Nope, we are not anti-American. Firstly, we are pro-humanity and, secondly, we might be anti-Republican. There are alot of Americans who are anti-Republican as well. Canadians can just be more open about it as one can't really get the Jude Treatment up here -- there is less McCarthyistic pressures in Canada.

On the world scale of things, I would say Canadians are really pretty passive critics of the United States' inetrnational policies (where else have there been so few public protests about Guantanamo bay, Iraq, globalisation and military spending) and not very anti-American at all. In Europe, I have encoutered vehement anti-Americanism: directed against policies and agaiinst ordinary American people who are loathed and criticised to the point of being able to no nothing right. Most of this stems from the extraordinary policies and attitudes of the current president - but, especially since Americans re-elected him, the anger has become much more generalised.
Canadians cough politely and only with trepidation mention softwoods or beef in the presence of Americans. We know better than to tell them "9/11? Deal with it!" as people in countries with long histories of exposure to terrorism, and who have dealt with it, are more likely to say.
Canadians are just generally fairly xenophobic: they don't really like having to deal with anyone who's much different from themselves; their comfort zones are drawn pretty close to home. This can make them painfully boring and appear more ignorant than, deep down, they are.

i think that some people feel that in order to be a proud canadian, you have to insult americans... its like canada can't look good unless america is looking evil, wrong, or bad. i think that this is an attitude that is VERY similar to how people in quebec look at the rest of canada, too.... i find that most quebecers that bash english canadians haven't a clue WHY they are so upset with english canada, but they just know they should be, cause thats what makes them a real quebecer.

One thing, above others, that bothers me about Americans is that for decades their government was willfully blind to the fact that the Irish diaspora in the U.S. was sending money to the IRA to conduct terrorism against the British. How many innocent British people (regadless of how you see the politics of Northern Ireland) were killed by the IRA in Britian.

Suddenly, 911 hits and the world is supposed to fall in line behind the Georgie Bush and his war against terror. Excuse me? The rest of us have cared about terrorism for a long time. It is the Americans who are johnny-come-latelies.

I agree with the sentiment expressed above; that Canadians, generally, are anti-Republican, even anti-Bush, not anti-American. I think we know better than to condemn an entire nation for the actions of its' government or the attitudes and behaviours of some Americans. There are Canadians, after all, who support, embrace and promote the same conduct and we are not anti-Canadian as a result. We cannot judge all by the actions of a few.

We, along with most people from other nations, understand what Bush has done and why and recognize that the American people have been lied to, misled, deceived and manipulated by a greedy, self-serving, inhuman and possibly evil regime. We appreciate the Bush government attempted to deceive us and everyone else in the world similarly, but not being controlled by American propaganda and being presented with other points of view, their message did not overwhelm or silence our protest as it did and does with many Americans.

Sure, there are unfair stereotypes of Americans. Some even have some validity. But I have seen arrogant and loud and obnoxious Aussies, Brits and Canadians among other nationalities overseas as well, so these traits, often attributed to Americans are not exclusive to Americans. And there are unfair and inaccurate impressions of Canadians that many Europeans, Asians and Latins cling to as well, so how much are those stereotypes really worth? Not much.

Personally, I take people on an individual basis, not as part of a larger group. Just as I cannot judge all Christians by the remarks of some Christians in these forums, just as I cannot paint all UC members with the same brush, just as I cannot lump all atheists, agnostics, wiccans, jews, sikhs, buddhists, muslim and every other believer in the same pot, I cannot apply a dislike or opposition to all Americans.

But I do detest Gary Bettman. :D

Canadians have two basic fears:

1) we are too much like Americans
2) we are not enough like Americans

I hope we work it out someday.

I couldn't let this topic go without saying something. I am an American living in Montreal, so I have a unique perspective on the question at hand as well as the comment someone made about Quebeccers.

I'm not going to speak for any Canadians and whether or not they hate Americans, but I will say that I've found "America bashing" to bring me some popularity among Canadians I meet. I travel a lot for my job and I'm always meeting new people (Canadians) and I've found that breaking the ice with the fact that I'm an American and that Bush is an idiot pretty universally marks me as "accepted"!

