Answering YOUR questions about Canada! (History, politics, Quebec…)

1. 

   @juliegolick

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   2:45 Please explain the 1980 and 1995 Quebec referendums
   6:37 What are some of the distinguishing features of Canadian literature?
   8:36 How does a federal election get called in Canada?
   9:30 Why does Vancouver have such a large Chinese population?
   10:01 What is the significance of the Hudson’s Bay Company?
   13:12 In the US there is a huge difference between rural and urban communities – does the same hold true for Canada?
   14:29 I was wondering if you could explain the cultural effect of rail transportation in Canada. In the US there is still plenty of fascination with old trains.
   16:45 What are the differences and similarities between the CBC in Canada and PBS in the USA?
   19:11 Are Canada’s provinces split into counties (or county-equivalents) like the United States, or do they have a different system of local government?
   20:39 What is the general, non-partisan consensus about Justin Trudeau? Are many Canadians satisfied with his leadership or are they looking forward to a change?

2. 

   @abbskebabs6288

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   Hahahah wasn't expecting a coronation street reference here

3. 

   @UncleJayHubbard

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   It's slightly depressing that all my favorite youtubers are becoming grey-haired (slight more depressing when I see I'm commenting this over a year after you posted … maybe it's gone from grey to silver or platinum or white by now :-(( )

4. 

   @TheWhollySmoked

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   J.J. is my favourite lava lamp

5. 

   @ranjanbiswas3233

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   Old Canadian companies albeit being British (like Hudson Bay) sounds really Canadian, it doesn't sound British. Any other old British companies owning parts of former colonies still sounds pretty British. Like for example Brooke Bond, Leyland, Brittania, Royal Enfield, J Thomas and Co. PVT. Ltd. These do not sound Indian at all.

6. 

   @MrKenichi22

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   17:52 it seems PBS is one of their top 5 enemies, despite the fact that it’s income depends more on donations vs federal funds.

7. 

   @VladislavBabbitt

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   Justin Trudeau's Honeymoon was actually short-lived. It was clear in early 2016 that electing him was a mistake.

   After almost a decade in power he is still an unqualified rank amateur. He remains clueless about what is truly going on.

   The father's name, the mother's brain. He has a full head of hair and also a full head of air.

8. 

   @paulboileau3758

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   J.J. it's unlikely you'll come across this message, since it appears on a random post of yours from a year ago.

   I also listened to your appearance on TVO where they discussed the state of the Official Languages Act.

   I get the distinct impression after listening, that you have developed a profound misunderstanding of what the idea behind bilingualism was.

   Only reactionaries sowed the paranoid notion that the Official Languages Act was about forcing bilingualism upon all English Canadians or that the ultimate objective was to make everyone bilingual. That was never the idea J.J.!!

   On one hand, bilingualism was about serving Canadians in their Official Language, regardless of where they lived. Secondly, it was an invitation, an opportunity for folks on both sides of the linguistic divide, to broaden our exposure/access to a second domestic culture and world of new ways of speaking/thinking about the world. Your appearance on TVO, in my view, wrongly characterized language as a simple tool of communication. Yet, anyone who has learned other languages knows that not to be true: language is power, it is history, it is a profound expression of self. And anyone speaking in their second language knows that it opens up new ways of thinking and being. My generation embraced bilingualism not because it was some weird hierarchy, where francophones are at the top (as you have promoted and railed against), but that it represented a wonderful window to the world, of growth and exploring the advantages of what it means to be Canadian. Your vision is so UGLY man. I don't know why it consumes you so.

   Elsewhere , you have dismissed bilingualism as some weird historical artifact, meaningless in a modern world where everyone is expected to speak English. But the other panelists at TVO recognize that Canada was, at its very heart, a compromise between French-speaking, English-speaking and First Nations, brought together by one common objective: we didn't want to become Americans (each for different reasons).

   The natives were brought to English-Canada's/Britain's side by the promise of respecting treaties and their lands, which as we all know, the Americans ignored. The former French colonists agreed to side with the English (despite entreaties from Benjamin Franklin, who spent several weeks in Montreal lobbying the French to join America) because they were promised the right to retain their language, religion and legal system. English-Canadians preferred independence from the Americans for historical and cultural reasons, as well as their objection to certain aspects of American governance.

   So three large groups all fought to defend Canada in the War of 1812. Any reading of those battles makes it absolutely clear that the English, French and natives all made important contributions to keeping Canada an independent nation.

   250 years later, and have the dynamics really changed? Would Canada survive if it were broken up, piecemeal style into its component parts, with America as its neighbour?! Of course we wouldn't! What has made Canada strong is this union of its disparate parts, united by a common objective, with mutual understanding as its foundation.

   This country of ours may be regionally unique, but the pact that formed its creation is the only way an independent nation survives north of the USA. Compromise with folks who don't think like us or live the same realities can be challenging, but it seems to me that if you spent even 10% of your energy to try and expand your horizons, by growing your understanding of French and of Canada's history, that it would be a positive personal experience of growth.

