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Our American obsession
What do we think of Canada? When we think of them at all...
What do they think of us?
Well, neocon or liberal, the truth is -- not much
In all the unabashed self-celebration this Canada Day weekend, thoughts turn easily to our national obsessions: universal health care, bilingualism, the social safety net and of course, the United States.
I went to the Canada Day celebration at the embassy on Saturday. I didn't notice any of those obsessions. I saw lots of very nice people eating pancakes and sausage (the ambassador was one of the cooks), listening to a band called Calgary Stampede, and enjoying a pleasant day. The theme was Alberta, though, so maybe if the theme had been Ottawa I'd have seen the obsessions.
Whether we're worrying about frank-talking Canadian ambassadors "tarnishing" our relations with the U.S., or what some American newspaper or broadcaster has said about us, there are few things more fundamentally Canadian than our abiding fixation with the U.S.A. Few things more genuinely Canuck than our unending preoccupation with the opinions of that elephant across the border. Few things more revealing.
I was very comfortable floating in a sea of Canucks. They reminded me of the Americans of the long lost days of my youth, before it became fashionable to have an attitude...
About both countries.
Posted by: Fred 2006-07-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=157976