Posted by: C. Fraser | May 2, 2008

Being Canadian means Not Being American?

Canadians, as a nation, are a proud people, and the government has spent a lot of money and time to develop a sense of nationalism amongst its people. One of the things that people - often people who are not Canadians - think, is that the sense of being Canadian comes from a desire to be not-American.

In other words the Canadian psyche is built around not being American, rather than being Canadian; the negative stance is more important than anything that may be positive.

So, dear reader, I have a few questions for you:

If you are Canadian, are you proud to be Canadian, and why?


If you are not Canadian, what do you see as the difference, if any, between Canada and America? What do you think of Canada and Canadians? Please state where you come from.

Please keep it civil. I will delete any comments that are obviously baiting in nature and whose only purpose is to flame another nation and be abusive.

I would also like this to be an ongoing project.  No matter how long this post has been up, feel free to add a comment to it.

Posted in Canadian/American relations, canadian, culture, discussion, international, opinion | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Responses

I’m Canadian. I’m proud of being Canadian.

Often we - as a nation - are all too quick to define who we are by saying what we aren’t.

Recently I moved to NYC and as a gift I received a Canadian shirt that defined why Canadians were great. There were 10 points. All but 2 of them were in the negative.

By: Fraser on May 2, 2008
at 3:39 pm

Disclaimer: I’m going to be as open and honest as possible which may reveal that I am greatly ignorant about Canada, but I would rather that you get a true impression of one American’s view of Canada than a censored one. I sincerely hope that I do not come across as offensive.

You are right that to a certain extent Canada is defined by what makes it different than America – at least to Americans, because that is what we will notice. I think of Canada as a quirky alternate universe to America. The people look and talk quite similarly but they are different. I happen to be huge fan of the filmmaker Atom Egoyan, so I think I may have a rather perverted view of the quirkiness of Canada. But then you have David Cronenburg and I think, yes, the quirkiness is definitely prevalent. My favorite living author and one of the greatest writers ever is Margaret Atwood. Once again, she’s a bit out there and quirky.

As part of the British Commonwealth, I think Canada has shown itself to more independent than Australia or New Zealand. My proof: the Queen looks awful on Canadian currency and you have one of my favorite flags. The flag is original and shows a pride in the natural quality of the American continent that I think is admirable. When I wander about in Europe and see the Canadian flags on rucksacks, I do admit I think it’s kind of ridiculous. I feel it shows a defensiveness that is not needed. I don’t feel the need to pander to the people who would be prejudiced against me because of what they think is my country. If someone cannot look at me as an individual then they are not worth my time. On the other hand, after the 2004 election I promised myself that I would never attempt to defend America again which is something an American may feel the need to do when wandering around Europe. But I digress.

I love Quebec. Sure the language is French, but the identity is pure Canadian. Perhaps a Quebecois would not think so, but as an outsider I see it. In France, the French have an air of superiority – and who can blame them it’s a great country. But in Quebec there is pride without superiority. The people have a relaxed air that is very Canadian in my opinion.

I love Vancouver especially at how international the city is. I hope to sometime get the opportunity to try out some of the ski resorts in Alberta, but so far I haven’t made it. As for Toronto, I’ve only been to the airport but I hear there’s some amazing burger place that I have to go if I ever make it. Thanks for listening to me drone.

By: daranee on May 3, 2008
at 7:49 pm

I don’t want to respond to comments very much - at least not here, but perhaps in future posts - but thanks to both Fraser and Daranee for your comments and observations.

Fraser - What makes you proud to be Canadian that isn’t a negative/comparison?

Daranee - great comment, thank you. I don’t think there was anything offensive in your opinions. Egoyan has a new movie coming out, if you didn’t know, and I think Atwood is a Canadian treasure. I’ve enjoyed everything of hers I’ve read. Interesting comment about Quebec. I’m not sure most Canadians, other than perhaps Quebecois, see Quebec in this way. That’s an interesting topic to explore…how people outside of Canada view Quebec compared to how Canadians view Quebec.

By: C. Fraser on May 3, 2008
at 8:06 pm

Actually, I agree with daranee’s take on Quebec. Whenever I hear the separatists talk about their unique and distinct society, I can’t help thinking it’s uniquely and distinctly Canadian. When they talk about what an independent Quebec would look like and what they would do, it sounds like Canada, but in French only. No surprise there, really, considering federal politics has traditionally dominated by Quebecers.

Btw, daranee, a lot of those Canadian flags on backpacks belong to Americans. Americans started to get the idea about 10 years ago that they’d be less likely to be a target abroad if people think they’re Canadian. Bonus point if you can guess how to still spot the Americans…
They have big Canadian flags on their backpacks, whereas Canadians have more modest ones. ;-)

I’m Canadian and live in Vancouver. Yes, I’m proud to be Canadian, but sometimes I get annoyed by Canadians’ parochialism and tendency to think small. Same with the habit of adapting American politics to Canada, which just doesn’t work, as I discuss here:

http://paulmct.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/star-shaped-pegs-in-maple-leaf-shaped-holes/

I agree we have to think in the positive and be proactive rather than reactive.

