Comments on: More Proof That Canada Hates The Environment

By: I’ll Never Let Canada Live This Down

I’ll Never Let Canada Live This Down — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:16:37 +0000

[...] ridiculous update on a ridiculous lawsuit: In August I wrote about a carpooling startup called PickupPal. The idea is that people can gather on the site to find others traveling to the [...]

By: PickupPal Blog » Blog Archive » PickupPal and Press Coverage

PickupPal Blog » Blog Archive » PickupPal and Press Coverage — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:22:10 +0000

[...] Tech Crunch- August 25 2008 – (More Proof That Canada Hates The Environment) [...]

By: Environmental Review Post 2 for August - My Online World

Environmental Review Post 2 for August - My Online World — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:07:08 +0000

[...] the TechCrunch post, More Proof That Canada Hates The Environment, I found out about PickupPal.com, which is a site that helps people to car pool. Do you need a [...]

By: Luc

Luc — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:57:50 +0000

Pickuppal wants to be taken seriously and wants to change the law in its juridiction, but it is BASBADOS BASED. Come on.

By: Stephen Paul Weber

Stephen Paul Weber — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:00:22 +0000

Trolls. It’s a headline – if it got your attention (and it did) then it worked.

I’m more patriotic than most Canadians… but learn to save the fire for where it’s needed.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:22:26 +0000

Go Canada!
It’s 90 degress F in toronto with the humidex today

By: AdvertiseSpace

AdvertiseSpace — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:59:33 +0000

Pretty funny to hear an arrigton American complain about Canadian laws…

By: Eric Dewhirst

Eric Dewhirst — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:28:56 +0000

@ brent – I agree relaxing is good however I am not sure I understand who you think need sto relax. As individuals I agree the chances of getting pulled over and busted in the carpool lane are slim (having said that – Trentway-Wagar hired a private investigator to go online and pose as a PickupPal member looking for a ride as part of their investigation – http://www.pick...onAffidavit.pdf – so it is not far fetched that enforcement officers would not do the same).

Getting back to the relaxing issue – as a corporation PickupPal cannot pretend they did not get the memo – so we need to take it a bit more seriously than looking the other way when a police cruiser drives by.

Cheers – Eric

By: brent

brent — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:42:09 +0000

pshhhh….relax. As if those laws are enforceable. No cop is going to pull you over and ask about who is paying for the gas or if you are all car-pooling with the same people each day/week. In my mind, there are 2 kinds of laws: those that can be enforced and those that cannot. So relax a bit.

By: links for 2008-08-26 « The Little One

links for 2008-08-26 « The Little One — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:28:36 +0000

[...] More Proof That Canada Hates The Environment Canadian carpool-matching site PickupPal is not liked by the bus companies. Said bus companies have asked the Transport Board to ban the site. Hmm. (tags: Canada carpool carpooling PickupPal) [...]

By: Techvibes|Blog|Calgary,Edmonton,Kitchener-Waterloo,Montréal,Ottawa,Portland,Seattle,Toronto,Vancouver,Victoria

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:37:38 +0000

[...] Techcrunch and Ars Technica, Toronto startup PickupPal is finding itself accused of violating Ontario [...]

By: Eric Dewhirst

Eric Dewhirst — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:37:14 +0000

@ Andrew – My business partner John got the idea of creating PickupPal while he was stuck on the onramp to the DVP coming off from the 401 last September. He looked out and saw the sea of cars underneath him – all with just one person in it – the driver. It seems ridiculous that in this day and age we cannot coordinate people to double up and cut down! As with this challenge if we do not stand up to change things – who will?
Cheers – Eric

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:21:41 +0000

I accidentally hit send to soon on that last comment too soon, I meant to say that very few people bother to take advantage of the highway carpool lanes…I am on highways in the Greater Toronto Area several times a week commuting (and carpooling!) and notice the vast majority of the cars on the road are single drivers. There’s a real need for a service like this, hopefully the Ontario gov’t will get the regulations out of its way.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:18:11 +0000

Part of the screw up here is overlapping government jurisdiction. Carpool lanes within cities are an area of municipal jurisdiction. Toronto can create all the carpool lanes it wants, but it doesn’t regulate transportation (the only provincial road I am aware of that has a carpool lane is Highway 404, which runs north/south between Toronto and Newmarket) and very few people bother to take advantage of.

By: Joe Clark

Joe Clark — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:01:33 +0000

Canada is Cold!

Americans are Brain Dead hicks!

Canada pays too much tax!

Americans will all die from private healthcare!

Canadians are wimps!

Americans are racist world destroying fatties!

Go Leafs!

Go Cowboys!

…. Did I cover it all?

Canada vs. US Threads are booooo-oring. Please, this is old.

Derka der.

By: Shayne

Shayne — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:03:30 +0000

The fact that the title is “Canada hates…” when your article only refers to Ontario makes this look like the work of a amateur… But I guess that’s what blogging is right?

If only Texas had banned this service, would your headline state, “more proof that America hates the environment?” I bet not. Bad work.

