What is the United States of which you speak?
We Canadians are both assholes and nice folks at the same time. For example, a client of mine was strapped for cash, so she paid me with a large tin of chocolates which someone had given to her. Is she an asshole for not paying, or is she nice for giving chocolates? One of the office staff is on a diet, so I anonymously passed on the chocolates to her. Am I an asshole for tempting her to break her diet, or am I nice for giving her chocolates?
I am the proud owner of a Canadian asshole. It’s more real than spectacular.
Frankly, jerks come in all nationalities. I think people make the mistake of making Canada to be some monolithic cultural entity rather than having variations like the US. Just as I, an East Coast resident, might have a different temperment and different views than someone from Colorado or Hawaii. A buddy of mine who grew up in Hawaii, for example, learned that if someone was acting up or otherwise pissing you off, you were supposed to give them the “stink-eye”, or a disdainful look, rather than confronting them. Anyway, all the Canadians (and Jamaicans, and Italians, and Mexicans and Bahamians and so on,) I’ve met have been nice people.
We learned from Tammy Faye??
:::ducks & runs:::
In all seriousness, the Canadian individuals I know (quite a few, as I live in Canada) truly enjoy the American individuals they know (quite a few, as Vancouver is close to being a border town.) As has been pointed out, many of us have reservations about American politics, and about the importation of American culture into our daily lives. Many Canadians of my acquaintance are intensely aware of Canadian content in our media and culture.
A few years ago, I worked in a hotel which catered largely to American tourists in the summer months. At the time, I was also carrying on a “communication” with a fellow from Arizona. I got to see both sides of the coin, which I began to distinguish as being the difference between “people” and “persons.” To quote Men in Black, “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.” It was a great and informative social microcosm.
A minor nitpick in that it was the Sparrow II missle program which was cancelled (the original Sparrow was in service for decades). Avro attempted to continue development on its own of the missle and the new weapons control system to go with it, but this proved too costly and the design reverted back to the originally planned Hughes weapon system and Falcon missle armament before the cancellation.
The Arrow was a marvellous piece of aviation technology, which reached a speed of Mach 1.98 with the interim engines in the Mark 1, and would have reached well over Mach 2 in the Mark 2 with the Iroquois engines, and with Mach 3 speeds expected for future marks. As a service military aircraft, it was less marvellous. Despite inovative touches such as provision for a complete engine change in 30 minutes, much of the aircraft was a maintenance nightmare, with major work required to replace or repair many parts. (This was largely due to a serious lack of supervision by Avro management and the RCAF over the detail design process.) Significant redesign would have been required before introduction into service. (Note that this was a problem with many prototypes of the period, but the Arrow took it to extremes.)
The Orenda Iroquois engine was perhaps the real loss to Canadian aviation. Although it never got any further than a test fitting to the first Arrow Mk 2, it was tested in flight, mounted on the rear fuselage of a B-47 on loan from the US Air Force. The Iroquois was an excellent design, on the leading edge of jet engine development, and was well on the way to production with no significant problems revealed in over 5,000 hours of bench and flight tests. The Iroquois pioneered the extensive use of titanium, had a higher thrust to weight ratio and dry thrust than its contemporaries, could probably have pushed the Arrow to supersonic speeds without the use of afterburner, and did it all on an amazingly low development program cost. It is likely that, if it had gone into production, it would still be in use today.
It is debatable whether the Iroquois could have been sold outside of the Arrow program, with the severe “not invented here” and “not in service at home” factors working against sales to the main markets in the US and Europe, but this is mere speculation, as it was unfortunately cancelled at the same time the Arrow was cancelled. The Iroquois did have one major legacy, however, as one was shipped to Bristol Siddley in Britian, where it contributed to the design of the Olympus engines used by the Concorde.
Yes. My policy, when meeting Americans, is not to lay into American politics unless they harangue it first. Then I feel free to dig in.
And Uzi, the National Post ran about six months’ worth of front page articles about how we should merge with the US. That’s a pretty ostentatious way of “advocating that we do what they tell us.”
I have met quite a few Canadians. I have never met a Canadian who could reasonably been called an asshole, although I am sure they exist.
Now, if we want to talk about French-Canadians…
Any country that gives us Rush has to be full of good people. (Overlooking the Alex Lifeson Incident in Florida…)
I’ve met a lot of nice Canadian girls online, too, but so far my attempts to woo them with my ability to prepare poutine have been unsuccessful. 
Oui ? You bellowed ?
I did not know this (the flight test, I mean). Thanks.
I guess my point was that I usually hear whacked-out conspiracy “theories” that involve American aircraft manufacturers and corrupt officials in both governments.
To address the main point of the thread, I know. Quebec is different. So are Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island.
I have to deal with Quebec.
Ah, good old Flag. I live just down the road from it. The thing’s so big I used to be able to see it from my mom’s upstairs window at 6th St and 10th Ave in Burnaby!
Anyway, I guess I’d have to classify myself as a little nervous about the States. We’ve been having the softwood controversy for years for one thing and now there’s the Sumas power thing . I sort of get the impression that they feel like what we have is theirs for the taking.
My best friend is an American. She lived here for twenty years and went back when her marriage broke up. Some of the opinions she had were sort of scarey. Of course I can’t judge all Yanks by her. She had a pretty redneck Texan father and he probably had quite an impact on her thinking.
I once heard Canadians described as being so polite that if you stepped on one’s foot, he’d say sorry to you!