Wait, wait, wait… You’re saying CNN compared Canada to Soviet Russia? … Like, one of the reporters, or just some schmuck that… for… some reason… CNN decided to interview? All of those insults, in fact, seem extraordinarily childish, and I can’t imagine any news program carrying them, even Fox. When we don’t like a country, we say it’s part of the new axis of evil. We don’t call it Canuckistan. I’ll take your word for it, obviously, since you’ve nothing to gain by lying, but it’s very odd sounding. Certainly nothing like I’ve ever seen. Maybe Fox anchors up north are different.
Aside from that, I’ve never in my life heard of an American with an active distaste for Canada. Quite the opposite actually, it seems Canadians love bashing Americans. In fact, didn’t you guys have an entire show devoted to it, where a guy asked Americans questions to make them look stupid?
Basically, as I see it, any hostility between the two countries that I’ve ever seen comes when an American reveals that, like most other Americans, he has absolutely no opinions about Canada and even less knowledge of it, at which point a Canadian gets miffed, since he can name all 50 US states and is constantly inundated with our culture. I get the feeling you guys think about us a lot more than we think about you.
In my day to day life I’ve found that Canada doesn’t even register on the radar of Americans. And I live in Minnesota, for pity’s sake - it’s not like Canada’s not a neighbor or anything.
Then again, I’ve found that freakin’ Wisconsin doesn’t even register on the radar of Americans except for those Sundays when the Pack plays the Vikings.
[sub]Y’all know I love the SDMB cos it keeps me from turning into a provincial rube, right? RIGHT?![/sub]
To follow up on the last post, it is my observation that most people–at least in and around St. Louis, Missouri, honestly don’t think about Canada that often. In fact, I’ve had arguments with people who are convinced that Canada is not an independent country but is still a colony of Great Britain.
When people here do think about Canada, it is generally because one or more Canadians did something which can reassure us as Americans that somebody, at least, is “like” us and seems to think we are okay.
It appeared to be the same back in the late 1970s when I attended graduate school at Texas A&M. That was during the Iranian hostage crisis, and there was an incident in which the Canadian consulate (or embassy?) in Iran helped rescue some Americans. Thereafter there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy and affection for all things Canadian, and the Canadian flag was flown on campus.
Similarly, during the Watergate crisis a disc jockey in Windsor, Ontario recorded a speech about how it was time to “stand up for the Americans”. People were feeling awfully shaky back then, and the recording served as a welcome emotional sop for a lot of people. For a while it was run the same as if it were a hit music recording on a lot of local stations in St. Louis.
It is the ultimate vulgarity of the tourist to assume that foreigners “really” think and feel identically to people in one’s native culture. People in the U.S. are awfully prone to this, and it is especially easy to fall into when thinking about Canadians on account of the pronounced similarities between our countries and their physical proximity. If I had to sum up the attitude towards Canadians of most people I know, it is that Canadians are friendly, and are essentially like Americans except that they have less crime and pollution. To the extent that we regard them differently than other foreigners, it is in the fact that we are not so prone to assuming that they are secretly envious of us.
God, no! I don’t even want to imagine the torrent of slime that would gush out if you poured salt on that slug!
Not a whole show, but the “Talking to Americans” segment of This Hour Has 22 Minutes (the reason I got cable in addition to satellite, so I cound get it from Vancouver). My favorite: asking USers what they thought of Canada’s new PM, Tim Horton. (My response: Don’t let him have a summit with Clinton, or there won’t be a doughnut left in the country . . .)
Not as far as I can tell, although I didn’t know that the news depicted things that way. I know of no animosity towards your country amoungst my friends and acquantances.
In my experience as a Canadian who works lots of Americans, has lots of American friends, and travels quite a bit in the U.S., the American people almost universally like Canada and Canadians.
However, if you asked if Canadians like America, I’d have to give you a different answer. There is a LOT of anti-American sentiment in Canada - particularly in the Liberal government and the industrial east, and in Canadian universities. It’s not as bad now as it was during the 80’s. I was in university in the 80’s, and even expressing support for the U.S. around campus was likely to get you yelled at by some young fool.
The “Soviet Canuckistan” remark came from Pat Buchanan. Having nothing better to do, the Canadian media got into a froth about it a while back. They don’t seem to realize that Pat Buchanan has been nothing more than a paid sideshow entertainer for lo these many years, and currently has the political importance and clout of, say, Ozzy Osbourne.
Both this and the “moron” debacle are the sort of inside-the-Beltway teapot tempests that no one cares about in the real world. Neither episode seems to have affected the feelings of the average Canadian or American.
Many years ago I worked with a bunch of Canadians at a firm in Detroit Michigan. It was an almost universal feeling among these 10 or so people that the USA was a total piece of shit. I used to get into horrendous arguments with these guys and I’d constantly ask them why they were working in such a craphole country. Their reply: we don’t mind as long as we don’t have to live here.
I dont know what your talking aboot.
…that was bad,I am such an asshole. I guess I’ll just go back to my dirty home in my dirty neighborhood and think about what I said and hope osama doesn’t nuke me…
I think there is a lot of truth to your comments Slugworth. I’ve spent the past 30 years outside of the US and the anti-American rhetoric by Canadians I’ve run into is very common. It almost appears as if they feel it is their life’s duty to speak disparingly about the US whenever they meet a Yank. And the only time I hear Americans complain about Canadians is after they have had to listen to a few to many of their diatribes.
Love 'em! Even when they piss me off. Which is rare. I don’t even live near Canada, and I love 'em. Been there more often than I’ve been to any other country, by a long shot.
Canada is like a brother, I figure… You can make fun of 'em, and argue with 'em, but in the end, they’re still family. Pretty sure most 'Mericans feel like-wise.
The question seems to be garnering mostly opinion, so I’ll move this thread to IMHO. I’ll stick some GQ-type material in before I do though.
Here’s a good source for U.S. public opinion about Canada: http://www.canada-business.ro/focus/articles/apco/apco-insight1.htm It seems that most Americans have favorable opinions about Canada without actually knowing much about the country. For example, over 90% of Americans have a favorable general impression, but only 2% can name the Prime Minister.
If Pat Buchanon is upset that one of Cretien’s lackeys insulted the intelligence of George W. I wonder what he would do if he caught a feed of the Royal Canadian Air Farce which lampoons Bush on a fairly regular basis.
I travel to Canada a fair amount on business. I was on a business trip in Canada on 9-11.
I saw the planes arrive at Vancouver International Airport. I saw local residents come out to offer beds in their own homes, I saw the news reports on Churches and hotels setting up dorms for stranded travelers. I spoke with a lady who was in one of these dorms at a Hilton Hotel. She described to me how the hotel had put on a buffet that would shame a cruise ship. I had people ,who did not know me, offer their condolences to me when they found out I am an American.
I am sure that every American that spent any time in Canada around 9-11 feels as I do. Canada is a great country, with good people living there. I think Tranquilis is right on about them being like brothers, they love to tease us dumb Americans, and we love to make fun of them saying Eh. However when the shit hits the electric fan, it is your family that you turn to.
