the need to share.

Canada at the All-Star Game

This sadly marks the second year now that Montreal is not in the All-Star Game. The only Canadian team left in Major League Baseball is the Toronto Blue Jays. Yet there were many ways Canada sneaked into the game.

* B.J. Ryan of the Toronto Blue Jays got the win for the American League in the 3-2 win.

* Troy Glaus of Toronto got a key 9th inning double with two outs. Though a 3rd baseman, Glaus saw his first action ever as a 1st baseman in the 9th inning.

* Center fielder Vernon Wells (Toronto) got a chance to show off his throwing arm, nailing Alfonso Soriano trying to score from second base in the 3rd inning.

* Pittsburgh's Jason Bay, who is from Trail, B.C., played the majority of the game in his home ballpark. Bay had a hit and split his time between right field and left. Bay was elected as a starter in fan balloting.

* Former Montreal Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero hit his first All-Star Game homer. Guerrero now plays for the Los Angeles Angels of the AL.

* Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay gave up a run on a wild pitch in two innings.

* Toronto manager John Gibbons was a coach on manager Ozzie Guillen's coaching staff.

* The Blue Jays' Alex Rios, chosen to the AL team in a vote of players, coaches, and managers, could not play because he is on the disabled list.

* Toronto and the Rogers Centre is trying to get the All-Star Game to come to Toronto. One advantage to getting the game, besides tourism money and publicity, is that MLB sponsors community activities that could directly benefit Toronto in similar ways that the NFL did in Windsor when the Super Bowl came to Detroit.

I Know My First Name Is Stephen

The headline is a play off of a 1989 made-for-TV movie called "I Know My First Name Is Steven." But it fits the latest controversy over George W. Bush calling Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "Steve" during their brief meetings last week.

Bush is known for his condescending nicknames of the U.S. press. No word over whether Harper has a nickname or whether "Steve" is that nickname.

Those who generally know Harper don't think of him as a "Steve" but more of a Stephen. Harper has said that a few people, close friends of his, do call him Steve.

Given how little they have spoken, familiarity is not something these gentlemen share. Not that this would stop Bush from going off and assuming a one-sided familiarity.

Harper's mother has gone on the record as disapproving of Bush calling her son "Steve." Hopefully for Canada's sake, Harper pays more attention to what Bush is doing than what he is called.

Harper welcomed at White House

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made his first appearance at the White House. Border security is on the plate, though reinforcing the recent softwood lumber accord and opening dialogue are other reasons for the visit.

Though the three leaders (U.S., Canada, Mexico) met in March, this is the first visit between Harper and Bush since Harper took power earlier this year.

The leaders were scheduled to meet for 40 minutes at the Oval Office, before holding a joint press conference.

I confess that doesn't seem like a whole lot of time, given the need to discuss a number of issues. The provinces known for logging, especially British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec don't like the new agreement. Bush seems to recognize that border security can't be obtrusive, but he has no specifics to deal with the impending deadline.

The experts love to talk about how much better relations will be under Harper than Martin, but 40 minutes after several months with a prime minister Bush likes will not be enough to gain momentum on any topic.

Calderon wins the official count in Mexico

Felipe Calderon of President Vicente Fox's National Action Party has won the official count in Mexico's disputed presidential race.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party blamed fraud for his narrow loss and called on his supporters to fill Mexico City's main square Saturday.

With the 41 million votes counted, Calderon had 35.88 percent to 35.31 percent for Lopez Obrador, separated by about 220,000 votes.

Hopefully, Calderon will reach out to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, especially after Bush finally meeting with Harper one-on-one.

Uncertainty in Mexico race

There is some concern over who actually won in Mexico's elections. How does that affect Canada? Well, when the U.S., Canada, and Mexico finally had a summit, it would be the only meeting between Bush, Harper, and Fox.

The dynamic would either be a member from Fox's party or a more left-wing leaning candidate. Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (Fox's party) apparently won the official count in Mexico's disputed presidential race. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party, the favored candidate, is considered to be a close second.

We will have to wait to see who gets in and how that president can work with Harper. Canada and Mexico may need to meet more and bypass the U.S., currently reluctant to meet as much as is needed.

Happy Canada Day

July 1 is Canada Day, or until 1982, known as Dominion Day.

On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act united the Province of Canada (southern Ontario and southern Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a federation.

