Updated: April 1, 2003
Anti-American? What about anti-Canadianism?
Dimitry Anastakis, MSU Visiting Fulbright Scholar
Toronto Star, Op/Ed piece, March 27, 2003 http://www.torontostar.ca/NASApp/cs...geid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1035779954917
The recent criticism by some in the Canadian government of the U.S. administration and its policy toward Iraq has sent the usual suspects scurrying to denounce "rampant anti-Americanism" in Canada.
What is obscured by this frenzy of condemnation of anti-Americanism is that there is a very vocal minority in this country who are so pro-American, so enamoured by the current U.S. administration, that they have essentially become anti-Canadians. Any criticism directed toward U.S. policy is seen as the highest betrayal of their usually right-wing, pro-U.S. ideals.
In fact, criticism of Canada has been so consistent and pointed by certain elements in this country that what might be termed a loose anti-Canadian party has emerged. The anti-Canadian party has its own newspapers, its own spokespeople, even its own party in the House of Commons.
The anti-Canadians simply don't like Canada because it is so unlike the U.S. in so many ways and lament the fact that we are not in lockstep with the U.S. on all aspects of our foreign and domestic policies.
Any Canadian policy that deviates even slightly from the American model comes under attack. Universal health care? Privatize it. Gun control? Trash it. Kyoto? We can't implement it if the U.S. hasn't.
When it comes to the war on terrorism, Canadians may be on the front lines in Afghanistan, but the anti-Canadians are ashamed and mortified by Canada's unwillingness to join George Bush's invasion of Iraq. In the U.S. during times of crisis, politicians of all stripes rally around the president. In Canada, the anti-Canadians rally around the president, too.
Alliance Leader Stephen Harper describes Jean Chrétien's stance as "gutless, embarrassing and cowardly," while Alberta Premier Ralph Klein writes to the U.S. ambassador to Canada, saying that "the president and your nation have exemplified leadership. This leadership has earned the deepest respect of many, many Albertans."
The anti-Canadians are always looking for the worst, celebrating Canada's failures, whether real or perceived. The National Post, the most virulent right-wing newspaper in Canadian history, is rife with anti-Canadianism. The paper's editorial policy has been described as "Canada sucks," never missing a chance to point out its "inadequacies."
They see the "brain drain" not as a worldwide phenomenon (ask India about the impact of losing their best people to America), but solely as evidence of Canada's undesirability versus the U.S.
Try as it might, the Post's search for a Canadian link to the 9/11 terrorist attacks did not yield any results.
Harper and his party are another bastion of anti-Canadianism.
Their toadyism toward America is only barely outmatched by their disdain for Canada.
Remember, Harper is a "national" leader who once said that "Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status ..."
A recent Ipsos-Reid poll shows that Alliance supporters are five times more likely to agree that Canada "should become more like the United States" than the average Canadian.
There is nothing wrong with admiring another nation and its achievements. There are many great and wonderful things about America that all Canadians should appreciate and celebrate.
But in their rush to defend another country, a few Canadians have sadly become the very thing they condemn — shrill and unfair critics of a great nation.
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Dimitry Anastakis, Ph.D., is a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Michigan State University.
Anti-American? What about anti-Canadianism?
Dimitry Anastakis, MSU Visiting Fulbright Scholar
Toronto Star, Op/Ed piece, March 27, 2003 http://www.torontostar.ca/NASApp/cs...geid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1035779954917
The recent criticism by some in the Canadian government of the U.S. administration and its policy toward Iraq has sent the usual suspects scurrying to denounce "rampant anti-Americanism" in Canada.
What is obscured by this frenzy of condemnation of anti-Americanism is that there is a very vocal minority in this country who are so pro-American, so enamoured by the current U.S. administration, that they have essentially become anti-Canadians. Any criticism directed toward U.S. policy is seen as the highest betrayal of their usually right-wing, pro-U.S. ideals.
In fact, criticism of Canada has been so consistent and pointed by certain elements in this country that what might be termed a loose anti-Canadian party has emerged. The anti-Canadian party has its own newspapers, its own spokespeople, even its own party in the House of Commons.
The anti-Canadians simply don't like Canada because it is so unlike the U.S. in so many ways and lament the fact that we are not in lockstep with the U.S. on all aspects of our foreign and domestic policies.
Any Canadian policy that deviates even slightly from the American model comes under attack. Universal health care? Privatize it. Gun control? Trash it. Kyoto? We can't implement it if the U.S. hasn't.
When it comes to the war on terrorism, Canadians may be on the front lines in Afghanistan, but the anti-Canadians are ashamed and mortified by Canada's unwillingness to join George Bush's invasion of Iraq. In the U.S. during times of crisis, politicians of all stripes rally around the president. In Canada, the anti-Canadians rally around the president, too.
Alliance Leader Stephen Harper describes Jean Chrétien's stance as "gutless, embarrassing and cowardly," while Alberta Premier Ralph Klein writes to the U.S. ambassador to Canada, saying that "the president and your nation have exemplified leadership. This leadership has earned the deepest respect of many, many Albertans."
The anti-Canadians are always looking for the worst, celebrating Canada's failures, whether real or perceived. The National Post, the most virulent right-wing newspaper in Canadian history, is rife with anti-Canadianism. The paper's editorial policy has been described as "Canada sucks," never missing a chance to point out its "inadequacies."
They see the "brain drain" not as a worldwide phenomenon (ask India about the impact of losing their best people to America), but solely as evidence of Canada's undesirability versus the U.S.
Try as it might, the Post's search for a Canadian link to the 9/11 terrorist attacks did not yield any results.
Harper and his party are another bastion of anti-Canadianism.
Their toadyism toward America is only barely outmatched by their disdain for Canada.
Remember, Harper is a "national" leader who once said that "Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status ..."
A recent Ipsos-Reid poll shows that Alliance supporters are five times more likely to agree that Canada "should become more like the United States" than the average Canadian.
There is nothing wrong with admiring another nation and its achievements. There are many great and wonderful things about America that all Canadians should appreciate and celebrate.
But in their rush to defend another country, a few Canadians have sadly become the very thing they condemn — shrill and unfair critics of a great nation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dimitry Anastakis, Ph.D., is a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Michigan State University.
