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.

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

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.

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

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”.)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 YouTuber. I love to learn, and you facilitate that expertly.

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

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!

Fun fact about Canadian trains, Saskatchewan towns were named alphabetically so people could tell you which stop they wanted to go to by it’s letter the z stop being zealandia for example

(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.

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.

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