Having said that, I firmly believe that the Canadians I've met don't "hate" Americans ("hate" is such a strong word), but that they have very strong feelings of opposition to the American Government... NOT the people. Of course, people know I'm an American, so maybe they hate me but they're just being polite! :) How very Canadian that'd be!

Also, someone mentioned that they tiptoe around the softwood lumber dispute with Americans. I have to let you in on a secret here.... Nobody in the States is paying attention to the softwood lumber dispute. Maybe folks in the far northern states, but I'm betting a good 90% of us would have no idea what you're talking about. I came from Chicago and only learned there was a problem after I moved here.

And as for the comment about Quebeccers, I think that there is a whole lot of misunderstanding here. When I got married, my wife (a die-hard Quebeccer, if you know what I mean) and I lived in the States. She told me all about how poorly the French were treated by the English (e.g. 1837) and if I had been allowed to vote in a referendum when I arrived in Montreal, I would have voted to separate.

But things change, don't they?! Now that I've been living here for about a year and a half, I feel the alientation of a being an English-speaking minority in a French province. I know that if I was living in a Free Quebec that I would be persecuted for being an Anglophone. I can still understand French-speaking Quebeccers wanting to protect their culture.... I understand that completely, especially since I am now a foreigner! However, I feel that purifying their culture of all foreign influences is the wrong way to do it. French-Quebeccers feel that their culture is threatened and people who are threatened have a tendancy to lash out at those from whom they are threatened. It's a debate with a very long history, but the French Canadians need to have their language and culture protected, but so do those of use who are immigrants.

Matthew.....about purification.......That's what they do in France too! Guardian of the language and life associated with it. Everything in french unlike Japanese and English language where foreign words, especially technical, are imported understood and used. Look at the English dictionary and most words have foreign source. Gk, L. fr etc.

Hey Matthew I work with a woman from Chicago maybe you know her... (heeheehee)

I think that Canadians are to Americans what Jerry Springer viewers are to Jerry Springer. We can sit back in our armchairs and watch CNN and say well we're bad but we're not that bad. We have poverty, drug problems, questionable environmental and foreign policy, etc. but not as bad as that. That way we don't have to look at ourselves. Lucky us to have Jerry living next door.

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

Anti-Bush, yes. Anti-American? No.

I do find the irony of American politics though. Americans were the ones that advocated "Make love, not war" yet as we see with Clinton and Bush the one that made love was impeached and the one that made war is still there. Boggles the mind.

Ex-Evangelical asked:
"So my question is this? Are Canadians anti-American? Are we the jealous little brother that secretly envies the bigger brother's place and role? Do we have some kind of insecurity that causes us to morally look down on "them" from our leftist perches to the north?

Or are we genuine in our concerns. "

I think Canadians are nearly across the board "anti-Bush", and the fact that Bush was re-voted into office two years ago led to some major questions about America. "How could they do that?" "How could they discount the lies, etc.?"
Are we jealous of America? I highly doubt it. Even with our problems, I truly believe Canada is a safer and freer country that the US, and we are far more protective of our privacy here. (Would a circus like Terri Shiavo happen in Canada? unlikely). Are we genuine in our concerns? Oh yes, I believe any concerns we have about the US are very genuine. We sleep next to a politically sociopathic elephant with a lot of power. When it is to US benefit that we are a friend, then we are a friend. It the opposite should happen... I hope I am never around to see it.

I ain't! I'm pro-american! I even established an American culture club at my university to celebrate and discuss American culture and politics.

I love America!

The problem is most Canadians don't understand what America really is all about. People looked at the club flag of Old Glory on display during clubs week and they'd give me a disgusted or distainful look cause the first thing that popped into their minds was Iraq and George W. Bush.

Canadians claim of American ignorance, but I have seen that the same can be said about many Canadians in regards to America.

"I think Canadians are nearly across the board "anti-Bush", and the fact that Bush was re-voted into office two years ago led to some major questions about America. "How could they do that?" "How could they discount the lies, etc.?""

About half of American is asking the same thing. The Republicans are pandering to the fundies, and they get the fundy vote.

