The Shadow is Merely a Perception
Like the little sibling that grew up in the shadow of an overachieving older brother, Canada has long been overlooked for its accomplishments and innovations as a nation. Every milestone reached is dulled in importance because America got there first. Every achievement is dwarfed by America's voluminous triumphs. Unassuming, with a self-depreciating sense of humor, Canada seems like an awkward, albeit likeable, oversized teenager compared to big brother's All-American charm.
The reality is that America takes Canada for granted. He uses Canada when it suits him and then refuses credit where it is due, choosing instead to demean him. Sometimes he even passes off Canada's work as his own, while propagating the erroneous belief that Canada is a more passive, drunker version of America. What America doesn't seem to realize is just how much he needs his little brother, and that he is not always better at everything.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once told U.S. officials that "living next to you is in some ways like [a mouse] sleeping with an elephant". The animals get along fine, he explained, but the mouse feels every little movement made by the bigger beast, and must always be aware, in case it rolls over, while the elephant hardly even realizes that the mouse is there.
Blissfully ignorant in his self-centered view on the world, America's predominant attitude towards his little brother is a dichotomy of condescension, both deliberate and inadvertent. On the one hand, there are those who very clearly look down on Canada. Some of the more educated amongst them criticize the north for being too liberal- almost socialist, they might say- while others question the validity of the country. "Why does Canada even matter?" More than an embarrassing reminder to Canadians of their terribly lop-sided relationship, that question represents an alarming lack of awareness on the part of Americans as to their own political allegiances and economy.
On the other hand are the people who claim to like Canada, and characterize it as clean and friendly. It presents a weird combination of endorsement and patronization, as they talk about Canada in an "isn't that cute" kind of way. MSNBC talk show host and right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson put this sentiment into words a few years ago: "Canada is a sweet country. It's like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously."
Therein lies one of the greatest problems. No matter how "nice" little brother is, at some point he's going to become indignant about the way big brother treats him. Some wold say that Canada, like the younger sibling it seems to be, yearns to be more like America- to emulate his every move. While evidence would suggest that this isn't entirely true (let us take into account Canada's insistence upon using the metric system, ongoing ties to the British monarchy* and a highly distinctive foreign policy, for example), psychology would suggest that this behavior is, in fact, more of a manifestation of a desire to be recognized, accepted, and respected as a full-capable individual rather than a desire to be just like big brother.
Let's be honest. We are not talking about a poor, developing nation. Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations, a member of the group of Eight, the second largest country in the world (landmass, not population), with the earth's greatest renewable freshwater supply. Canada is the planet's largest producer of zinc and uranium and is a world leader in may other natural resources, including gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; and is the second largest source of oil in the world after Saudi Arabia.
More importantly to big brother, Canada is the United States' single most significant trade partner. Exports to Canada constitute over 20 percent of all goods leaving the United States, almost double what goes to Mexico, and if you thought that "everything" in the USA was made in China, you'd be sorely mistaken. More than 15 percent of U.S. imports come from Canada, a scant 0.8 percent less than what comes from China. And there's another Canadian resource that America has imported en masse: people. The brain drain began in the late 1800's and peaked in the 1990's as highly skilled professionals in all fields flocked south of the 49th parallel to pursue unique opportunities, higher paid positions and lower income taxes. This has resulted in an inordinate amount of Canadians and their achievements that are claimed as Americans.
For example, "America's First Movie Star", silent-movie actress Florence Lawrence was actually Canadian, as was "America's Sweeheart", Mary Pickford. Basketball is a treasured American sport that was invented in Massachussetts, yes, but by Canadian James Naismith. Thomas Edison actually bought the patent for the light bulb from Canadian Henry Woodward (to be fair, the end result was somewhat changed from the original design), and a couple years ago the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was caught using a photo of picturesque Lake Louise (in Alberta's Banff National Park) as the main mast on their website.
More often, Canadians are merely assumed to be American out of ignorance. This is especially evident when it comes to actors and recording artists. These include emerging stars like Ellen Page and Michael Cera of Juno; funny-men such as Seth Rogen, Jim Carrey and Mike Myers; TV heavy-hitters like Elisha Cuthbert and Keifer Sutherland of 24; movie leads like Ryan Reynolds and Rachel McAdams; and artists known around the world like Nickelback, Michael Buble, Neil Young and Avril Lavigne. In fact, a great deal of the American entertainment business is based north of the border. Vancouver, British Columbia is the third largest film and television production center in North America, behind Los Angeles and New York. Series like Smallville and Supernatural are based there, while movies are constantly shooting in the metropolitan and surrounding area, including the cult-favorite Twilight series.