I think the tendency to show how we’re not American stems from the United Empire Loyalists and then the War of 1812. After Confederation, the Americans thought Canada would fail and it was actually U.S. policy to wait for it to happen and annex the provinces or territories as they ‘fell off’. This policy allowed them to leave the northern border largely undefended and divert their attention to Mexico (present day, New Mexico, Arizona, and California). Sorry, Mexico.

By: paulmct on May 4, 2008
at 5:06 pm

Sorry, forgot to finish that…

So, there was an ever-present fear of attack up to Confederation. All that talk of manifest destiny kind of made the neighbours nervous…

By: paulmct on May 4, 2008
at 5:14 pm

I’m from the Philippines. I have an uncle and aunt and cousins in Toronto, another cousin’s family newly migrated to Calgary, and my best friend’s in Winnipeg. I’ve been to Canada twice (Ottawa and Toronto in 99, Montreal in 02), and to the US four times. On first glance there appears to be little if any difference between Canada and the US (aside from differences in English and bilingual signs). My uncle and aunt in Canada have always proudly stated their being Canadian and not American (even though another uncle who is a brother to them lives in the US), and I’ve read at times about Canucks taking pains to differentiate themselves. Watching Canadian TV I saw a lot of American shows (especially during Prime Time) though I saw Canadian programs as well.

I heard about how Canadians were supposed to be more easy-going to towards foreigners, so visiting Canada for the first time after two visits to the US I wanted to see the difference. Since my stay was all of 11 days (compared to a whole month for each US visit), I naturally had fewer interactions with the locals. Those interactions that I did have were very civil, similar to what I experienced in the US. Going about Ottawa on my own I ate at a local Burger King, and it wasn’t until my uncle and aunt drove my mother and I around that I got to eat at a Canadian-branded fast food place. Of course they were proud of it. Knowing that both AMD and Corel are both Canadian-owned IT companies (my cousin by marriage works in AMD), I heard from one Canadian who said he was happy a Canadian company is there among the Microsofts, Dells, HPs, etc.

Montreal was a different experience for me and I wondered how I would fare differently. At first I was afraid that I might be treated coolly if I did not speak French, but my fears were unfounded when the locals realized I was a foreigner and contentedly spoke in English. And because I am Catholic and saw signs of Quebec’s French Catholic heritage in places (I visited St. Joseph’s Oratory) I identified with the churches and the Mass-goers.

After comparing the two I said to myself that if ever there’s a drastic need for me to migrate, I’d choose Canada over the US. Aside from the climate, I felt more at home in the former.

By: Raymond on May 15, 2008
at 3:42 pm

Paul and Raymond - Thanks to both of you for your wonder and insightful comments. Again, I don’t want to comment to much on other peoples comments right now, but I appreciate the efforts!

By: C. Fraser on May 15, 2008
at 6:01 pm

Am I proud to be Canadian?

I think I feel like Americans feel about their country right now. I’m proud of Canada, its history and what it stood for up until the Mulroney administration.

But I am not proud of our leaders, who have no sense of that history, no vision for the future in that great tradition, but simply caving in to the Canadian business elite’s hunger to scrape up our natural resources and sell them to the States.

There doesn’t seem to be much of the ‘Canadian soul’ coming from our politicians. No sense of the past, and even less about the future, or who we are in our traditions.

Canadians instinctively have that still, just below the surface. But its not being expressed, and so we just drift… do we suffer just the same symptoms of every modern democracy right now?

Our leaders are trying to wash-out who we are so we all become just one giant global suburbs of consumers, no different from anyone else… so Madison Avenue only has to make one commercial for the whole world, not 200 nations… lowering cost…

I think Harper reflects this, Dion is behind the times, and the premiers are just a bunch of managers of the status quo… for this, I’m embarrassed to be Canadian…

By: Sun Warrior on May 20, 2008
at 12:49 pm

“Our leaders are trying to wash-out who we are so we all become just one giant global suburbs of consumers, no different from anyone else… so Madison Avenue only has to make one commercial for the whole world, not 200 nations… lowering cost…”

Interesting comment, thanks S.W. Here’s an interesting article, http://fissypit.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/canadian-beer-a-part-of-our-heritage/
The authour ties Canadian identity with beer commercials. Although I don’t agree with everything in it, she makes a good argument and it’s an interesting read.

By: C. Fraser on May 21, 2008
at 7:39 pm

[...] made a post asking readers to share their opinion on Canada, within the framework of ‘Being Canadian mean not being American’. So far the responses have been excellent, and I want to thank everyone for the time and effort in [...]

By: Canadian Nationalism: United North America, Part 2 « Canadian Fermentation on June 10, 2008
at 2:58 pm

Sorry if this seems like a shameless plug, but Sun Warrior’s comment caught my eye. I agree about the lack of vision - which I discuss in the post linked to in my comment above. If you’re interested, the following post also talks about the lack of political and business leadership.

http://paulmct.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/do-canadas-leaders-have-the-nads/

Keep up the good work, CF.

By: paulmct on June 10, 2008
at 10:44 pm

I’m all for shameless plugs, so plug away!!

I need to do more self-promotion myself…

By: C. Fraser on June 10, 2008
at 10:51 pm

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