# Vague questions= misleading answers



## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

I am posting this just to bring a situation to light for those who are asking questions about Canada, no matter what the subject. And it's a big, ongoing problem with this forum. The first problem is people come on here and ask questions about things in Canada without specifying what part of the country they are interested in, its a BIG country with 10 provinces and 3 territories, but then you'd know that if you looked at a map of the country you supposably want to move to. And the other half of the problem is the people on here who will answer a question without saying what part of Canada the info they give is referring to, like if the person asks, how much does a house cost in Canada, first of all, the question should be specific, like how much in Toronto, or Vancouver or Langford BC or Barrie Ont, or ?, but the person that answers the question should ask, what city, not just give an answer of $250k or $800k without saying where that price is for, another dumb question is " how much snow does Canada get in the winter?" , you might get an answer of 2-3 ft , when it should be "what part of Canada are you asking about, because some parts get NO snow. If you ask what the summer is like, and the answer you get is hot and dry, or hot and humid, it doesn't mean anything unles you know where they are reffering to. If you ask how cold is a Canadian winter? someone might answer down to -30c, but if you don't know where they are refering to, its a pointless answer, because some areas have more winter days above freezing than below. The same goes for questions about health care, health insurance, car insurance, schooling, property taxes, wages, gas prices etc etc etc. Another problem is people in one part Canada answerring questions or giving advice on a part of the country they don't live in and have never been to. So if you are on here to get answers to questions about Canada and you want them to be accurate, BE SPECIFIC with the question, and don't assume that all of Canada is the same, because its NOT.


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

You are wasting your time, this has been brought up before, and it didn't do any good. I'll bet half the expat wanna be's on here have never even "Googled" Canada, because if they had, then a) they would know its a big, spread out country, and should be able to figure from that, that they need to be specific about where they want info on,
and b) they would have gotten the info they are looking for and wouldn't have ask for it on here and then wonder if the person answerring the question knows what they are talking about, because, from reading some things on here, alot don't! and alot of answers on here are "area or province specific, but they don't always say that,
When I wanted to know what condo's in Manta Ecuador were selling for, I GOOGLED it, and within a few seconds, I got numerous real estate websites with all the info I needed instead of relying on a few people on an expat forum for what may, or may not have been an accurate answer, and having to wait days for it. The same goes for 
things like asking about the cost of groceries, because a person who shops at a store like Safeway is going to quote grocerery prices that are 15-20% higher than a store like a Walmart Supercenter or a Real Canadian Superstore, I bought a 6 pack of 
710ml Pepsi at Walmart for $2.50, Safeway had them in their flyer for $4.50, I'm just sayin! The cost of living in Canada is high, but some make it higher than it needs to be.


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

Thought this topic needed to be bumped back near the top, cause reading some of the latest post, some people still don't get it. Come on people, being specific is not hard, and if your question is specific, you might get an answer that has more value than a generic answer.

QUOTE=carlb;897083]I am posting this just to bring a situation to light for those who are asking questions about Canada, no matter what the subject. And it's a big, ongoing problem with this forum. The first problem is people come on here and ask questions about things in Canada without specifying what part of the country they are interested in, its a BIG country with 10 provinces and 3 territories, but then you'd know that if you looked at a map of the country you supposably want to move to. And the other half of the problem is the people on here who will answer a question without saying what part of Canada the info they give is referring to, like if the person asks, how much does a house cost in Canada, first of all, the question should be specific, like how much in Toronto, or Vancouver or Langford BC or Barrie Ont, or ?, but the person that answers the question should ask, what city, not just give an answer of $250k or $800k without saying where that price is for, another dumb question is " how much snow does Canada get in the winter?" , you might get an answer of 2-3 ft , when it should be "what part of Canada are you asking about, because some parts get NO snow. If you ask what the summer is like, and the answer you get is hot and dry, or hot and humid, it doesn't mean anything unles you know where they are reffering to. If you ask how cold is a Canadian winter? someone might answer down to -30c, but if you don't know where they are refering to, its a pointless answer, because some areas have more winter days above freezing than below. The same goes for questions about health care, health insurance, car insurance, schooling, property taxes, wages, gas prices etc etc etc. Another problem is people in one part Canada answerring questions or giving advice on a part of the country they don't live in and have never been to. So if you are on here to get answers to questions about Canada and you want them to be accurate, BE SPECIFIC with the question, and don't assume that all of Canada is the same, because its NOT. [/QUOTE]