While it would be easy to bury Canadian achievements with a mountain of those credited to America, it should be remembered that Canada only has a fraction of the population base that America has. Canada has also been an independent nation for almost a century less. On the Fortune 500 list for 2009 there are 140 American companies, significantly more than the 14 Canadian companies that made the cut. However, that is almost directly proportionate to the population of each country. With well over 300 million citizens, America has ten times the population of Canada's 33 million residents. So while Americans blew Canada out of the water when it comes to the number of medals clinched at the most recent summer and winter Olympics (135 to 42), Canada actually took home far more on a per capita basis. This is especially true with the Turin games of 2006, in which Americans took home 25 medals, just one more than Canada (and how about Vancouver 2010, where Canada secured more gold than any other country?) While size of the Olympic teams may not be much different, it stands to reason that a pool of 300 million potential athletes is somewhat more advantageous when it comes to finding natural talent and high caliber skill than is a pool of 30 million.
What Canada lacks in quantity of achievements or contributions on the world scale, it more than makes up for in quality. Canadian doctors and scientists are responsible for the discover of insulin, the invention of the heart pacemaker, and the Canadarm on the Space Shuttle, to name just a few. Canadian inventors had huge roles in the creation of IMAX, cable TV and the telephone. Canadian Lorne Michaels co-created Saturday Night Live, one of the longest-running network programs in American television history and Canadian James Cameron directed Titanic, the highest grossing movie of all time, at over $1.8 billion (yah, it was surpassed... by another James Cameron flick, Avatar), for which he won an Oscar. Another one of the 11 Oscars the film claimed was Best Original song for "My Heart Will Go On", which was sung by (surprise, surprise), another Canadian: Celine Dion. Dion is not only one of the best selling female artists in the world, but one of the most prolific artists of all time, with record sales of over 250 million. Canadian composer Howard Shore also won multiple Oscars for the scores he created for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, all of which are also amongst the highest grossing movies ever made.
The idea of quality over quantity is exemplified over and over again in professional sports. Canada can claim less than two dozen current major league baseball player; one of them in 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau. There are just four Canadians in the NBA, but the Phoenix Sun's Steve Nash won the league MVP in both 2005 and 2006 and was the runner up in 2007. Canadian (and BYU grad) Mike Weir won the 2003 Masters tournament in golf. French Canadian Georges St. Pierre is a UFC welterweight champion. Diver Alexandre Depatie made it into the Guiness Book of World Records for becoming world diving champion for the first time at age 13. Sprinter Donovan Bailey held the world record in 100 meters from 1996-1999. The owner and rider of Big Ben, Seabiscuit's jockey Red Pollard, and Russell Baze, the second winningest jockey in history, are all Canadians as well. The list goes on and on.
Canada also regularly ranks higher than America on the United Nation's Human Development Index (in 2009 Canada is number 4 while the U.S. placed 13th). The violent crime rate is 10 times lower per capita in Canada, and Canada's residents live longer, healthier lives, while paying less than half as much ($2163 versus $4,887 in 2001) for health-related services, even with the "extraordinary" taxes for the "socialist" health care system. Wealth disparity is an issue in both countries, but while the top 10 percent of Americans possess 80 percent of all financial assets in the country, it is slightly less polarized in Canada, with the top 10 percent possessing just 58 percent. Roughly one in eight families in Canada is worth $1 million or more. Per capita personal debt in America is almost double what it is in Canada, and after adjusting for currency and purchasing power, the average Canadian household actually has a higher net worth ($122,260 versus $93,100). In America, nearly 50% of all marriages end in divorce, as compared to just 38 percent in Canada.
Then there's the one thing that Canadians can claim to the undisputed upper hand in (even though Americans would claim to not care one iota): Hockey. Out of 30 National Hockey League teams, just six are located in Canada, but Canadians represent over 52 percent of the players in the league, with their colleagues coming from about 20 other countries. Canadians dominate the records in the league, with players like Martin Brodeur, the goaltender with the most NHL wins, and the "Great One", Wayne Gretsky, who holds the most NHL scoring records.
In the end, however, it's not a matter of superiority. Love and Pride for one's country should not constitute a feeling of supremacy. There are, admittedly, many ways in which Canada will never measure up to big brother, but every once in a while America could use a good dose of modesty and genuine appreciation for his neighbor and sibling.
* Canada is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of England is also the Queen of Canada. She is the head of state. If you understand anything about how England functions as a country, you will understand that this does NOT mean that Canada is ruled by England. Like England, Canada has an independent parliamentary structure, featuring a House of Commons and a Senate. The Queen is more of a figurehead. Her signature is required to formalize any bills, and pass anything into law, but she has literally only once or twice exercised her veto power.
"...we've got to be humble. If we're an arrogant nation, they (others) will view us that way, but if we're a humble nation, they'll respect us." That was said by George W. Bush, and although you could say he didn't seem to believe it, I agree with what he said. I very much enjoyed reading this. It's nice to take a step back and appreciate what others around the world have done and their accomplishments. If I'm not mistaken, the United States imports more oil from Canada than it does any other country. I don't think you could really overstate the importance of the U.S.-Canadian friendship to the United States. By that, I mean the actual importance, not the lesser importance we sometimes give it in the States.
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