Canadians hold patriotic celebrations on Canada Day. Many major U.S. cities will also feature celebrations for ex-pats.

Toronto finally gets the first pick

I haven't really cared much about the NBA anymore, but Toronto getting the first pick in tonight's draft reminds me of a burr I still have with the NBA.

When the Toronto Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies entered the NBA, they were not allowed to get the first pick in the NBA draft for a few years. They were the only teams in professional sports denied this basic right to improve. Tonight was the first time any Canadian team ever had the first pick.

As for the theory that it was done because they were expansion teams, these two teams were the only two that ever had this restriction, and they are the only two Canadian franchises.

The NBA also did nothing to help the Grizzlies stay in Vancouver. The Grizzlies and Raptors struggled in part due to the inability to get the first pick. I don't know what David Stern (NBA commissioner) has against Canada. But it was disappointing that a league that prides itself on internationalism screwed Canada over in a big way.

And by the way, basketball was invented by a Canadian. Dr. James Naismith, known worldwide as the inventor of basketball, was born in 1861 near Almonte, Ontario.

Tax update

The Conservative Party has been pushing for tax cuts as part of its agenda. Saturday (also Canada Day) marks the first round of changes.

* A one-percentage point cut in the GST to six percent.
* A universal child-care benefit of $1,200 a year to parents for each child under the age of 6. (This is taxable as income in the hands of the spouse with the lower income.)
* A tax credit for people who buy monthly or annual transit passes, amounting to 15.5 percent of the cost of the passes.
* A slight increase in the basic personal exemption and a new $250 employment credit will mean paying a little less income tax.
* But the rate rises from 15 percent to 15.5 percent on the first $36,400.

I was surprised Stephen Harper mentioned the transit pass tax credit. Conservatives do better in areas where public transit isn't prevalent, and worse in areas where public transit is dominant and necessary.

The GST (goods and services tax) is like a federal sales tax. Provinces also charge a PST (provincial sales tax). On higher priced purchases, residents of the United States and other countries can get a GST rebate.

News bumped for American reality show

For those of us who hold the CBC in high regard for its news and sports, its take on the Great White North, sadness prevails on this news.

The CBC announced that on Tuesdays this summer, "The National," CBC's legandary nightly newscast will be delayed by one hour for a simulcast of an American-based "American Idol" ripoff.

"The One: Making a Music Star" will be simulcast on ABC-TV in the States and CBC. So in the Newfoundland, Atlantic, and Eastern time zones, the news will be delayed.

The CBC runs primarily Canadian programming, unlike broader commercial networks such as the CTV and Global. This American infusion, reality-based to boot, screams out as an insult.

This fall, the CBC plans to make a Canadian version of the show.

The CBC is funded by Canadian taxpayers. Previously, it didn't run commercials, but due to a lack of funding, the CBC does run commercials. But the point of public funding is to be able to provide quality Canadian programming, not lame reality contests based in the States.

Leaders must be bilingual

Prime ministers in Canada, and those who want to be prime minister, have to speak both English and French well. Regardless of whether you are from the predominantly French areas such as Quebec and New Brunswick or Alberta, where French is rarely spoken, being bilingual is not negotiable.

Well, many who see a leadership opening in the Liberal Party are trying to take advantage. However, some of them have not fared as well when trying a language other than their own.

Stephane Dion has struggled in English, while several English-speaking candidates have had troubles with French.

Michael Ignatieff, the "outsider from America" as many have framed him, apparently speaks English and French well, but his French may not be Quebecois French. And since he supports Canada going to war in Iraq, it's doubtful he could truly win the leadership.

Other than most recent Conservatives, Quebec has been the home of numerous prime ministers. Even Conservative Brian Mulroney was from Quebec. Current Prime Minister Stephen Harper is from Alberta, but his French, while not great, is passable.

Canada is a bilingual country, and the Liberals need to win votes from Francophones and Anglophones. It's difficult to fathom that the legacy of Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chretien, and Paul Martin has fallen to "Can anyone here speak English AND French?"

Game 7

The dream dies a bit short of the ultimate goal.

The offense did not make its return in Game 7. It was almost as if Carolina and Edmonton switched bodies similar to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

The power play was filled with passes that weren't going anywhere. You can't score if you don't shoot the puck. Blowing a 5-on-3 advantage in the second period was likely the last straw.

