Cite?
There already ARE Muslim would-be terrorists in Canada. Here’s one widely publicized case that nearly came to fruition:
How would I react? I’d be horrified, saddened, furious… but I can’t answer, in the abstract, what I’d actually DO, beyond donating to the relevant charities and praying.
Considering that this is a lie, why would we want to listen to you?
Montreal is unable to have a 9/11 type attack because AFAIK, it does not have a structure that is as internationally iconic or even as populated as the World Trade Center. What would terrorists do? Blow up 1000 de La Gauchetière (Montreal’s tallest building…I had to look it up)?
And I’m not saying that because I’m American. To approach 9/11 terrorists would need to take out something of INTERNATIONAL significance like the Eifle Tower.
While it would be a tragedy, At best it would be maybe just above an Oklahoma City Bombing.
Assuming I survived, I’d want Canada to aggressively pursue a nuclear program and destroy a major city in whatever nation supported the attack.
I’m not joking, that is indeed what I would want. I have no illusions I’d actually get it, though.
By the way, Elvis, support your statement or retract it, please.
Well, Montreal has the St. Joseph Oratory, but that’s not exactly “populated”, to be sure. I don’t know what else they could try destroying. The Bell Centre during a Canadiens game? The Olympic Stadium? (Some would say good riddance. 
) Or maybe they could try making the subway system and underground city cave in. That could do some damage.
Blowing up the base of the collapsing CN Tower in Toronto full of tourists would get the world’s attention.
In any case, I’ve since come to the conclusion for the benefit of my children and grandchildren that any offensive response would just spur on the jihad. I would hope that the press would limit the coverage of the incident and the emotional reaction. Remember, The British won the Battle of Britain halting the German bombing of their cities not by playing up their victimization and immediately attacking Germany, but by displaying a stiff upper lip and strengthening their defense.
Like other Canadians here, the first thing I don’t want is the US military running to our defense. Thanks, but no thanks. Sovereign nation and all that. Not like you guys can spread yourselves any thinner, anyway.
My reaction to a 9/11 type attack (I would assume this would not be on a particular building, but on a significant portion of Montreal citizens - bombing a Canadiens game or something that would have a horrific death toll) would be very similar to what it was when the World Trade Centers were hit - intense dismay that people could do something that wrong for any reason. The response I’d like to see from my government would be a measured and appropriate reaction against the people actually responsible.
As for the English-speaking Canada part of the question, Quebec and the Rest of Canada (ROC) are often at odds, but when the rubber hits the road, the ROC looks at Quebecers as belonging with us, too - they’re Canadians just like the rest of us, whether they believe we think that way or not.
I don’t understand what you mean, here. Are you suggesting that the US military would use a terrorist attack in Canada as an invitation to occupy your country? Or are you saying you wouldn’t want US military cooperation with your government’s response to the attack?
Also, you say that you would want a measured and appropriate response against the people responsible, but in practice that isn’t so black and white. When the people responsible are an international organization being funded by foreign governments, private citizens of allied countries, and religious leaders from all over the globe, there is no such thing as an appropriate and measured response. What do you do when the people responsible are spread out over a dozen countries who aren’t willing to cooperate in bringing them to justice?
I’m not saying the USA was right in their military decisions. I’m just saying that you’re naive to think there’s an answer that’s easy to recognize. It’s not about the difference between right and wrong. The problem is that nobody even knows what “right” is!
By your subsequent comment, “I’d be just as enraged as 9/11,” I understand that you mean this to be a positive and complimentary comment. But do you understand that the way you express it here amounts to “I don’t see you as a sovereign country,” which is an attitude that generally sits ill with us?
What about NATO and all that?
ditto
I’m pretty sure it was just an awkward way of phrasing the sentiment that a lot of Americans view Canada as a “brother country”.
It’s similar to saying of a personal friend, “you mess with him, you’re messing with me”…of course the other guy is still his own person; the idea is essentially that you’ve got his back no matter what.
