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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136457
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 1:09pm | IP Logged | 1
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Technically, there was never Canadian blood flowing in my veins, since I was born in England and have zero Canadian ancestry. In 1964 my parents and I became Canadian citizens, and so I remained until I formally relinquished it in 1988.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13241
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 1:19pm | IP Logged | 2
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JB, did your parents make many friends or acquaintances from the UK in Canada?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136457
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | 3
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Sorry, Michael, I don’t understand your question.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13241
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 1:56pm | IP Logged | 4
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When your parents came to Canada, did they meet many others also from the UK?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136457
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 3:16pm | IP Logged | 5
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Plenty! Of the friends Dad made at City Hall, for instance, at least half were former Brits. (“Former” in the loosest sense of the word. Accents were still thick, fashions were as English as could be. One friend of my Dad’s, a fellow with the truly awesome name of Mark Stagg, even drove a 1952 MG TD. Riding in it was always a treat.)
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 32084
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | 6
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How did you never make a character “Mark Stagg?!?”
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Steven Myers
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5748
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| Posted: 02 July 2026 at 10:31pm | IP Logged | 7
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I learned last year that Canada is a Monarchy. I guess it seems obvious, but they do a great job ignoring their monarch, so it's just one of those meaningless title thingies. At least that's the extent of my understanding.
Growing up, channel 9 was the Canadian channel. (CBET Windsor) So all us kids near Lake Erie got some Canadian culture.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4073
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| Posted: 03 July 2026 at 1:02am | IP Logged | 8
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Time for a rousing singalong of “Blackfly”: https://youtu.be/f389hIxZAOc?si=cF0NiW-8ajUNj0we
And a side note to say how annoyed I am that I don’t live in a country that directs taxpayer loonies to the NFB. Sure, we got the space program and all that, but…
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 371
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| Posted: 03 July 2026 at 4:43am | IP Logged | 9
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As someone who's been regularly subjected to monarchy stories throughout these last two decades, I have to say I'm not a fan. In the words of the 12th Doctor, I feel the monarchy represents "an entirely pointless stratum of society who contribute nothing of worth to the world and crush the hopes and dreams of working people." Or, as I also sometimes put it, they were the biggest bastards for the longest time, and so naturally they made it legal for them and only them to be big bastards.
But if the United States is going to continue its bipolar swings for the foreseeable future, I wish being part of the "Commonwealth" actually meant something. For example, having the ability to travel and work freely anywhere else within the Commonwealth. The would be pretty dang sweet. But, otherwise, the monarchy just represents celebrating legalized criminal wealth by blood. I wish we were past all that.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 136457
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| Posted: 03 July 2026 at 11:24am | IP Logged | 10
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Being a Lord, I greatly appreciate the respect and power the title confers. Oh, wait………..
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