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## carlb (Feb 11, 2011)

Get this, I was at Zellers in Nanaimo yesterday, and they are in the midst of a "Closing Out Sale" because they have been taken over by Target, (yay) the signs say 30-70% off, but yet their "Sale" price for a 12 pack of 355ml cans of Pepsi or Coke was $4.99, thats $1.49 more than Walmarts curent price, and 920g of Folgers coffee was $8.99, thats $2.11 more than Walmart or Superstore. Its because of stores like Zellers, Safeway, London Drugs, Shoppers etc etc that alot people have no money left at the end of the month, but then its their own fault for not shopping around, and remember, just because its a sale price, doesn't mean its a deal. Canada doesn't have to be as expensive as some make it seem, don't get me wrong, we buy groceries mainly at Walmart and Superstore because they offer fair pricing, and its still expensive for us, but probably at least $1000 a year less than than shopping at some of those other stores. My point is, if you are asking on this forum how much things cost in Canada, you should also be asking where are you shopping?



gringotim said:


> i. The same goes for
> things like asking about the cost of groceries, because a person who shops at a store like Safeway is going to quote grocerery prices that are 15-20% higher than a store like a Walmart Supercenter or a Real Canadian Superstore, I bought a 6 pack of
> 710ml Pepsi at Walmart for $2.50, Safeway had them in their flyer for $4.50, I'm just sayin! The cost of living in Canada is high, but some make it higher than it needs to be.


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## fletcher m (May 9, 2012)

OK. We are coming to VI for a recce next month and fancy living in the Cobble Hill area. We are looking at 2 perhaps 3 properties whilst there. Summer/ Winter, what kind of commute can I expect to get to work in the Hospital (VGH) the one near view royal park, and is it doable throughout the year!

I was almost tempted to ask how long is this piece of string I have in my hand...i can make it go all around the picture I have of canada, but thought better of it. I ask of you, please give folks a break, they have some issues that they perhaps need to address and are sincere in the questions they ask, if they all had your wisdom, they would not need to ask!


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

Hi, As you probably know from using the internet to find out about the Cobble Hill area, it is quite spread out, so commute times will vary depending on what part of the area you are in, and what time of day you commute, but lets say you are near the northern end of Cobble Hill towards Duncan, Use Google maps and find , Koksilah Rd and find where it intersects with the TCH, (Trans Canada Highway). from there it might take 20-25 minutes in light traffic to 40ish in heavy, but you can save maybe 5-10 minutes durring morning rush hour if you turn off at the Thetis Lake off ramp and go the back way to VGH, because in the morning, the worst traffic starts around Thetis Lake, (can you say bumper to bumper at a snails pace?) If you have an unexpected problem with the commute, it will probably be on the "Malahat", its the mountain section that in the winter months , its usuall the first part of the highway to get snow, and since most people only use all season tires, not snow tires, (even though in winter the signs say, Use Snow Tires) it slows everything down, sometimes, to a standstill, and no matter what time of year, if there is an accident, depending on what section of the highway its at, it can close the highway for hours, in both directions, and that usually happens at least once or twice a month, year round. Also, parts of Cobble Hill are very rural, so if there is snow, it could be a problem even getting to the highway, as the main roads have priority when it come to salting and plowing, but the good thing is, most winters on the southern island, and southwest BC, unlike the rest of Canada, are for the most part, snow free, and even if it does snow, it melts within a day, if that. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about the commute, every day, probably 1000's do it from the Cowichan Valley to Victoria area every day, I did it for 4 years, and its 100 times better than commuting by car durring rush hour on the freeways of cities like Vancouver or Toronto. 
And re: "please give folks a break", not sure if thats for me or Carlb, but when someone asks a vague question like how much snow does Canada get in winter, and someone replies 2-3ft, I for one will also chime in to let people reading know 
that NOT all of Canada gets snow, and ask the answer giver where they are reffering to. It would be like me asking on the UK Forum, how much does a hamburger cost in the UK, or how long will it take to get to
the store from my house, without saying which store or where I live, if you read as many questions as i have , you will know why some of us get tired of trying to help people when then don't try to help themselves. Your question was easy to answer, and is an almost perfect example of how questions should be written, you said what area you plan on living and where you plan on working, the only thing that would have made it easier would be if you gave a street name of a house you where looking at, unlike those that just say, how long will my commute be, without even saying from where to where. Hope your visit is durring a dry October and not a wet one, and although its sunny and 20celcius, (in Duncan) right now, today is the first official day of fall, so its downhill from here.
Good Luck








