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

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?

Learning the crazy history of Hudson Bay is like learning that Old Navy actually used to be a legit old navy.

Canadian literature is such a well-known downer that the ending to Anne of Green Gables is essentially Anne accepting that life is shit and there's not much she can do about it aside from having a positive attitude.

I remember sitting in the school library in my middle school in Florida in 1995 and hearing that the Quebec separatist referendum failed and being surprised that I hadn't even heard before that point about the fact that the big country next to ours almost broke up.

Majority-indigenous areas in the US also tend to buck the trend of rural areas voting conservative as well, with areas containing native reservations reliably voting Democrat. My theory is that ethnic minorities tend to lean left as social justice for minorities is a socially left phenomenon. I think this is a big reason why northern Canada votes left as well. Rural white = conservative, rural non-white = liberal. (I’m sure JJ will appreciate the extra data point that makes Canada and the US “basically the same country”.)

Ah yes the three branches of Canadian government; history, politics, and Quebec.

In the US, counties (parishes in Louisiana, boroughs in Alaska) are organs of the States, so they work slightly differently in different states. In most places, county leadership is directly elected, but there are areas where county leadership comes from cities, or where the county and city are the same (e.g. Jacksonville, FL). What is universal, is that state legislatures can create, destroy or merge counties, override county level rules, etc. In some states, the county directly provides services like Education, while other places have a School Board that is separately elected from the County leadership. In rural areas, the County often is the authority that coordinates services that typically a city would take care of like Police or Fire service, trash service (if applicable), etc.

Hey jj I feel like a series on Canada's relationship with other countries would be interesting.

A week or so ago my wife heard me watching one of your videos and said, “oh! You’re watching that one Canadian guy.” Exposition: She’s from Calgary, and I’m from Arkansas. Anyway, it dawned on me that you might just be my favorite RU-vidr. I love to learn, and you facilitate that expertly.

Why is the brand called President’s Choice when there’s only a PM?

I would say the GOP is mildly upset about PBS and NPR having leftist biases, but since PBS and NPR aren’t as dominant in the US as the CBC is in Canada, the issue is mostly left alone in favor of more urgent matters

Re: Chinese in BC. This is in large part due to Hong Kong's former role in the British Empire and vestiges thereof. Travel and immigration laws still favour Hong Kongers and same for a Canadians in HK.

Hey JJ! As a Canadian (Manitoban) would love to see a video on some prairie provinces! Possibly explaining how the provinces were carved out of the territories. Manitoba has an interesting story with Louis Riel, would be intererested to hear your take on the matter!

My husband left Quebec very shortly after the 1995 referendum vote. He's Anglo and he said that it was really tense during that time.

I knew the facts behind most of those answers but you always talk about things in a way that provides a nice perspective. I learn something even when I think I already know everything -- I'm usually wrong about the latter. Thought provoking.

J.J. has once again proven his worth as a primary go-to source for me on matters Canadian. I used to read the Globe & Mail, the Windsor Star, Maclean’s, etc. just to be informed about our neighbor to the North, but there are only so many subscriptions one can afford. As a former Detroit resident who often visited Ontario, I harbor a certain fondness for Canada, so I appreciate J.J.'s entertaining and informative work.

One thing I'd add about trains in Canada is that they are still quite key in commerce. Tons of goods get shipped from the coast the major inland Canadian cities to be distributed on trucks. It would likely be prohibitively expensive for example to ship everything from Vancouver to Alberta/Saskatchewan on trucks so it makes economic sense to ship them on trains to Calgary, Edmonton or Regina then truck them from there.

I would love a video of "JJ's Canadian hottaéks". It would win awards, for sure.

In the US, everybody knows what county they live in, but aside from the politically savvy, most people probably can’t name their county executive. The vast majority of government action that impacts peoples’ daily lives happens at the state and local level.

Very interesting video. I think Trudeau being seen as the lesser evil among the choices is typical of U.S. politics today, too. We are inundated with so much negative and scandalous information that it is difficult to really get behind any candidate.

Thank you for the balanced presentation, JJ.

Feck I must have missed this poll on Instagram JJ! Please do more of these, I love videos where you answer our questions, even if they seem basic

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.

I remember first hearing about Québécois separatism in elementary school, and I remember being genuinely scared about it as a kid and thinking it was going to be a huge problem in the future (despite living in BC on the opposite side of the country, lmao). It’s funny how moderate and reasonable the actual referendum and ideology was in comparison to the way my teacher made it sound, and the way I imagined it being as an uneducated kid.

