Any Canadians on this forum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart the system works.

Middle class families receiving financial aid are paying a substantial portion of the tuition of which I am a paying recipient. Most coffers in private school cannot provide full pay because there are so many applicants seeking financial aid.

I agree that one of the benefits of US culture is recognizing the value of racially and economically diverse colleges, and most schools have made it their goal to ensure this happens. However, it comes at the cost of past and ongoing litigation (affirmative action) at many of these institutes to achieve exactly what you extoll, some unsuccessfully. The dynamic and available opportunities that push kids to excel in education is a good one but comes replete with the stressors of maintaining high GPAs and standardized college entrance test scores. Rural America may not reflect these ideas but many step outside of rural America and will have to compete.

I am not knocking our system. I would live nowhere else but America. But I would be remiss if I didn't reflect further on your heartfelt comments. America is not an academic utopia, no matter what part of this country you are in. It offers much and some of the best academia in the world. The diligent seek out what works best and meets personal expectations. It's separating the wheat from the chaff. And that's anywhere you live whether it's east, west, middle America or wherever.

Do you think this is different than Canada? Canadian culture is even more multicultural than US culture. Do you think that all SES and races are well represented in colleges in the US? i am not knocking that the US might value diversity, I just don't think that is a US value.

PP here. Did you read my entire comment past the statement you bolded?

[Anonymous]

PP here, I have knocked Canada on a few post above but in reality, I am a huge fan of Canada. Canada is multicultural but let's not ignore the fact that minorities in the US are much more involved in every aspect of life here in the US than in other countries. Look beyond POTUS at the leaders in government, business, academia, media, etc. Canada might be more accepting but it is in the US where minorities can make an impact and I believe that as because of the reasons I posted earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here, I have knocked Canada on a few post above but in reality, I am a huge fan of Canada. Canada is multicultural but let's not ignore the fact that minorities in the US are much more involved in every aspect of life here in the US than in other countries. Look beyond POTUS at the leaders in government, business, academia, media, etc. Canada might be more accepting but it is in the US where minorities can make an impact and I believe that as because of the reasons I posted earlier.

What do you mean by that? You think that a higher percentage of minorities are involved in government, business, academia and media than in in Canada? Do you have any proof or stats of that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here, I have knocked Canada on a few post above but in reality, I am a huge fan of Canada. Canada is multicultural but let's not ignore the fact that minorities in the US are much more involved in every aspect of life here in the US than in other countries. Look beyond POTUS at the leaders in government, business, academia, media, etc. Canada might be more accepting but it is in the US where minorities can make an impact and I believe that as because of the reasons I posted earlier.

What do you mean by that? You think that a higher percentage of minorities are involved in government, business, academia and media than in in Canada? Do you have any proof or stats of that?

Yeah, I'm skeptical of that post too. Having lived for years in Toronto, NYC, Boston, and DC, I don't know if it's correct that minorities in the US are "much more involved in every aspect of life here in the US than in other countries." East and South Asians are prominent in Canadian politics, academia, media, etc. I can switch on CityTV in Toronto and see more minority newsanchors than I can on any major network in the US (which appear to be dominated by blondes), which is interesting in light of how much smaller the Canadian population is relative to the U.S. population. But, by all means, PP, if you know of studies backing up your claim, please share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here, I have knocked Canada on a few post above but in reality, I am a huge fan of Canada. Canada is multicultural but let's not ignore the fact that minorities in the US are much more involved in every aspect of life here in the US than in other countries. Look beyond POTUS at the leaders in government, business, academia, media, etc. Canada might be more accepting but it is in the US where minorities can make an impact and I believe that as because of the reasons I posted earlier.

Just want to clarify that I am the responder in today's 10:29 and 10:38 post and did not make the above 10:52 comment.

Just an FYI as you carry on your debate about minorities in Canada and the US.