As for me, considering I grew up in right next to Quebec in northern New York, and spent more time in Montreal than I ever did in NYC (and think far more fondly of it), an attack on it would probably hit even closer to home than the 9/11 events. At the very least, I’d have a lot more phone calls to make.
Like a lot of Americans, I would consider it about the same as an attack on our country. It wouldn’t be exactly the same, though; the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon changed our reality so drastically that I would not feel the same sense of shock and disbelief. I’d hope that our government would simply support Canada in its response to those events and offer whatever assistance is requested. I’m pretty sure that the state of Minnesota would gladly send the last few remnants of military (mostly old folks and landlocked swabbies) Bush has left us if Canada needs them.
This could be a result of living in a border state, though. Until recently, we could travel back and forth to Canada almost as easily as we do to Wisconsin for fireworks or South Dakota for reservation cigarettes. Would citizens of the southern states have a similar response to an attack on Mexico?
Probably worse than I would for NYC, if only because I have family in Montreal. I don’t/didn’t have family in NYC.
I didn’t see it this way. In fact, I wouldn’t even have thought of this if you hadn’t mentioned it. Canada is certainly in the US sphere of influence, but it’s clear that it has its own foreign policy (see Iraq). The statement that to Americans, Canadian provinces are “just more states” is just a reflection of reality and of the strength of cultural links between both countries.
This said, another poster (as_u_wish) said that due to the cultural distance, he’d feel less impacted if an attack occurred in Mexico. So I wonder if in the minds of Americans (and even English Canadians, sorry featherlou) Montreal is somewhat closer to them among Quebec cities because of the amount of English-speakers there. Would they feel the same impact if, say, Quebec City was attacked by terrorists? Of course, now we’re getting farther and farther from the realm of the probable. If terrorists want to pressure the Canadian population, they’ll attack either one of Canada’s three main metropolises, or Ottawa.
I, for one, would gladly accept any help from our neighbours to the south.
I happened to be home on 9/11 with the TV on. I was numb. I don’t think it would matter which city was victimized with a similar attack. I would still feel numb.
Disclosure: I’m from the US, and formerly had this sort of opinion. The views expressed in this post are mine alone, and may not reflect those of other Canadians.
I’ve lived in Canada for the last 15 years, and now have a more northerly view. I would say that my former opinion, - that of American-Canadian brotherhood and solidarity to the point of blurred cultural boundaries- is essentially wrong.
I think it is derived primarily from a lack of knowledge about non-US countries, Canada in particular, as well as the general assumption that non-Americans have the same view of the US as Americans have. In general, Canadians have a very different view of the US than the US has of itself. This ‘just more states’ idea comes across to me as obnoxious and profoundly ignorant of Canada- and I used to think that way also.
Canadians watch American TV. They know what’s going on in the US as well as Americans do. They notice all the things that make us different. Americans, in general, don’t know much about Canada, and assume, because most Canadians speak similarly accented english, and because Michael J. Fox is such a nice guy, that Canada is just like the US.
I think Canadians appreciate that you would be deeply moved if there were an attack in Montreal. Canadians were deeply moved by the attacks on 9/11, and did all that they could to help. They do have strong cultural ties with the US. Hell, I’m personally a strong cultural tie. However, it’s a different country and a different culture and history, and it just reflects laziness to pretend it ain’t. To view Canadians as being just like Americans is a simpler version of the same cultural stereotypes as having all Saudis be terrorists, or all Irish drunks.
Hell yeah we’d feel bad if Quebec City was attacked! Last time I looked it was still part of **MY **Canada. (And probably the most beautiful city in North America.)
Sorry, I should have been more clear; not that we wouldn’t accept and appreciate the US pitching in and helping us with our response, but that we wouldn’t appreciate a response from the US of going ahead and doing stuff on our behalf without consulting with us first, which is what some posters here seemed to be advocating (with the best of intentions, but nevertheless, we are a sovereign nation).