As an American who's been watching this channel for a while, I found this quite informative! Now, I know a lot more about various political topics, from public approval (or lack thereof) about the current government to the non-standardization of "county" governments in Canada. Not only that, but I also learned a lot more about history, from the company-colony of the Hudson's Bay Company to the role railroads (a topic I'm interested in, as made evident by my other channel, SleepTrain456) played in causing major hotels to be built. Finally, I have learned more about culture, from the large Chinese population in Vancouver (kind of like the Chinatowns in the US, especially San Francisco) to the increasingly diverse literature of Canada. Thanks for the video!

I’d love to see this become an ongoing series.

Learned lots. This was a great one to see come up. Thanks for filming it

As for Quebec’s County Regional Municipalities (MRCs), they are mostly located in rural areas. In major urban areas around Montreal, Quebec City and Gatineau, counties are matching big cities and the county level is effectively run by cities themselves. County governments in Quebec will usually run of behalf of their constituent local cities, regional services like water, police, fire protection, waste, etc. Also, due to Quebec’s unique civil law, the County governments are responsible, by law, to be the official civil register of real estate transactions and value assessment.

Some thing like a decade ago I thought to myself "how do you things work up in Canada?", And since then I have been working to educate myself on Canadian civics and stuff like that, and your channel has been a good resource for that. I think a video like this sort of gets to the heart of what a lot of Americans think about Canada. Which is to say we don't really understand it, and are curious about how it works. I have said for some time at a basic Netflix series of documentaries on how Canada works would probably be pretty well watched down here. :)

Man this guy has so many awards for his videos!

I love these sorts of videos! Thanks for answering all these great questions.

I love the sound bite you have chosen for the "Industrial revolution" in your videos whenever it comes up. That click-clacking is weirdly satisfying.

I honestly don’t understand how you don’t have more subscribers dude, you cover such a wide range of interesting topics!

One thing about the railroads is that they used to basically be the industrial building block of the country, effectively taking over the role of the HBC. Canadian Pacific used to do everything from oil drilling to hotels, airline, telecommunications, forestry and a host of other stuff. As Crown Corporations they kind of exemplified the statist oligopoly development model that kind of still runs Canada to this day. There are maybe 30 families that really dominate in various geographies, which is something I'd love to see JJ do a video one. The Irvings, Pattersons, Shaws, Westons, Thompson, etc families of Canada.

People who travel by train are not weirdos and it is a great way to see this country as I have personally done a couple of times on VIA Rail. In many places, the train is still the only way in or out of various places.

I was not expecting these Canada questions to be so scholarly... I thought it would be more silly stuff. Nice detail, though!

As a 24 year old American i think a lot of people my age have a nostalgic feeling towards PBS. The children shows they had in the late 90’s and thru the 2000’s have definitely left a cultural impact on Gen Z. They had some bangers. I’m not sure if I’ve ever really seen any pushback to PBS from conservatives in America

It's very interesting you mentioned Five Wives because I'm Ecuadorian and just last month read "Through the Gates of Splendor" which was a book written by one of the aforementioned five wives. Really recommend it

i love the use of sound effects in your video (especially the DKC ones haha) really love your content man!!❤

Very good video essay JJ! I’m sensing another award on its way.

Counties are pretty important in the US and while they seem pretty similar across the board from the places I've lived, there are differences from state to state. You have to learn whether the particular government service you need or are being charged taxes for is at the county or city level when you move to a new place. Things like vehicle registration, driver's license, voter registration, and schools tend to be at the county level in my experience. It also seems like the police department is usually part of the city government, while the sheriff is the county government.

Hey JJ! Canada did amazingly this year at the dragonboat world champs! Congrats!

Thanks again for making Canada more interesting and comprehensible!

Thank you J.J. Nice way to spend a Sunday morning.

well done segment, facts were clearly described/explained

Jj’s Canadian hot takes should be the next video imo

Found memories of staying at the Baniff Springs Hotel for a snow boarding trip in the early 2000's. The weather was incredilby cold, but layers upon layers of fleece resulted in no memories of actually getting cold. The snow was great.

Hi J.J.! Really appreciate you mentioning the territorial & provincial norths, as (understandably) we northerners are often overlooked in any discussion of Canadian politics. A quick note on the provincial norths being left-leaning: this is not only because of the relatively higher Indigenous populations, but also because many northern economies revolve around blue collar work-mining & forestry especially.

15:50 Is the coolest 'eccentric weirdo' 😎. JJ needs to do a CPR history lesson 'via' rail with Downie! Ultimate BC collab. 👍👍

I genuinely had no idea the Hudson's Bay Company were retailers now. Seeing that store front with the name gave me a slightly incongruous feeling. It'd be like if the Hanseatic League still technically existed and ran a fast food chain - I'd like to think it'd be called Hansaburger :3

JJ's hot take on Canada is what got me HOOKED on this channel

he just doesn't stop winning. very good fairly non politicized answers. I am very happy with this honestly.