Still, it was an amazing run for a team that barely made the playoffs, downed the top-seeded Red Wings, lost its star goalie in the finals, and made it to a Game 7. It would have been nice to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada. Unfortunately, it continues to live in the American South, where I'm sure it won't be appreciated nearly as much as it would have been in Northern Alberta.

Playing for Lord Stanley's Cup

This is Carolina's second trip to the finals, the first since 2002. Edmonton has won 5 Stanley Cups, the last in 1990.

Drop the puck and let's go.


Stanley Cup Finals
All Start Times are 8 p.m. Eastern.
All games will air in Canada on the CBC and RDS (in French).
U.S. feed will be on OLN for Games 1-2, NBC for Games 3-7
* if necessary

(2) Carolina vs. (8) Edmonton
Carolina wins series 4-3

Game
Day
Score
Game 1
June 5
Carolina 5, Edmonton 4
Game 2
June 7
Carolina 5, Edmonton 0
Game 3
June 10
Edmonton 2, Carolina 1
Game 4
June 12
Carolina 2, Edmonton 1
Game 5
June 14
Edmonton 4, Carolina 3 (OT)
Game 6
June 17
Edmonton 4, Carolina 0
Game 7
June 19
Carolina 3, Edmonton 1

Game 6

There will be a Game 7.

There was not much drama in Edmonton's 4-0 shutout win. Carolina may have been off their game due to the loss of Doug Weight, injured in Game 5. You could say Game 2 was to Carolina what Game 6 was to Edmonton. And perhaps the overtime win in Game 5 was too much for Carolina (the same thing happened to San Jose earlier against Edmonton).

But the Oilers may have picked the right time to dominate. They didn't even need the goal that should not have been nulified.

If you wonder about the emotions involved, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was at the game last night, reportedly in a regular seat. This is a big deal.

The last team down 3-1 to force a Game 7: Vancouver in 1994 lost Game 7 to the New York Rangers.
The last team down 3-1 to win it all: 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs over Detroit.

See you on Monday at 8 pm Eastern, 6 pm in Edmonton.

One last note: I mentioned in the Game 5 notes about the conflict between the Edmonton Oilers (hockey) and Edmonton Eskimos (football) playing at the same time. The kickoff was delayed more than 35 minutes due to a lightning storm. And Edmonton did not fare as well on the football field, losing 24-14 to its provincial rival, Calgary.

CFL preview

For those in the U.S. who can get CFL games on cable and to those U.S. viewers who get the CBC, I thought I would give you a peek into the 2006 CFL season.

We are back to 8 teams. The Ottawa Renegades were disbanded for ongoing financial issues. So Winnipeg moves back to the East Division with Hamilton, Montreal, and Toronto. The West Division will be B.C., Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatchewan. The CFL had hoped to improve on Ottawa's situation and add a 10th team, perhaps in Halifax or Quebec City. Those plans are on hold.

The CFL has struggled in the past with expansion and franchise stability, so taking it slow is not a bad thing. Right now, neither Halifax or Quebec City has a stadium large enough, ideally somewhere around 25,000-30,000.

Sometimes, the CFL gets a "NFL celebrity" in its midst. This year, it's Ricky Williams, the suspended Miami running back. Normally, a CFL team would sign a player and hold an option. However, this deal is structured so that Williams plays only this year. The CFL teams, when the draft is held, pick players they may never see (such as Williams).

So the lucky team is the Toronto Argonauts, but most non-Toronto fans might not think the Argos need another potent offensive weapon. The Argos will pay him $240,000 (Canadian), down from the $585,000 (U.S.) he made last season in Miami. Williams was suspended by the NFL following a fourth breach of the league's substance abuse policy.

Onterrio Smith, another suspended NFL running back, will not be suiting up for Winnipeg. Smith got cut in preseason.

Edmonton is the defending Grey Cup champion. Montreal is the defending East Division winner. B.C. and Calgary will likely contend from the West and Toronto from the East.

One last note: Reginald Bibby, a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge, conducted a recent survey (completed in November 2005) that showed interest in professional football was up among Canadians at 24 percent, an increase of 4 percent over the past 5 years. In fact, 19 percent of Canadians said they follow the CFL, compared to 13 percent for the NFL. That is a significant upturn since the NFL has been quite popular in Canada. So hopefully, the CFL can take advantage of this trend.