Hi folks! New member here. I am a proud Canuck and was wondering if any of you U.S. folks are curious about what Canada is all about and what it's like to live here. Any and all questions are welcome. I'll try to answer you as best I can!
Hello! I'm Jessica from Lancashire UK. I have a question. Do you see mounted police regularly or is that mainly to attract tourists?
Back a ways, I visited Canada a few times and it was pretty much like being in the US. Loved it and the people. I took it as a short cut to visit my daughter in Vermont. Not so easy now. I liked your side of Niagra Falls better.
@Jaspurr Miller: Welcome to the forum, Jaspurr. Glad you joined us. How do you like your health care system in Canada? Does it change any when you reach a retirement age, like in the US at age 65? I think we get a lot of biased information about it here in the U.S. Depends on what organization is providing the information.
Hi Jessica....great question! Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is our federal police force, similar to the CIA in the U.S. Not sure what the equivalent would be in the U.K. It deals with financial crime, serious and organized crime, cybercrime, national security, and protective policing. There are RCMP detachments in all provinces, but they don't ride around on horses or wear the traditional red uniforms. That is reserved for special events...mostly in our capitol, Ottawa...and only certain officers who are specifically trained for these events participate. I would actually guess that most of our RCMP officers don't ride horses at all! I don't think that's a requirement. (27) The Best Ever RCMP Musical Ride - YouTube
Great question! Thanks for asking! In general, yes, I am satisfied with our health care system. We pay for it with our tax dollars, of course, but most routine surgeries and procedures are free. No one is turned away from a hospital due to lack of funds, and that's a comforting feeling. I know that in the U.S. people without insurance pay thousands of dollars for even minor surgeries, like an appendectomy, and have a tough time paying for it. That doesn't happen here. We pay for our own medications until age 65, when most are either free (depending on your income) or $4.00 each. Many people who work have group benefits through their company, which pay all or a portion of things that aren't covered by the federal health plan, like prescriptions, chiropractor, naturopath, vision care, dental, short-term disability and long-term disability. People who don't have a group plan with an employer or are retired can purchase private benefits plan from various insurers, but the monthly premiums can be expensive, especially if they include dental. Different provinces have different health programs, but they're all pretty similar. The downside to our system is that it can take months to see a specialist and have a surgery booked (even worse during COVID). Emergency room waits (depending on the emergency) are usually many hours. If you've broken an arm, plan to be there at least 10 hours. Canada has some of the best doctors and surgeons in the world, especially in large cities like Toronto, but of course due to distance, not everyone has easy access to them. Overall, though, it's a good system compared to many other countries. I've heard many horror stories of U.S. folks putting off medical procedures because they can't afford it. I've always wondered how many people die because this. This rarely happens here in Canada. Hope this answers your question!
I visited BC in 1980, when I was in my 20s and I fell in love with it. I also dreamt about living there, somewhere in the mountains, but I could never move that far away from my loved ones.
Hubs and I spent our honeymoon in Stowe, 30 years ago. It was October and the fall scenery was gorgeous! I also prefer "our side" of Niagara Falls. Nice that we can appreciate the beauty and people of each other's countries...like good neighbours!
Yeah, I fell in love the documentaries when I was quite young I did move to the mountains, just not the BC mountains Still wish I had've
We have the Metropolitan Police here, then each town and city have their own constabulary. We have a firearms unit too as our regular police aren't armed. We have mounted police at events, like football matches, and we have Police Community Support Officers, aka PCSO's, I find them a waste of time to be honest, not sure what their role is in the community but they have done me no favours when I've reported anti social behaviour.
Thanks for the info. Very interesting. I was wondering if your local police were still unarmed. Ours have both guns and tasers. Oh, and I forgot about the SWAT team, who are called in for major disturbances. They are full-on military, with automatic weapons. Quite intimidating.
The U.S. has many law enforcement branches, federal, state, county, city. Then there are an absolute plethora of agencies with their own dedicated police departments. Even the NIH has its own federal police force for example. The most maverick of the different groups are probably the county sheriffs because they are elected by the people in their county and are not beholding to the usual powers that be, only to the people. In Maryland (not sure about other states) we have a force called the Natural Resources Police department (not Park Police). What’s unusual about these guys and gals is that they are pretty under the radar but have broad discretionary powers. They could just turn up at a scene called in to other police if they feel like it. I’ve always thought it was kind of a weird thing.