My impression is one of surprise. While vacationing in Nova Scotia, I watched a television program regarding relations with the US. One statement compared populations. No doubt at 300 million citizens this year, the US exceeds the Canadian population. Then the comments symbolized the US as an overlord. The big bad bully. The US dictates the position and Canada is forced to follow. How? By larger population, larger capital and the sheer force of the US will. Animosity was definitely noted in the female commentator's voice.

I never expected this attitude. Was this an isolated incident? Or is this the view of most Canadian's? I have noted subtle digs from Canadian internet forum users toward US members on multiple sites. I discounted them as rouge.

Am I the one with my head in the sand? I looked as Canada as a sibling country. One with similar beliefs who managed to hold on to some of the finer aspects of life that the US has sacrificed for wealth and power. Canada, following behind the US and trying not to make the same mistakes. Two countries on the same page, respecting each's differences.

Maybe Canada is just the tolerant neighbor who has no choice but to graciously put up with the nonsense of a bully. A silent observer of a country headed for the same end as Sodom and Gomorrah. A neighboring country who must keep the US in check. To watch the US and to keep a defensive posture against her.

For however loaded this question is, Is Canada a Sibling Country?

Or Is Canada a Tolerant Neighbor?

This is an interesting but very broad topic, and one which is difficult to debate. I'll do the best I can.

No doubt every possible kind of emotion, from love to hate, exists between the two nations. No doubt every American has some kind of opinion about Canada, and every Canadian has some kind of opinion about America. (Unlike the way they might not have any opinion about, for example, Ghana.) The two nations are intertwined in a very special way.

What are the major, obvious differences between the two?

The United States has a much larger population and a much larger economy; therefore, it has much more international power than Canada.

Canada has a more liberal cultural climate than the United States. There's a reason why the "blue states" are sometimes called "The United States of Canada."

The United States is unusual among secular, representative nations in the fact that its population is so strongly religious. There's a reason why the "red states" are sometimes called "Jesusland."

The best analogy I can offer for the two nations is to two siblings, one of whom is much bigger than the other. The big one bullies that smaller one sometimes; the small one annoys the bigger one sometimes. But there is no reason why they cannot get along.

If you were to do an exhaustive search of the forums you would probably find all sorts of interesting interactions and the ocassional bruhaha. It's true that most Canadians have mixed feelings about the U.S., present company included. However, when you see genuine animosity there is usually more than simple rivalry involved. Let me elucidate with a post from Lederuvdapac...



See what's wrong here? First, Canada is ridiculed... this isn't terribly important. We ridicule Americans all the time, as well as ourselves. Second, this ridicule is based on horribly false assumptions and crude generalizations; and here lies the crux of the problem when it comes to direct personal. Yes, American "pushes" around Canada. I won't say bully because America simply works to advance it's own interests as Canada does, although unlike Canada they have the ability to simply ignore or circumvent international laws and treaties in doing so. Now, moving to the questions for debate specifically, Canada can best be described as a tolerant neighbour. There are many explanations for this answer but I will go for the shortest one (even if it's not the simplest.)

Coming out of World War 2, the West adopted what is generally known as the Liberal International Economic Order, which declined somewhat steadily from about the late 70's. America decided around the late 1980's or early 1990's to withdraw from this order (and has been actively undermining it since the late 90's), whereas Canada did not. Since then the two countries have been following different "paths" in navigating the "new" world order.

And no, this is not so simple as liberalism versus conservatism, or left versus right.

One thing remains constant though, Americans are woefully ignorant about Canada, which makes forthright and productive personal interactions challenging. This has become such a joke in Canada that Canadians working in the U.S. frequently joke about it in American pop culture; the Simpsons being a prime example of this.

As I have stated before, I think you need to be a bit careful. Many, many Americans are very storngly anti-Bush jr, and anti the current administration, but that is NOT Antiamericanism. Obviously there are significant differences, but also vast similarities. (when I was growing up, the Joke was that Canadians are Just unarmed Liberal Americans with health care).

If there are spurts of 'Anti-Americanism' they tend to be dedicated towards specific issues, for example the recent softwood lumber dispute, and the decision by the US to (until it was recently resolved) simply ignore repeated binding arbitrative ruling in Canada's favour by NAFTA councils. That is bullying, ignoring the law because you are bigger and the law can't force you to do anything.

The single largest stumbling block of recent years was Bush Jr and the fanatic righ's the treatment of Canada post 9/11.

