This State Department document provided by WikiLeaks should give everyone a good laugh:
“The degree of comfort with which Canadian broadcast entities, including those financed by Canadian tax dollars, twist current events to feed longstanding negative images of the U.S. — and the extent to which the Canadian public seems willing to indulge in the feast — is noteworthy as an indication of the kind of insidious negative popular stereotyping we are increasingly up against in Canada,” the cable said.
A trove of diplomatic cables, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to a number of publications, disclose a perception by American diplomats that Canadians “always carry a chip on their shoulder” in part because of a feeling that their country “is condemned to always play ‘Robin’ to the U.S. ‘Batman.’ ” [via The Marmot's Hole]
You can read more at the link to include what Canada’s own intelligence director had to say about his country.
Personally I have only gone to British Columbia a few times when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis and had no issues. BC is a beautiful place just like the American Northwest. I have also worked with a number of Canadians in the military and never had any problems.
However, I did one time in Australia have a Aussie come up to me when he heard my American accent and he asked me if I was a North American? I told him yes I am from North America. He then asked which country and I told him I am from the United States. He then told me that he has to ask people he runs into that have an American accent if they are from North America because if he mistakenly asks a Canadian if they are from America some of them get snotty with him.
He then told me that it appeared the US relationship is much like Australia and New Zealand.
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12:18 pm on December 4th, 2010 1
Isn't that supposed to be why so many Canadians wear large Canadian flags on their backpacks when they travel around Seoul?
12:59 pm on December 4th, 2010 2
…what euphemism best describes how Americans view their role in the world? “Over-Confident”?
You keep what you kill?
3:13 pm on December 4th, 2010 3
Leon, if only that were true. We actually would be the empire snotty Canadians accuse us of.
3:34 pm on December 4th, 2010 4
I entertained myself reading the Wikileaks reports until I was told anyone associated with the U.S. government was prohibited from doing so.
So when my cousin's friend's brother told me that one of the documents mentioned the aliens we captured at Roswell in '74 were being kept at the same bunker in Canada that was used for the Logan Weapon X program, I was intrigued but unable to confirm it.
4:58 pm on December 4th, 2010 5
Q: How many Canadians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: Only two gay ones if they are in the military.
Q2: How did two gay Canadian military members get inside a lightbulb to screw?
A2: I don't know… but it puts the first joke in a whole new perspective.
7:07 pm on December 4th, 2010 6
“if he mistakenly asks a Canadian if they are from America some of them get snotty with him.”
Not really. I had someone (who’d never set foot in Canada) tell me “Oh US/Canada its pretty much the same culture” and I chuckled, but she was hopelessly ignorant. Canadians definitely have their own vibe, which, admittedly, is a bit closer to European Leftism. Canadians want a good society, and hence pay slightly higher taxes to have Universal Health Care, Education, even a place for the poorest of the poor to go, so they don’t turn to theft/robbery/crime etc, whereas in the US, its more of a “I’m gonna get mine, screw you, you’re on your own” attitude.
As you can imagine, being mischaracterized for the latter would come across not so much as an insult, but most Canadians would step forward and proudly correct the assumption.
Btw, if the leftist Canadian hippies have a chip on their shoulder, what euphemism best describes how Americans view their role in the world? “Over-Confident”?
7:22 pm on December 4th, 2010 7
#1, Canadians pay slightly higher taxes? Are you kidding me? Slightly higher? How about sky-high taxes on everything plus much higher income taxes!
12:46 am on December 5th, 2010 8
"Isn’t that supposed to be why so many Canadians wear large Canadian flags on their backpacks when they travel around Seoul?"
Those aren't Canadians…They are Americans pretending to be Canadian so they don't get harassed about mad cows and formaldehyde.
12:49 am on December 5th, 2010 9
#7,
Light bulbs? Never heard of 'em. We use baby seal oil lamps for light in our igloos.
8:35 am on December 5th, 2010 10
In Korea and China, I was often mistaken for Canadian by other Canadians. No one could explain why, but I have a feeling it might be because I don't have a distinct regional accent.
9:21 am on December 5th, 2010 11
Marmot's Hole had a great comments thread for that one; prominently featuring an extremely chippy Canadian insisting they weren't chippy.
10:29 am on December 5th, 2010 12
Canadians mistook Sonagi 10 for Canadian because she doesn't have a distinct regional accent. Gosh, that makes no sense whatever.
10:55 am on December 5th, 2010 13
"Marmot’s Hole had a great comments thread for that one; prominently featuring an extremely chippy Canadian insisting they weren’t chippy."
No, that's not being chippy. It's what we Canadian calls "pulling your leg". We don't use guns, we tease.
10:57 am on December 5th, 2010 14
"Canadians mistook Sonagi 10 for Canadian because she doesn’t have a distinct regional accent. Gosh, that makes no sense whatever."
I believe her. I've been mistaken as American before because I've lost the lilting Maritimer accent you can hear in all its glory in The Trailer Park Boys.
12:17 pm on December 5th, 2010 15
1:05 pm on December 5th, 2010 16
Teadrinker #9, lol.
3:35 pm on December 5th, 2010 17
"We don’t use guns, we tease."
But you do use the occasional crossbow. Canadians are so Medieval sometimes.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld…
4:25 pm on December 5th, 2010 18
New Zealand: Australia's Canada
7:21 pm on December 5th, 2010 19
I've met some nice people from Canada. But it's so funny when they say that there's "free" health care in Canada. Oh, it's "free" alright.
8:00 pm on December 5th, 2010 20
#17,
Clearly, someone spent too much time watching American cable TV and not enough Hockey Night in Canada.
8:01 pm on December 5th, 2010 21
"New Zealand: Australia’s Canada"
You mean Australians dream of being New Zealanders like Americans dream of being Canadian.
8:02 pm on December 5th, 2010 22
"I’ve met some nice people from Canada. But it’s so funny when they say that there’s “free” health care in Canada. Oh, it’s “free” alright."
We don't pay any more taxes than Americans, so you could say it's free.
9:47 pm on December 5th, 2010 23
@21
xD Only a Canadian could have said that
10:03 pm on December 5th, 2010 24
#23,
Could have? I did.
4:29 am on December 6th, 2010 25
Reading the Canadian bloggers, it does seem like they are more irritable than easy going Americans.
7:24 am on December 6th, 2010 26
Wot's all this animosity toward the yokels in the West Island? They haven't even got their guns anymore…
4:43 pm on December 7th, 2010 27
Little man syndrome.