Just imagine if Canada were the 51st state. You'd never be able to get the Democrats out of the Whitehouse. :)

I'm a Canadian and I'm ashamed of my government. I think that a majority of us agree that Canada was enriched by the inflow of Americans who sought refuge here during the Vietnam war, and the general population supports American war resisters' claims for refugee status. Unfortunately, the Harper administration doesn't feel the same way, and tales of Canadian police knocking on doors on behalf of the U.S. military are not new here. Trust me: if Canada continues to blindly obey the policies of the United States, I plan to give up my citizenship and take residence elsewhere. I'm sick of being ashamed to say that I'm Canadian.

More Harper bashing, bah.

I disagree with the US interference here, especially the ongoing extradition process against Marc Emery for doing something (selling marijuana seeds) in Canada that isn't even illegal here! But saying you'll give up your citizenship and move elsewhere is as whiny as those liberals who said they'll move up to Canada if Bush got re-elected. And it's harder than you think.

I'm not ashamed to say I'm Canadian, and I don't think you should be either, Ms Madox. As a matter of fact, it's our honour to be in the position to do something about the government policies we don't like! Write your MLA expressing support of AWOL US soldiers! Campaign against Steven Harper, decry his various policies you don't agree with! Just don't give up without even trying.

What a strange statement! I could be in Canada in an hour, yet I have no desire or reason to go there - yet you seem to to despise America, yet seemingly come here often?

I wonder why?

Canadians like you show very little knowedge of America - often as you benefit from our very presence. You say America is backwards?

I live in Manhattan and often stay in LA - I doubt you have any cities as modern and cosmopolitan as either of those two towns - yet here you hating on my country - if were were African or Latino, you'd be labeled a racist.

But we're only Americans...

Hating America is as foolish as saying we have no "cites as modern and cosmopolitan as" NYC and LA. And I hardly think those are representative of the country as a whole.

However, the Canadian cities of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are wonderfully modern and cosmopolitan, and over a third our population lives in them.

Is it any wonder that people all over the world hate Americans when so many have these arrogant attitudes? I ony wish that the US was the 11th province of Canada. We would then have universal health care, good universites with $5,000 per year tuition, paid maternity/paternity leave, sane drug laws, a strong union movement, a more efficient parliamentary government where the head of the largest party can actually get legislation passed without fear of a presidential veto (such as universal health care), and a government that is not perpetually at war to enrich a oligarchical elite. A rich country in which people have to worry about losing their house if their children get sick, while health insurance executives are paid million dollar bonuses to deny claims cannot claim to be a civilized country.

... That being said, I would never want to live in the US. Every time I cross the border, I can't wait to get back to Canada. The image of the US as violent and backwards is, in many ways, absolutely true. And what passes for political dialogue in the US is horrifying....

Yay. Flamebait. I've gone to the States several times, and I wouldn't call them violent or backward. Just... weird. Offputting, I guess. It's all the little differences, like the gun culture. The first time I saw a billboard just saying "God Bless This Country" freaked me out a little. And seeing the American flag everywhere puts me off, simply because it's not my flag.

But I do have to agree with you about the political dialogue. I can't stand to watch American political shows.

Of course, it may not if the Harper government remains in power much longer....

And of course the Harper-bashing comes in. Given that we're a defacto one-party state, I'm not entirely sure we have the right to bash the US political system.

Well, okay, we still do. :)

"Canada...is just the 51st state of the U.S. and always has been."

It's this type of arrogance and blatant disregard for the most basic of world histories that infuriates not only Canadians but the world at large. You wonder why people all over the world despise you? The sentiment expressed by this post is your proof.

Open up your eyes a little bit, and you'll see there's a whole world out there...it's not that hard you know. C'mon...give it a try sometime!

I'm not going to do a point by point rebuttal, as a lot of your post comes off as flame-bait, but...

1.)Canada hasn't historically treated its aboriginals any better than the U.S. has treated its minorities.

Well... we didn't enslave them. But I'm willing to bet our reservation system and all the free money coming from the federal government has contributed to the situation we have today, which is hella worse than you guys treat your minorities now. Not that the Indians aren't in part complicit in the matter. For something scary, Google "Davis Inlet". How the fuck did that happen in Canada?

Now this is the part that actually bugs me:

Furthermore, a great deal of your economic prosperity you owe to trade with the U.S., your best students all study here, far more of your citizens move here than the reverse, you import huge quantities of consumer goods and raw materials from the U.S., the reason you haven't historically needed a large military to defend the world's second largest amount of territory is that you always had the luxury of knowing that no one would dare f**k with you for fear of pissing off your rather formidable ally to the south, CAN-CON regulations aside much of your culture is derivative of American culture, etc. Canada wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is without the U.S., and you know it.

We're each other's largest trading partners. Even now. More stuff (money and goods) comes from to the US from Canada than China, and still by a big margin. And sure, a lot of our brightest people do go to the States, and our musicians and movie stars go down there to make big names for themselves. Can you blame them? But either country wouldn't be nearly successful without the other.

And by the way, I apologize for any Canadians with that "smug, self-righteous attitude". It is a huge problem in Canada. I suspect it's a side-effect from being a small power (only 30 million people, after all) next to the world's only superpower, and perhaps a little subconscious worrying that we really are Americans. We're not, but I don't think "Canadians know how to make love in a canoe" really helps out the country anymore.