By: Alastair Monk

Alastair Monk — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:53:04 +0000

At Michael – Has there been a post recently regarding Canadian owned tech companies getting funding from the US?

We are getting our 2nd round (10MM), and have yet to see a comparison of US vs Canadian VC funded tech companies, or perhaps more interesting; an overall comparison of which countries produce the best tech investments and go the distance after 2nd/ 3rd rounds.

Just a thought – - –

The ‘get eyeballs by being provocative’ approach is going well I see(!)
for those of you who are interested – I’m walking around Old Montreal today in a t-shirt being stunned by the level of gorgeous women (as per usual) that inhabit this ‘frozen wasteland’

By: Andrew P

Andrew P — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:25:51 +0000

As a Canadian, I’m always dumbfounded by the stupid anti-American sentiment up here, especially from otherwise intelligent people. I’m inclined to think its a spin off tall poppy syndrome, or just a plain old inferiority complex. Either way, it makes us sound more ignorant and slack-jawed than those we’re accusing. Just STFU, and define your nationality by something other than how we’re not like – or better than – the US. It’s provincial and small-minded.

By: Dick Rogers

Dick Rogers — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:57:31 +0000

You are absolutely right about canadians. They are so ultra annoying and passive aggressive. You go Michael, with your witty, eye-catching headlines. You are nearly Phelpsian in your diagnoses about their hypocrisy.

USA! USA! USA!

By: Joseph

Joseph — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:42:03 +0000

If you have to bash a country to generate more views then what does that say about the content or the writers on this site? What happened to your talent? I might as well be reading TMZ for this kind of crap.

Being a Sens fan is where you lost your marbles. The Sens suck and so does your view on Canada.

Do our job with some dignity and the talent you had before you sunk this low!

By: Eric Dewhirst

Eric Dewhirst — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:25:19 +0000

In defense of Michael I think the spirit and intent in which the article was written was to bring attention to the issue. Carpooling is just not sexy – it is great on many levels but it is not viral like many of the ideas that are presented here on Techcrunch. Like Michael said, if he was to say “Carpool regulation gets in the way of Startup” – well I am sure many of you would have skimmed on posting. What I also think his post speaks to is the restrictive atmosphere in Canada when it comes to startups – in the US it is considered being brave and innovative to be a startup, in Canada it is considered to be a crazy risky idea. He lived here, he had startups here and I know that he knows what he is talking about because he has walked the walk.

We of course benefit from this controversy and I appreciate Michael sticking his neck out and poking people with a stick to raise awareness. I know I love reading TC because he calls it the way he sees it and even if for example he has a criticism of something that he is an investor in – he speaks his mind.

There are those right now who think I am kissing *ss here and that is your right – however I for one appreciate that TC is the way it is and just as the boys at Southpark don’t believe that Canada is an evil nation – I believe Michael is of the same frame of mind.

Michael does not duck, he signs his name to something and he stands behind it and I think that is pretty cool in the age of internet anonymity.

Cheers – Eric
CTO – Co-Founder of PickupPal

By: JMac

JMac — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:37:37 +0000

Yeah, this is pretty lame for a tech site. Like a lot of others, I think I’ve had my fill of Mr. Arrington’s being an a-hole for added page views.

I think your advertisers should consider that their ads aren’t in the comments threads, which is where your lame remarks drive attention.

And if you actually had a speck of journalistic pride, you wouldn’t write something like this and then try to backtrack in the comments (pro-canada, etc. – give me a break and grab some balls to stand behind what you write).

Hopefully there are TechCrunch people around you that will take the comments in this thread to heart b/c there’s not much value in having an offensive moron destroying the TechCrunch brand.

One more longtime TechCrunch user signing off for good – nice work, Mikey.

By: Mister Blister

Mister Blister — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:35:23 +0000

You’re all robots. Crazy americano-gringo-war-fightin robots.

By: racetalkblog.com » Social Network PickupPal Brings Carpooling Online, Is Facing Trouble in Canada

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:28:39 +0000

[...] this site is having some legal problems in Ontario (which TechCrunch translates into Canada hating the environment), where it’s against the law to carpool unless you meet all of [...]

By: neuralien

neuralien — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:01:41 +0000

Wow, somebody’s really angry and racist. I’ll take a chance and guess that you’re a white American. Try to view things through the eyes of another culture. I’m not saying that raising thousands of dogs and cats in small cages for their fur is alright, what I’m saying it, they’re cats and dogs. They’re animals. It’s the same thing as raising cattle for meat. The only reason why people are outraged by stuff like that is because they are dogs and cats and you’ve come to associate them to being friendly companions. People wouldn’t have given a second thought were they using rats.

Also, if they’re making them that means someone is buying them. You mention Walmart and Target. Those are American companies. That means that they are paying to have those cheap coats and jackets made.

As for your “Chinese make me sick. Their food makes me sick. All their “culture” is based on barbarism” comment, well bigotry and ignorant, self-righteous xenophobes make me sick.