About yesterday's topic, the story in the print version of Maclean's about the ex-patriate American who started a support group because Canadians are "unfriendly"....First, it's still not online; sorry about that.
And now for the more important, "pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-curtain" element of that story. The subject interviewed assumes that only Bush-haters are welcome in Canada. The only people Canadians might want as friends are those who want to apologize for their country. What's more, the reporter assumed the same damn thing.
Roy says that's the underlying belief in the story because the story comes from Vancouver, a notoriously liberal city. British Columbia is the California of Canada, and Vancouver is the Granola Capital of Canada. Like Seattle except without the dot-com money, like Hollywood except without any of that stardust money.
Still, Vancouver is also home to the Fraser Institute, an extremely conservative think tank. And Vancouver doesn't represent the entire country, a point that the article does make, to its credit.
From my perspective in what is called "Central Canada," this country has its share of thoughtful people. People who can, for example, dislike Bush for his cowboy petulant elitism and hotdogging sanctimonious faux piety, yet agree that military solutions are the best option for addressing terrorist attacks. Dare I say it, there are probably also people in Canada, just as there are in the U.S., who don't dislike Bush--who may even be big Bush fans.
After all, the Prime Minister is a conservative Christian most recently from Alberta, the Texas of Canada, who wants to cut government programs (such as daycare) and put money back into the pockets of ordinary Canadians (but not enough to pay for private daycare or stay home to care for the kids). The Prime Minister also shuts down debate about Canada's role in Afghanistan by saying that any discussion undermines the mission. He uses rhetorical tricks to paint the opposition as anti-soldier, anti-military, anti-patriotic, and "soft on terror."
Sound familiar? It should. "Steve," as President Bush likes to call Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is one of Bush's best buddies, especially now that "Yo, Blair" left the frat house after his early graduation and "Pooty-Poot" Putin is now obviously insane.
Canada also has its share of people who enjoy a growing economy and try to stay as far away as possible from thinking about difficult issues. You know, like Americans. However, the Prime Minister formed his government from a weak position--he didn't receive the majority of votes (much like Bush in his first term), so he has to govern by coalition with other political parties. Although the opposition parties have given him a fairly easy ride to date (much like the U.S. Democrats in Bush's first term), they are keeping a weather eye on him.
And I like to think the Canadian people have less tolerance for the either-or, for-us-or-agin-us kind of grandstanding that Bush has turned into an art form. Even the conservatives. Even those Canadians who might not require a "Yeah, but I totally hate Bush" statement as a condition of friendship. None of whom Maclean's interviewed for an article about unfriendly Canadians. Which would have made a more interesting story.