This pandering to the fundies is the reason there is such an emphasis on constitutional amendments that are designed to take away the rights of a minority.

Even half the Republicans are anti-Bush these days. I guess the half that is smart enough to learn from their mistakes. :-)

I'm a former American living in Canada and I've heard a lot of very negative remarks about Americans, not just the govt. but the people too. It really seems like American bashing is considered ok, while if you said the same things about any other people in the world most liberal Canadians would recoil in horror. Most of the time these comments have no effect on me, in fact I can see where they are coming from. However on 9/11/01 and just afterwards, I heard so many unjustified, foolish, and naive statements about Americans deserving to be attacked that it still marks my idea of what Canadians really think when the going gets rough. Sadly, it will only take one terrorist attack on Canadian soil for people to understand that it's never right to attack ordinary citizens, that 3000 killed is not your average terrorist attack, and that it could happen anywhere to anyone.

I can't presume to speak for most Canadians, but I know I heard comments after 9/11 that 'Americans deserved it,' but I think the statement was misrepresented, misstated and misunderstood. I think what people meant was that due to American foreign policy, they understood why the US was attacked and they could understand why many would see the attacks as justified. Like the weaker kids or the kids who are different who are bullied in the playground for so long they finally snap and go and fire-bomb the bully's house, folks understood why it happened. I doubt many would seriously contend that America deserved what happened, considering the number of innocents that died, but a blow against the US in a huge and historical fashion was almost met with sympathetic understanding.

Yes, I think in an unprecedented and confusing moment many of those I was around expressed words that came from their heads, not their hearts. But even intellectually you can never justify terrorism because that just leads to an endless cycle of violence. And the thing is, if Canada were to be attacked, just as Spain or Bali was, people would see that terrorism can hit anybody in any country---it doesn't especially matter what their country's foreign policy is. The result is the same though. Pointless suffering.

Nice to see you back InsertAlais2. I thought you left.

Thank you, Change. I appreciate the acknowledgement.

I did leave for a little while, but decided to give this place another chance. There are some interesting topics and people, even if a number of the members ruin many of the discussions. Obtuse people can be ignored, of course.

I can't speak for all Canadians, but I can speak for this one.

In the last few years I have been fortunate to travel every year to different cities throughout the US. I have always found the people to be warm, friendly and engaging. Indeed most of my American friends are more negative about the US than the Canadians I know.

In 2004 we went to New Orleans, which quickly became my second favourite place on earth. The people, food, art, music and architecture were wonderful.

I cried when I watched Katrina strike that beautiful city but I was absolutely sickened by what followed. The media bias. The ineffective government. It was dispicable.

So I say that I'm pro American people and anti American politics and media*.

*I confess, I do participate in the guilty pleasure of reading Mother Jones ;-o

If Canadians are so anti Bush, and Florida is so pro Bush; why is it that in certain parts of Florida I see parking lots FULL of cars with Canadian license plates, especially from Quebec? ;-)

Interstate 95 is the main migration path between Quebec and Florida. I once went into a busy rest stop on I-95 and saw no US license plates besides mine. When I tried to talk to a few folks, they responded in French; I guess that Québécois can't speak English. In some Florida cities there are areas where the store signs are in Spanish, and in other areas the store signs are in French and have maple leaf flags.

When I am speaking with someone I do not know, unless they speak 'about' so that it rhymes with 'boot' or say 'eh' a lot; I usually don't notice that they are Canadian.

ExEvangelical,

Hi,

You asked:

Are Canadians anti-American?

Not in a down with America sense. We do use the phrase "we are not American" as a way to describe what Canadians are. Though I have no idea why, unless it is to begin making the distinction between Southern and Northern North Americans.

You also asked:

Are we the jealous little brother that secretly envies the bigger brother's place and role?

Perhaps a bit.

I think it is also fitting to discuss when Anti-American as a descriptor came into vogue.

I think it was the current sitting President who made the bald statement "If you aren't with us you are against us" which is the proverbial line in the sand.

