# Does Canada have any enemies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975 "2004-05-19T15:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Salviati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Salviati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salviati)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/21 "2004-05-19T19:04:50Z")
No, really\*. Apparently the Tamil Tigers a seperatist movement in Sri Lanka guilty of many terrorist attacks has used Canada, due to its large Tamil diaspora population and liberal policies, to base many of their fund raising and PR organizations in. As a result, many Sinhalise (the majority ethnic group in Sri Lanka) blame Canada’s refusal to crack down on these groups for much of the violence that country has seen. \*Well so I’m told anyways. This is based on a conversation I had with one Sri Lankan 4 years ago, the situation may of changed, or he may have been exagerating. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/22 "2004-05-19T19:13:46Z")
I recall hearing that on a fairly regular basis a small contengent of Canadian troops sail to uninhabited Hans Island (in the Kennedy Channel in Nunauvut Territory–God it’s Cold!), remove the Danish flag and replant the Mapleleaf. Every now and then a small contengent of Danish troops sale out there and reverse the process. That seems to be it for international disputes. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/23 "2004-05-19T19:22:30Z")
The Canadian Navy are still in sailboats? ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/24 "2004-05-19T19:50:35Z")
No, the Canadian Navy is in drydock. ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/25 "2004-05-19T20:32:48Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > The Canadian Navy are still in sailboats? Well, we call it a “warship” but it’s really just a canoe with a bedsheet. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/26 "2004-05-19T20:55:27Z")
Yeah, but I’ll bet it’s a Queen-sized bed sheet. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/27 "2004-05-19T21:12:06Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Americans do things. Canadians don’t. […] > > After Sept 11, the American people proudly supported their troops in action.If it had happened in Toronto, the Canadian people would get a bit upset, but wouldn’t demand that their government retaliate with force. Canadians have the best of everything–an easy-going society with all the benefits of American success, and none of the responsibilities. That assertion betrays an astonishing level of historical naivete. Overlooking both World Wars in which Canada stepped into the breech before the United States, you don’t need such a long memory to remember Canada’s reaction to the September 11th attacks on American soil. It didn’t have to take place in Toronto for Canadians to get behind our troops in Afghanistan. Last time I checked, we had 3000 troops serving there. That may seem like a small contingent compared with the 14,000 U.S. troops, but considering that Canada lost “only” 24 citizens in the 9/11 attacks, I think we are adequately represented. Public support for Canadian Armed Forces presence in Afghanistan is almost entirely uncontroversial. Just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![cards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cards)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/28 "2004-05-19T21:13:53Z")
Wasn’t “Canadian Bacon” a documentary? Didn’t we win and bring our record up to 13-0-2? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/29 "2004-05-19T21:22:09Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > No, the Canadian Navy is in drydock. I thought it was a guy in a rowboat, half of which is french. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/30 "2004-05-19T21:29:11Z")
There was actually a little known skirmish between the flagships of the Canadian and New Zealand navies. There were no casualties, thanks to the brave action of a civilian standing on the shore with a microphone. He said: “Number thirty seven! Number eighteen! Come in please, or you’ll have to pay another four dollars!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/31 "2004-05-19T21:39:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > If it had happened in Toronto, the Canadian people would get a bit upset, but wouldn’t demand that their government retaliate with force. I think, much like Bin Laden, you are underestimating someone’s wells of resolve. I would not want to piss off Saskatchewan. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/32 "2004-05-19T21:47:17Z")
Of course Al-Qaeda is not monolithic, etc. The point is that Canadians are largely unaware that terrorism exists in Canada (because it is not seen to effect their backyards) and believe Canada to be immune from terrorism. The lecture was a very coherent explanation of how small emergency departments can react to disasters, including terrorism. This was not an attempt to secure funding or wildly exaggerate risks. I work in a small community with a great deal of industry and it can overwhelm our emergency when even a small factory has a suspected exposure to a toxic chemical. A large scale event may never occur, but that does not make it foolish for emergency departments to undertake disaster planning since they are very much involved in situations where large numbers of people are badly hurt. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/33 "2004-05-19T21:56:02Z")
> [@cards](#): > > Wasn’t “Canadian Bacon” a documentary? Didn’t we win and bring our record up to 13-0-2? Well, Michael Moore didn’t do it. So I suspect it wouldn’t be considered legit on these boards. Though it’s about as factual, so I guess it could be viewed as a doc. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/34 "2004-05-19T22:07:09Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Well, Michael Moore didn’t do it. So I suspect it wouldn’t be considered legit on these boards. But he _did_ ‘do’ (write and direct) Canadian Bacon. Or have I been whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/35 "2004-05-19T22:12:18Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Well, Michael Moore didn’t do it. So I suspect it wouldn’t be considered legit on these boards. Though it’s about as factual, so I guess it could be viewed as a doc. Maybe I’m being wooshed here, but… um… He [DID](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109370/) do it. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/36 "2004-05-19T22:13:30Z")
ECHO… Echo… echo… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/37 "2004-05-19T23:11:09Z")
For the terminally slow, _Canadian Bacon_ was just about as factually accurate as every other movie Moore ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/38 "2004-05-19T23:30:32Z")
> [@furt](#): > > I think, much like Bin Laden, you are underestimating someone’s wells of resolve. I would not want to piss off Saskatchewan. Are you trying to suggest that bombing Toronto would piss off Saskatchewan? Why on earth would you think that? 😕 😃 I’m just kidding of course. Toronto’s not that bad a place, even if it isn’t Saskatoon. Heck, it can’t be much worse of a town than Regina. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/39 "2004-05-19T23:34:07Z")
They mint these funny looking quarters, that I keep getting thrown back at me when I use them to pay for something. Honestly. it’s happened a lot. Had a guy with a towel on his head tell me ‘it’s foreign money…no good here’ 7/11 by the way. Are they not 25 cents American? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975/40 "2004-05-19T23:51:39Z")
[QUOTE=chappachulaIF people of one culture are going to hate another country, that country has to do something first. Americans do things. Canadians don’t. For better or worse, Americans are enormously proud of their country, and like to be a world leader. [/QUOTE] Canadians do things. Canada is right there fighting for Western democracy- just not as loudly or as powerfully as America, sure. In order for nations to have enemies there generally needs to be a reason. First- you would consider that nation a _Threat_ . No offense to my Canadian cousins, but Canada isn’t a threat to anyone. 🆒 Or, you might envy them- and here, yes, some Mulsem extremist and other groups do envy Canada (and well they should). Thus, they hate Canada also. :rolleyes: Finally, they might hate another nation becuase of their meddling in foriegn affairs. Canada doesn’t do much ther- at least compared to the USA- the “super meddler”. Of course, us here in San Jose do have a freindly rivalry Calgary right now. To be honest, Calgary has the slightly better team- which will make our victory all the sweeter! 😃 Actually, it’s a victory for either team to get this far. Congrats to both! 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-canada-have-any-enemies/245975.md?page=3)