[Anonymous]

Blondes? Stop watching Fox News. Check out CNN, MSNBC and others. I can't do your homework for you but check around. Do you have many minorities running your top companies? Where is your Colin Powell or Condi Rice? Where is your Susan Rice, who now directs the US foreign policy? What minorities do you have coaching or managing major sports franchises? Any minorities leading your provinces like those running the states of Massachusetts, New Mexico and South Caroline? Any minorities leading major cities like those leading Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, etc.? Who are the major minorities in film -- actors, directors, and producers? What about top financiers? Do you have an Oprah? What about scientist? Any astronauts? There is really no comparison and there is not a country that comes close. Brazil? Not! The UK? Not! France? Not! Maybe Canada does but it still does not come close. I bet you that you can name more minority journalist, politicians, business leaders, scientists, etc. from the US than you can name in Canada.

Please don't take this is bragging but I will always defend my country when pople, including Americans try to knock it and I would expect you to do the same. I also hope I don't come across as a Canada-hater because I am not. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are on my favorite cities list and if I could, I would move to Vancouver today because I love the people, culture and grandeur of that city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On a related topic from today's Wapo: "While U.S. teenagers scored slightly above average in reading, their scores were average in science and below average in math, compared to 64 other countries and economies that participated in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which was administered last fall."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/us-students-lag-around-average-on-international-science-math-and-reading-test/2013/12/02/2e510f26-5b92-11e3-a49b-90a0e156254b_story.html

Take notice of Canada's ranking compared to the US...The public education system is very strong and most Canadians use it. As some PP's have said, private school in Canada is for the elite.
Original report with findings -
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-overview.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blondes? Stop watching Fox News. Check out CNN, MSNBC and others. I can't do your homework for you but check around. Do you have many minorities running your top companies? Where is your Colin Powell or Condi Rice? Where is your Susan Rice, who now directs the US foreign policy? What minorities do you have coaching or managing major sports franchises? Any minorities leading your provinces like those running the states of Massachusetts, New Mexico and South Caroline? Any minorities leading major cities like those leading Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, etc.? Who are the major minorities in film -- actors, directors, and producers? What about top financiers? Do you have an Oprah? What about scientist? Any astronauts? There is really no comparison and there is not a country that comes close. Brazil? Not! The UK? Not! France? Not! Maybe Canada does but it still does not come close. I bet you that you can name more minority journalist, politicians, business leaders, scientists, etc. from the US than you can name in Canada.

Please don't take this is bragging but I will always defend my country when pople, including Americans try to knock it and I would expect you to do the same. I also hope I don't come across as a Canada-hater because I am not. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are on my favorite cities list and if I could, I would move to Vancouver today because I love the people, culture and grandeur of that city.

Blah blah blah (and I am not Canadian).

According to the latest OECD reports, around 10% of the adult population in the US is foreign-born, vs. close to 20% in Canada. The American dream is alive and well...up north.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if anyone could do a comparison with the top private schools in DC to the private schools in a major Canadian city like Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver? If there are any Torontonians, what would be the equivalent to UTS?

Back to OP's original question, I am Canadian, have lived in the US for 10 years and now live in NOVA. One top school with a bridge to college program similar to UTS that I can think of is School Without Walls (SWW) in DC but it is public (magnet), your child must be a DC resident to apply, and acceptance to the school is very selective. SWW has an Early College bridge program that allows students to complete coursework at George Washington University. The school is also physically located on GW's campus and students use the university's facilities in addition to their own. The coursework counts towards college credit and an Associate Arts degree at GW.

Also, Georgetown Visitation Prep School has a bridge program with Georgetown University for selected senior students. Georgetown Visitation is very hard to get into and it's all-girls, Catholic.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to all who responded to my question. I knew it was a long shot. While I didn't go to UTS (I went to another private school), that's the kind of school I'd like to send DC: serious about academics without all the pomp and pageantry. Based on the threads on this forum, it seems to me that the following schools are comparable:

- UCC:St. Albans
- BSS: Holton Arms
- Havergal: NCS
- TFS: WIS
- Crescent/St. Mike's: Landon

