Happy Canada Day, eh?

I did a word association challenge with some of my colleagues today, for both Canada and the United States. One of those 'name the first word that comes to mind when I say..." excercises. While unscientific and with an admittedly small sample size, the same things kept bubbling up to the surface for each country.

For Canada, it was maple leaf, hockey and beaver.

For U.S., it was big cars, baseball and power.

Very different countries, with very different identities, yet they exist peacefully beside one another. We're talking the longest undefended border in the world. And yet, in the three years since Ask Jeeves has been celebrating various holidays and special occasions on the homepage, there has not been a whisper of the Great White North on July 1st: Canada Day. Until now. Check out www.askjeeves.com.

Now, most people know that Michael J. Fox, Keanu Reeves, Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan, Mike Myers and Wayne Gretzky are Canadian. But, did you also know that Jack Kerouac, W.P. Kinsella, Nelly Furtado, Mary Pickford, Fay Wray and Linda Evangelista all hail from the land of maple syrup and snow? That's talent, and it's just the tip of the iceberg (no, Canada is not covered by ice and snow year-round, nor do we live in igloos or travel via dogsled).

Here are a few other reasons to give up a hearty 'how's it goin', eh?' to Canada today:

1. Official Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario
2. Poutine

3. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, is Canadian
4. Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith
5. Canadians were on the research teams who developed the pacemaker, the insulin process and computerized braille
6. Strange Brew

7. Tim Hortons coffee

So cue up your ipod to a Rush classic, crack open a bottle of Moosehead and practice putting the puck in the top corner in celebration of your neighbours (Canadian spelling!).

Jacquie Harrison
Director of Marketing and Canadian