5:24 whenever I think of the Quebec independence movement, I always think of that bit from “the critic” where Jay Sherman fantasizes winning an Oscar and his speech says “I cannot be silent any longer on this subject. I am calling for independence for Quebec!” And we see a bunch of French Canadians at home chanting “Vive Jay Sherman! Vive Quebec!”

I'm so glad CanLit is finally trending against narrowly presictable national themes. When i was studing English in uni I ways wondered why the Canadian stories studied were so often about "The Land." There were and are many Canadian authors who write about other things but the CanLit anthologies hadnt been updated in decades.

Lol! The shoutout to DownieLive in the train section made me happy to see. 😂

Hi JJ, great video, very well explained/researched as usual! I thought about your question about counties and I have a bit to add about their role in the US. Their role varies heavily from state to state; in small states like Connecticut, counties can be purely ceremonial, but they are more important in Texas and other less densely populated states, where cities can be far apart; in Texas (I live in Harris county!), counties essentially function as local administrative branches of the state. They collect state taxes (mainly property and vehicle registration, among others) and administer services, such as road rebuilding and repair, mosquito spraying, flood control, non-city fire departments, census-taking, county police and courts, voting, park maintenance, among others. Counties here are run by a commissioners' court headed by the county judge; despite the names, none of these elected positions do anything judicial, weird names but they're essentially "just" a board that administers funds and things. Some important administrators (such as the clerk, treasurer, etc.) are also elected positions. I also wanted to share an old but interesting video about "what Harris County does" - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ah51bhv3xso.html

I'm not much of a fiction reader, but if there is anything that can turn you off if Canadian literature, it's high school English class. We read way too much fiction that was long, arduous and just a general downer.

Moving from British Columbia to Alberta I was surprised to learn that Canada has counties. And that they are directly elected councils by the residents. They hold the same status and autonomy as a town or city here. And at least the one I work for has a movement of mayors that go on to become Members of Parliament (and vice versa.) All forms of municipal government here are also technically a cold of the state (well, I guess actually a child of the province) just like the provinces are a child of the federal government.

To answer your question about county governments here in the states, they basically carry jurisdiction in rural parts of the county. That’s where they are the arm of government that enforces laws, and responds to citizen needs as the closest level of government to the people. In that part of the country they also fix roads, take out trash, respond to weather emergencies, and basically do things that the city government is expected to do in their jurisdiction. In the city, the county government also has legal jurisdiction, but their authority is more of a support role to the city government. They do however run the jail and courthouse, and the most local level of prosecutors are usually county government operations.

It’s a good day when JJ posts

(American) I can confirm that I have zero idea how county politics works in the US, even my home state of NC, despite being a very politically involved and aware person.

C'mon, JJ. You've avoided it long enough. You're Canadian. It's time to do a housing/real estate video. The sooner you get it over with the sooner it'll be done. Everyone in Canada needs to talk about it publicly at least once. It's your turn.

This is my favorite calendar page so far.

I love your channel JJ I get so excited when u release a video bc i know it'll be great!

In the US we also have diverse levels of county governance, and in fact some states such as my home state of Connecticut don’t have any at all due to its dissolution :) so at least in Connecticut, the state government is the next level of government above our town/city governments (though the counties still exist, but functionally in name only).

Just a little addition to your section on Hudson’s Bay Company that I thought would be important to note: earlier this year the Southern Chiefs organization was given possession of the flagship HBC building in Winnipeg. It’s set to become a Governance House for First Nations, as well as a space dedicated to reconciliation, whatever that may look like.

Tying questions 7 and 8 together, Canadian Railroad Trilogy is an absolute banger of a folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot that was commissioned by the CBC for the Canadian centennial in 1967. As an American that song is pretty much the only reason I know anything about the CP transcontinental.

It's super cool to hear another amazing youtuber reading out that question! GeneticallyModifiedSkeptic 3:41

Loved the DownieLive reference. I know you create very different content but would love a collaboration as unlikely as that is despite you guys probably living a few miles of each other.

I want to say as a native of Washington state, that the HBC went as far south as the Columbia river, a fort named Fort Vancouver! (Vancouver - the Washington State one, not the British Columbia one - across the river from Portland Oregon).

Great video! Thanks, J.J.! ✌️

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

I wish I could pull random maps from the sky. Such a useful talent.