fletcher m said:


> OK. We are coming to VI for a recce next month and fancy living in the Cobble Hill area. We are looking at 2 perhaps 3 properties whilst there. Summer/ Winter, what kind of commute can I expect to get to work in the Hospital (VGH) the one near view royal park, and is it doable throughout the year!
> 
> I was almost tempted to ask how long is this piece of string I have in my hand...i can make it go all around the picture I have of canada, but thought better of it. I ask of you, please give folks a break, they have some issues that they perhaps need to address and are sincere in the questions they ask, if they all had your wisdom, they would not need to ask!


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## fletcher m (May 9, 2012)

This time in 3 weeks we will be heading up the island to catch the ferry from Namaino back to Van. Thanks for the info, the weekend just won't give us a realistic timings to and from work. Really looking forward to it. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas morning....Trevor


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

Hope you find what you are looking for, you sound like you have done your homework, but incase not, you do know there are 2 ferry routes from the Nanaimo area, to the Vancouver area?, either Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay (north of Van), or Duke Point to Tsawwassen, (south of Van). And just incase, over the years I have noticed that some map websites that say there is only a 2km driving difference between Duke Point and Departure Bay terminals, they are wrong, its gotta be at least 15-20km, which you can confirm by looking at a map. Assuming you will have a rental car? well Duncan currently has the lowest gas prices in southern BC incl the island, $1.20.9 liter, 

:welcome:




fletcher m said:


> This time in 3 weeks we will be heading up the island to catch the ferry from Namaino back to Van. Thanks for the info, the weekend just won't give us a realistic timings to and from work. Really looking forward to it. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas morning....Trevor


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## gringotim (Jan 5, 2011)

carlb said:


> I am posting this just to bring a situation to light for those who are asking questions about Canada, no matter what the subject. And it's a big, ongoing problem with this forum. The first problem is people come on here and ask questions about things in Canada without specifying what part of the country they are interested in, its a BIG country with 10 provinces and 3 territories, but then you'd know that if you looked at a map of the country you supposably want to move to. And the other half of the problem is the people on here who will answer a question without saying what part of Canada the info they give is referring to, like if the person asks, how much does a house cost in Canada, first of all, the question should be specific, like how much in Toronto, or Vancouver or Langford BC or Barrie Ont, or ?, but the person that answers the question should ask, what city, not just give an answer of $250k or $800k without saying where that price is for, another dumb question is " how much snow does Canada get in the winter?" , you might get an answer of 2-3 ft , when it should be "what part of Canada are you asking about, because some parts get NO snow. If you ask what the summer is like, and the answer you get is hot and dry, or hot and humid, it doesn't mean anything unles you know where they are reffering to. If you ask how cold is a Canadian winter? someone might answer down to -30c, but if you don't know where they are refering to, its a pointless answer, because some areas have more winter days above freezing than below. The same goes for questions about health care, health insurance, car insurance, schooling, property taxes, wages, gas prices etc etc etc. Another problem is people in one part Canada answerring questions or giving advice on a part of the country they don't live in and have never been to. So if you are on here to get answers to questions about Canada and you want them to be accurate, BE SPECIFIC with the question, and don't assume that all of Canada is the same, because its NOT.


After browsing thru the Canada forum, thought this needed to be bumped back to where people read it.


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