9. 

   @thegreypath1777

   August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

   In The USA, sometimes the county government is broken down even more, into TOWNSHIPS.

10. 

    @carlmarburger7513

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Actually, most Americans are quite aware of the County in which they live, and the responsibilities allocated to them. As a Californian, I found the concept of Townships a bit odd when I spent time in Pennsylvania. However, the hospital in my hometown of Fremont, California, is called Washington Township Hospital. It turns out there used to be townships here but went the way of the dinosaur at some point.

    Enjoy your videos. I've been to Vancouver, Banff, and Toronto…loved it all.

11. 

    @MatthewPinno-c6y

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    How do you become head of a party
    Federal or provincial

12. 

    @The_Invisible_Hand

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    In Alberta, counties (as well as "Municipal Districts," "Regional Municipalities," and "Special Areas," which are mostly the same thing) are a local level of government that are on the same level as towns and cities, not superior to them (as you describe for BC and Ontario). A county governs all the farms and hamlets (unincorporated towns) within its borders, responsible for most roads, water, sewer, etc. But when a settlement gets big enough and decides to "incorporate," it becomes fully independent of the county that surrounds it, and the two are expected to interact as equals, under the supervision of the provincial government.

    It is also possible for a town — or even a city — to downgrade itself back to "hamlet" status. The most prominent example is Fort McMurray, which in 1995 amalgamated itself with the surrounding "Improvement District No. 143" to form the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, so that the city and its residents would have voting power over the nearby Alberta oilsands.

13. 

    @barryhaley7430

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    You know your reference to “white” settlers is bullshit. No one was thinking about the race of the settlers. They were thinking of European settlers. And in case you haven’t noticed, Europeans were in the 19th century were primarily “white”!

14. 

    @4z1muth

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    I doubt you'll see this but just in case:

    I feel the question about the CBC vs PBS didn't include enough information/context about why they exist and didn't touch enough on their history, which I think is necessary to properly understand why their funding works the way it does. Perhaps this can be covered in a dedicated video, but I feel the BBC should be mentioned / contrasted against as well, as the CBS is more directly comparable to the BBC as opposed to PBS.

    Overall your presentation is quite good, and as I work through your videos I appreciate that I sense we disagree on a lot of issues but your presentation is juuuust generalized perfectly enough to be balanced in a way that doesn't put me right off, the way most cultural-political commentary does these days. I appreciate your work so far. Keep it up!

15. 

    @scottjackson1420

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Wait a minute … I grew up in Detroit watching Hockey Night In Canada on CBC Channel 9 Windsor. They no longer carry Leafs games? And sometimes Canadiens games? Holy Dan Kelly & Howie Meeker, can that be true??

    (This plus CFL is why Detroiters watched CBC.)

16. 

    @supercolinblow

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    local governments in the United States: that's terribly complicated. I can only tell you what I know about my own State. We are divided into 23 counties, and the City of Baltimore which is run like a county of its own. Counties can either have "home rule" in which case the governance of that county is mandated by its own voters via a county charter of some sort; or non-home rule in which case, a lot of local legislation and constitutional changes must be submitted to and approved by the state legislature (General Assembly of Maryland). Home rule counties usually have separated executive vs. legislative branches whereas the not home rule counties do not; also, home rule counties do not have to submit any county legislation to Annapolis. Typically a non-home rule county has a combined legislative/executive body called the Board of Commissioners, the details of which vary from one county to another.

    In addition to counties, there are smaller local governments of incorporated cities and towns. These are "municipal governments". I'm not 100% certain how they fit into the three levels of government (Federal, State, County).

    As far as local/county government in other states, I am not certain. I know that, when driving up through Pennsylvania there are signs that say "Welcome to the Township of [whoever]" and "Welcome to the Borough of [whatever]." I have no clue how that relationship works or if there are counties at all in Pennsylvania. In some states, particularly the northeastern US, counties are just administrative units and nothing more.

    That's all I know about that.

17. 

    @markrichards6863

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    From NYC, I think Montreal is the best big city in North America. It's beautiful, historic and clean, with top notch culture and food scenes. People are friendly and helpful. Public transportation is reliable. It has become one of my favorite destinations.

18. 

    @brandengrasley9326

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    As a devoted viewer, this is peak J.J. hair

19. 

    @shannsimms9072

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    J.J has such beautiful teeth.

20. 

    @mattchristopher4192

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Since the video omits this fact, the HBC was NOT found to have intentionally spread smallpox

21. 

    @w.reidripley1968

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Hmmm… flag of Brittany there on J.J.'s wall.

22. 

    @Michiganian8

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    The Hudson Bay Company 😊

23. 

    @mikeFolco

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Cant keep the shit eating grin in check whenever Québec is involved.

24. 

    @TerrenceIII

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Fur TRADERS man the Natives were still adults and they knew what they were doing.

25. 

    @SantaFe19484

    August 3, 2025 at 7:41 am

    Nice video. I like how you talked about the Hudson's Bay Company and Canadian railways.

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