Canada lost 24 people in the twin towers, and was the first to respond to the crisis. Canadian jets were patrolling US airspace against further attack, and all those thousands of flights diverted when the sky was shut down ALL landed in Canada, and tens of thousands of Americans were taken into Canadian homes by volunteer families, some for over a week. Canadain DART rescue teams were the first on sire at the WTC, and Canadians volunteered so much blood in a 9/11 blood drive that some of it had to be thrown away as there was simpy too much collected.

A year later Conservatives are calling for an invasion of Canada, insulting the nation and its people, trying to ban tourism and threatening eceonomic retaliation because Canada refused to go to war in Iraq without a UN mandate, even though at the time the Canadian military was (and still is) serving alongside the US in Afghanistan. Canada was excluded for bidding on reconstruction contracts (grouped in with France, Rusia and China), despite the fact that $300 million dollars of reconstruction money was donated from Canada

This was what was on all the Right-wing news programs at the time:
http://www.intheirownwords.ca/rightoncanada.html


So I don't know what you saw in the maritimes, but how does it compare to some of the quotes listed on that site?

Odd. I guess they're really both. But usually the tolerant bit is used the other way around. That the US is tolerant of Canada (and could squish them like a bug if they so chose). I think Canada is the poorer-but-wiser older brother to the US. A relationship which fence-walks always mindful of what the other is doing. But make no mistake. The US is the dominant one and has the power to stay so.

Why do so many Americans feel the need to remind people of this? It happens all the time. I wonder how often in conversation the French say to the Belgians: "You know, we could invade easily if we wanted..."

Yes, you have a big scary military, though right now I think the US would find itself hard pressed to invade even Canada given its military over-commitments.

Perhaps this itself is part of the problem. Its always easy to identify the bully in the schoolyard, becaue they need to go around and constantly emind everyone that they are the bully...

Besides, as I think people are learning (again), yes if the US invaded Canada the war would be over in a week. But have fun with that occupation...

Since TruthMarch is posting from Canada, perhaps you should reconsider your point...

Is Canada a Sibling Country?

Or Is Canada a Tolerant Neighbor?

I think it's a bit of both.

Canada and the US disagree on some points and I doubt many would argue that the Canadian government until very recently has been further left than the US Democratic Party. This will inevitably lead to differences in opinions and approaches and of course invites criticism and commentary from (gasp!) critics and commentators such as Tucker Carlson and the like. Of course, I have not seen anyone supplying links from the Globe and Mail supporting the assertion that the Canadian media has criticized the US and the US government, although that's hardly necessary. With the Harper government in, they have a new target for their criticism, however.

Canada and the US have had their differences, but for the most part their interests coincide. Sometimes we will disagree, but disputes do not last long and soon enough we will both be in the backyard playing baseball again.

A couple things. Firstly even with Harper's conservatives in power, even if he had real power to make changes (which he does not with a minority government) the Conservatives in canada are still quite a bit further left than the Democtrats in the US. Pro-legalised abortion, pro-gun control, pro-health care, and so on...

The Canadian media also does not engage in party politics to the same extent as the US media. Frankly I would strongly doubt you would find any news articles in the Globe and Mail criticising the US, though you may find several isue-specific criticisms of the current administration.

The CBC is well known as one of the most unbiased, centrist media outlets in the world.



True enough.

Absolutely! Notice the decision makers did not send the remaining airplanes in flight to Mexico regardless of where those airplanes were located in the nation. I do not recall any effort made by Mexico to assist the US on 9/11. I saw no hesitation or complaints by Canadian citizens to assist the US on 9/11 despite their own losses. It was the kind of response I simply expected and was relieved to hear. Absolutely the actions of a close sibling.

Actually a lot of American donated blood was discarded as well. Being in the EMS system, I noted that the US response, FEMA and EMS jurisdictions simply were not prepared for this level of disaster. Nothing against the parties involved. The US simply had no experience in this area. It was unfathomable. The US was definitely over confident with its security competencies.

Invasion of Canada is so ridiculous! Canada was absolutely right not going to Iraq without a UN mandate. The US should never have moved into Iraq from Afghanistan. Most Americans tolerated the decision into Afghanistan in revenge to capture Osama Bin Laden. But moving into Iraq was not a decision approved by most of the American people. It was all Bush and his oil baron side kicks looking for pieces of the action. The US and her allies have lost more troops in Iraq than civilians were lost on 9/11. This makes no sense.

Some of those quotes are 'off the wall'. What motivated them is a good question. I can't say that I personally experienced any animosity from any Canadian I met while on vacation. I got a lot of stares. But it may have been my height, my blonde hair and black fingernail polish. I tend to stick out in a crowd, especially in Nova Scotia.