That reasoning has lead American Mom Cindy Sheehan to be labelled un-American or Anti-American depending on the rabidity of the person you are talking to. As she is marginalized by respected Americans she is befriended by others on the outs and her reputation as un-American or Anti-American grows.

The Anti-American label is a political tool which combats the label of Bush-lite which was also a political tool and each focus on the real crux of the problem.

An American President who doesn't seem to understand that criticism can be constructed or warranted by those who care for you.

Canada took flak for being Anti-American because we didn't believe the intelligence or the spin that the American Administration presented as part of its rationale for invading Iraq.

Canada has taken a beating by our neighbours for our participation in Afghanistan even in the days when the majority of our war dead came to be that way as a result of friendly fire. And that by our neighbours to the south.

And is it really Anti-American when we are a tad annoyed at constantly being stiffed for our ability to ship softwood lumber? No. I think it is commenting that an illegal practice is patently illegal. Is it pro-American to pay the duties for the privilege of trading fairly? Depends on which Americans you ask.

Speaking personally, I am not Anti-American as I would define Anti-American. I'm sure that if you let Tony Snow weigh in on my views I would very quickly become another example of Anti-Americanism running rampant in Canada.

My two cents.

Grace and peace to you.

John

We are not anti-American we just do not like people who enjoy their own ignorance. Has anyone seen Rick Mercer's Talking with Americans? If so do I need to say more?

I'm anti-American government.
I feel bad for the people who are stuck in the USA with dumb leaders.
I'm pretty much just disappointed that I have to live beside a country that just.... is naive and makes mistakes and makes an ass out of themself.

Ok, I am Anti-American. They're just soo.....DUMB.

Saying that Americans are dumb is like saying that Christians are right wing fundamentalists.

The US has a very large problem with the Republican party right now. The Republican party used to represent political conservatives and corporate interests. The Republican party has been taken over the Christian right. A Republican who twenty years ago would have been considered to be a conservative Republican, and six years ago would have been considered to be a moderate; would now be considered to not be toeing the party line.

The Christian right is able to bring out that old time religion and translate it to votes. The Republicans use Christian right causes as wedge issues to drive the Christian right up to a froth and then the Religious right leadership leads them to the voting booth. There is a group within the Republican party called the Log Cabin Republicans who represent gay Republicans. They used to be accepted by the Republican party, now they are now shunned within the party. The really sad thing is that many of the Christian right are voting against their own economic self interests.

There reason that Clinton was impeached wasn't because he did anything especially wrong, he was impeached in an attempt to show that Democrats are immoral. This morality issue was orchestrated for the benefit of the Christian right. And the funny/sad part of this whole affair is that Clinton is a Southern Baptist!

The winners in this whole thing are corporations, right wing Christian leaders, and contemporary neo-conservatives; who fully gained power on September 11, 2001.

With the Americans voting for a Democrat majority in the House and Senate during the mid-term election, and with Bush's dismal approval rating, there is hope that many Americans have came to their senses and have stopped drinking the Christian right Kool Aid.

Ady and others on this board claim Americans are dumb because of RIk mercer's taking to Americans.

Well I hate to break it to you, but that is only a sliver of what America is really all about. If I only looked at Canada throw the eyes of television, then I would see they are coffee fans and don't do much else with their lives except complain.

I created a club at my university for anyone who enjoyed or was from America. I had a couple of Americans in my club and they were intelligent people. I have traveled to America and some small towns, and I have found them to be wonderfully helpful people.

Most Canadians don't really know what America is really all about, just what they see in the Media, and that is not the be all and end all of America. Some of you claim America is ignorant of Canada, well give them a reason to be interested. It's not unusual for people not to bother with things unless they are important.

Do the research as I did! There was a culture caravan week where my club had a booth in the UCC and a map, pictures, and sound bite s of speeches, famous American pop icons and important moments in history being played for those who passed by. Some students actually were interested in finding out what the real America is all about!

Americians are like a loud mouth, policially incorrect relative that we love to visit.

Ex-evangelic I would say we are pretty much the same as the Americans, You ask how could they vote Bush in again. I ask how could anyone vote Liberal again after being hosed and lied to?