But I don't think there's an equivalent school to Sidwell in Toronto. Any views?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blondes? Stop watching Fox News. Check out CNN, MSNBC and others. I can't do your homework for you but check around. Do you have many minorities running your top companies? Where is your Colin Powell or Condi Rice? Where is your Susan Rice, who now directs the US foreign policy? What minorities do you have coaching or managing major sports franchises? Any minorities leading your provinces like those running the states of Massachusetts, New Mexico and South Caroline? Any minorities leading major cities like those leading Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, etc.? Who are the major minorities in film -- actors, directors, and producers? What about top financiers? Do you have an Oprah? What about scientist? Any astronauts? There is really no comparison and there is not a country that comes close. Brazil? Not! The UK? Not! France? Not! Maybe Canada does but it still does not come close. I bet you that you can name more minority journalist, politicians, business leaders, scientists, etc. from the US than you can name in Canada.

Please don't take this is bragging but I will always defend my country when pople, including Americans try to knock it and I would expect you to do the same. I also hope I don't come across as a Canada-hater because I am not. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are on my favorite cities list and if I could, I would move to Vancouver today because I love the people, culture and grandeur of that city.

You appear to only know about America and then assume no one else could possibly be like America. Additionally in terms of numbers - of course America has more as the population is 10x the population of Canada - but if you look at percentages or rates, you see a very different story. Your post sadly mostly illustrates the stereotypical ignorance of any country other than your own.

[Anonymous]

PP, You dumb ass! I didn't say that no one else is like the US, I just said that no country comes as close as the US with minorities having such a major impact on society. That would be the case if I haven't traveled to other countries including Canada. Not only have I dated people from all over Canada, visited many parts of Canada, had Canadian roommates, know the Canadian national anthem, know the correct pronunciation of the letter "Z," and can tell you the capitals of all provinces, I would move to Vancouver or Toronto in a heartbeat.

Granted, Canada is definitely more friendly to immigrants and minorities, but the fact remains that the list of prominent minorities and immigrants with influence is stronger in the US than in Canada. You can't respond to any of the above questions with any degree of accuracy. The numbers are small. We just fired an immigrant who hosted a popular show on a prominent network for an outrageous comments he made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Blondes? Stop watching Fox News. Check out CNN, MSNBC and others. I can't do your homework for you but check around. Do you have many minorities running your top companies? Where is your Colin Powell or Condi Rice? Where is your Susan Rice, who now directs the US foreign policy? What minorities do you have coaching or managing major sports franchises? Any minorities leading your provinces like those running the states of Massachusetts, New Mexico and South Caroline? Any minorities leading major cities like those leading Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, etc.? Who are the major minorities in film -- actors, directors, and producers? What about top financiers? Do you have an Oprah? What about scientist? Any astronauts? There is really no comparison and there is not a country that comes close. Brazil? Not! The UK? Not! France? Not! Maybe Canada does but it still does not come close. I bet you that you can name more minority journalist, politicians, business leaders, scientists, etc. from the US than you can name in Canada.

Please don't take this is bragging but I will always defend my country when pople, including Americans try to knock it and I would expect you to do the same. I also hope I don't come across as a Canada-hater because I am not. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are on my favorite cities list and if I could, I would move to Vancouver today because I love the people, culture and grandeur of that city.

Blah blah blah (and I am not Canadian).

According to the latest OECD reports, around 10% of the adult population in the US is foreign-born, vs. close to 20% in Canada. The American dream is alive and well...up north.

Canada's immigration policy gives preferential treatment to very wealthy immigrants, i.e. those with lots of assets and income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all who responded to my question. I knew it was a long shot. While I didn't go to UTS (I went to another private school), that's the kind of school I'd like to send DC: serious about academics without all the pomp and pageantry. Based on the threads on this forum, it seems to me that the following schools are comparable:

- UCC:St. Albans
- BSS: Holton Arms
- Havergal: NCS
- TFS: WIS
- Crescent/St. Mike's: Landon

But I don't think there's an equivalent school to Sidwell in Toronto. Any views?

I agree -- there's no Sidwell-equivalent in TO, and it's tough to think of a DC parallel to UTS. The above assessment seems reasonable.

I'm an alum of the TO Hebrew day school system, but plenty of my peers fed out into UCC, BSS (crimson plaid, right?), and Crescent for middle or high school.