As someone who lived in Quebec during the '95 referendum, I can say that the feelings were Intense surrounding it. Especially for someone like me, who held a differing opinion from the majority of their peers (which is not easy as a teenager). Your description of it was very objective and neutral, which I very much appreciate. As for the concept of counties, it's definitely a weird one for me, as I've never really even recognized the concept. Especially since most said counties seemed to just merge into one big city around the end of the 90s - beginning of the 2000s.

Thanks for describing aspects about Canada

JJ, your hair is so pretty! I love it on you! 😊❤

Hey JJ, I'd really love to get your analysis of name stereotypes in American culture (and around the world if you can get good info). Things like "Karen" being an entitled middle-class white woman, "Chad" being a confident and athletic young man, and "Brittany" being an airheaded blonde. I think names are exactly the kind of mundane cultural phenomena that you have great insights on. Keep up the great work!

on the canadian literature question; “The Wars” by Timothy Findley is hands down, one of the BEST books that i have ever read. can’t recommend it enough.

In Ontario we have counties too, they primarily operate to pool resources for public services like ambulances.

Loved the Downie drop that's a fun channel

I was intrigued by your take on Canadian Railways. I would be curious if you would ever do a video on Public Transportation in Canada overall. Especially with the younger generation's appeal to using transit and trains more often that previous generations have.

The best PBS show is Arthur. You can’t change my mind.

I love your videos on Canada!

In the region of the US where I live, the midwest, county governments can be very involved in local issues. There are large tracts of land in between incorporated cities, even in fairly developed (and even some downright urban) areas. In these places county sheriffs are the only law enforcement with jurisdiction, counties are responsible for roads and civil works, and may manage emergency services, though that role is sometimes shared with citys and townships(yet another level of local government). County offices are also usually the medium in which we engage with state government, managing courts, offices to grant licenses and permits, overseeing property rights and transfers, and regulation of fair business pratices. County officials are very rarely high profile, but it is usually seen asca solid credential for other elected executive positions.

I love when JJ willfully ignores major events that makes Canada look worse when talking about Quebec separatism like the Night of long knives. So cool!

On county level government: as far as I can tell it's not really very standardized, either between states or even within them. For instance I grew up in Oakland County, Michigan. It had a County Executive from the time I was born. I later moved to Macomb County, where we actually had to vote to create the same position within the county. Also the case in Michigan seems to be that County Executive is pretty much a position you slink away to when your political career is going nowhere. Famously the Oakland County executive L Brooks Patterson held the position for decades, but only ever once ran for a higher office where he was soundly defeated in the primaries. I have seen politicians run for County Drain Commissioner before running for County Executive (and in all fairness that's not a bad political move as drain commissioners get a lot of say over construction projects).

Sim city 2000 music during the building of luxury hotels along the CPR had me cracking up. great editing

i did learn some and would enjoy hearing more in the future! umm so basically a simplified verison on the county politics i'd say it's a pipeline to higher offices basically, you have city/municipal level then county level and also i do believe in louisiana they call counties parishes, then state level then federal level.

JJ should really do a video on the regional government in Canada. It just seems like such un overlooked topic

The hilarious and rather tragic fact about all those "nostalgic" products in Hudson Bay stores is that 99% of them are made in, you guessed it, China. Rather sad that we as Canadians can't even make blankets or cups here at home as they would make very nice souvenirs from Canadas past. Also the CBC is way more related to the BBC than PBS.

I remember Hudson Bay Oil & Gas. H-BOG, as it was known, was a significant player in oil exploration and production in until about 1980, when it was acquired by Dome Petroleum (which itself was acquired by the Amoco - Standard Oil of Oklahoma - about 7 years later.

Nice video, JJ. Ive been watching you for 3 years now.

The more I watch J.J. McCullough the more I want to go to Canada.

6 seconds in Absolutely no one: ... J.J.: "a boot"

Now I know a bit more. Thanks for sharing 👍

County government in Ontario can get a lot more complicated! There are regional municipalities, like you mentioned (typically more urban areas, possibly made up of multiple towns and cities). There are also counties, which are typically larger and made up primarily of small towns and rural communities. There are also single tier cities that fall directly under provincial jurisdiction. And sometimes a single tier city can be located within a county but be somewhat independent from it (eg. Guelph, ON is within Wellington County, but is mostly separate from it).

I recently saw the movie "Moose Love III: Hold My Antlers". Is this Canada's greatest creative endeavour?

Following up on the literature question and in a similar vein as the school lunch video, what do Canada and other countries have as required reading in their literature classes?

I love the green upholstery 9:09

Ooof that’s gotta be the best roll into the ad like ever!! Props JJ. I bet you Canadians are buying VPNs in masse