Jonas: That's a good one. :-)

Don't forget to bring your passport if you fly. You can blame Bush for that.

matthew That is rather scary when someone talks about purefying their language and race. Didnt Hitler have the same idea?

Jonas I happen to like president Bush. What leader doesnt make mistakes? I do believe that president Bush loves his country.

scifi-queen; I checked out CBC's Rick Mercer web site. Does anybody CARE if this guy likes GW Bush? Is the Rick Mercer Report a satire (like The Colbert Report)?

"Next on Rick Mercer Report: Rick gets tank-driving lessons at the Canadian Forces Base near Edmonton, and then he heads to the University of Alberta to play women's volleyball."

"Vancouver: When you think SARS ... think of us!"

A. question, does anyone posting here NOT have a relative or aquaintance in the US.
I don't think a person has to be either pro or anti American.
I think we can pick the things we like and the things we hate quite well thank you, as I am sure they do with us.
We are certainly to better than them, pretty much the same actually.

If Canadians were anti-American, why would Canadian divers and other rescue workers get to New Orleans days or weeks ahead of the American Government's aid workers? Our rural community sent a tractor-trailer load of stuff of all kinds to New Orleans that fall, stuff they indicated they needed.
Same Americans are AH but so are some Canadians. Americans tend to be more generous on a personal level than Canadians at the same time as being more reluctant to be generous on a government level. Their environmental laws, for the most part, were way ahead of Canada's--16 years ago the owner of an autobody shop told me he wished our laws were as strict so he would not be pressured financially into using solvent based paints and finishes, a choice that would be better for his employees and the environment. Without level playing field environmental legislation, he could not compete if he was to use the safe materials.
I must admit, as much as I dislke Bush and most American foreign polcy over the last 55 years, I am uncomfortable with the degree of ridicule American leaders get in Canada. I fear it undermines our abiilty to fully appreciate what is really happening and lulls us into underestimating them at the same time.

Sylviac, you were very observant to pick up on my "purification" remark. I often argue (and my French Canadian wife frowns everytime I do) that the purification of the French culture in Quebec has the same goal as that of Hitler with the single BIG (enormous... HUGE!) exception that Quebeccers are not using violence to achieve their ends. (And even when they do - as in the case of the FLQ - it isn't anywhere near to the scale as the Holocaust).

Also, as an American, I think teasing Americans about electing Bush again (*I* didn't vote for him!) and calling us "dumb" is coming very close to crossing a line.

I'm very pro american. just to prove it, I have submerged my admiration for George Bush to stand with the majority of Americans in condemning him. Or does disliking Bush make me anti american?

Mind you, I think they shouldn't have invaded us in 1775 abd 1912, Does that make me anti american?

I think they were right to be angry because of Pearl Harbour. Does that make me pro american?

I think they were wrong to bomb Hiroshima. Does that make me anti american?

I love Arizon. Does that make me pro american?

hate New York. Does that make me anti american?

graeme

I can't believe it. I taught Canadian history for 36 years, including Canadian military history. And I said the US invaded us in 1912. Damn. Any fool knows it was 1913.

graeme

Anti Republican - yes
Anti Jerry Fallwell - yes
Anti Pat Roberston - yes
Anti Pat Buchanan - yes
Anti Fox news - you bet ya
Anti Operation Rescue - yep
Anti Iraq War - yes

Anti American - NO

Jimmy Carter is a great guy, Bill Clinton was good President and he continues to do good work. The US Constitution (although rarely respected these days in their own country) is a great document. We could learn a thing or two from California when it comes to environmental standards and from the ACLU when it comes to fighting in court to protect free speech.

I think that America can be great again; they need to renew themselves. They have started with their Congress, they get a chance to continue next year.

Holden

graeme; The US declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812 (it was the first war the the US congress had declared). I understand that the US invaded Canada because Canada was a British territory.

The late Pierre Trudeau once said "Canada sharing the same continent with the United States is like a mouse going to bed with an elephant. No matter how well intentioned the elephant, the mouse is profoundly affected by every twitch and fart."

We Canadians may not know what we are but we do know what we are not.