Now now, don't rip on Canada too much you Yanks, we'll need to burn down your damn Whitehouse again. :P
As for Canada's two official languages, that's basically a crock. As someone else said, it was a measure to appease part of our population. French is spoken broadly in Quebec, though there are still some predominantly English areas (especially in Montreal) and in some areas of NB. Elsewise, nobody pays it much mind. We're required to take French as a subject in Elementary school, but unless you plan to work for the Government it's more or less a waste of time if you live more than an hour west of Ottawa.
It was really a measure taken in an attempt to silence French seperatists, which was later followed by Quebec language laws dictating how much English they were allowed to display on sings in Quebec.
But seriously, if you're interested in Canada you should track down a book about our history, despite what a lot of pro-Americanization youth will tell you, it's actually pretty rich. We had a rebellion that took place in a bar! We fought back an American invasion. We built our nation on selling bizarre beaver fur top hats to the Brits.
Hell, and if you want to start making fun of the Canadian military, you might want to read up on some of it's exploits in WW1 and WW2. Check to see how many armies stood up to the gas attacks, who was used as the shock troops.
Sorry about my ranting, but yeah, in the youth in this area there has been a pretty big upsurge in pro-Americanization. It's not uncommon to hear things like "Canada has no culture" or "We have no history." Neither is true.
Oh, and as for Maple syrup, for that you need to get pure Lanark County maple syrup. Maple Syrup capitol of Ontario.
