Would this sort out the America vs Canada issue on Goanet? It's from
Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org ) where they advocate a NPOV, or
neutral point of view. FN
Canada
In Canada, Anti-American sentiment can first be traced to the American
Revolution. French Canadians felt that the mainly Protestant thirteen
colonies would never recognize French culture and the Catholic religion,
and Aboriginal groups feared the loss of the protection they had been
granted through treaties with Britain. When the rebelling colonies tried
to invade Quebec and "liberate" their neighbors by force, some Canadians
began to think Americans were arrogant, violent, and dangerous. These
feelings were only reinforced by the sudden migration of thousands of
United Empire Loyalists from the thirteen colonies.
During the War of 1812, Canadians' fears were suddenly realized when an
American force invaded Upper Canada. Many people died, and to this day
many Canadians feel the Americans lost the war, but are too proud to
admit they could ever lose to Canada (even though the US was fighting
against Britain, and Canada as a distinct identity did not exist at the
time, and the generally accepted result of the war is status quo ante
bellum).
In fact, the American threat was one of the reasons that Canada was
formed in 1867. After many attacks against Canada by the Fenian
Brotherhood stationed in the US, and the expansion of the US westwards,
Canadian and British authorities felt their land was threatened. These
fears were not unfounded as the American government was then pursuing a
program of Manifest Destiny. Since Confederation, Canadians have never
forgotten the perceived American threat to Canadian culture.
A feeling of companionship with the US arose during World War I and World
War II that brought Canada and the US closer together politically and
economically. The formation of NATO, NORAD, and NAFTA cemented this
relationship.
Today, few Canadians would consider themselves "Anti-American", but more
might call themselves anti-American-government, although Canadians
jokingly refer to the supposed ignorance of Americans about foreign
culture, especially Canada. Many Canadians have more liberal attitudes
than most Americans, and consequently they consider certain American
views on the welfare state, feminism, abortion, capital punishment,
relations with Cuba, the environment, same-sex rights, the war on drugs,
immigration, the "Star Wars" program, and the war in Iraq as either too
conservative or an overreaction.
As former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once remarked on
relations with the United States, "Living next to you is in some ways
like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered
is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and
grunt." Virtually all Canadians partake in American culture; the most
popular television programs, movies, and music in Canada are frequently
American. However, mostly good-natured deriding of Americans permeates
Canadian culture; the massively popular Canadian TV show Talking To
Americans is evidence of this phenomenon, as are Canadians beer
commercials, in which Americans are often the butt of the joke. Since in
such culture Canadians are often comparing themselves favorably to
Americans, whereas Americans generally don't compare themselves with
Canadians at all, this is viewed as an inferiority complex by some.
Recently, Canada and the US have also argued incessantly over economic
issues such as the soft-wood lumber trade issue, where a large tariff is
imposed on Canadian manufacturers- with no regard to the NAFTA regulaions
that prohibit the tariffs. Another issue is the Alberta beef
/ mad cow case, where the US has stopped the import of beef because of
cases of mad cow, and is slow to reopen the border.
[edit]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-American_sentiment_in_various_countries
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Frederick (FN) Noronha | Freelance Journalist | Mobile +91 9822 122436
Tel +91.832.2409490 | http://fn.swiki.net | http://www.bytesforall.net
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