Canadians Growing Distant From Americans

Macleans year end poll find this...

What a difference a year can make. Our 2002 year-end poll indicates that, far from drawing closer together, Canadians are expressing a growing desire to chart a distinct path, independent of our neighbours to the south. Over the past year, we have seen the number of Canadians who describe the United States as "family" or "best friends" shrink by a third -- to only one in five -- as the vast majority have come to characterize our relationship as either "friends, but not especially close" or "cordial but distant." Similarly, since we last asked this question in 1999, the percentage who believe we are "mainly" or "essentially" different from Americans has grown to a significant majority of 57 per cent.

We also see a solid sentiment that the United States is acting like a bully and a majority who fear that "we are losing our independence to the United States." In policy terms, these underlying beliefs have created a population that is unconvinced that Iraq warrants attack; that has serious misgivings about supporting our allies in any assault on Saddam Hussein done outside the sanction of the United Nations; and that is unprepared to follow the U.S. lead in rejecting the Kyoto accord.

I am not sure I see an anti-American sentiment appearing right now across Canada but as the United States swings more to the right politically and ideologically, it distances us even more. Even Canada's right is probably more liberal than most Democrats. It just makes us uncomfortable.

Alan Gregg goes on to summarize with this,

Sept. 11 did not change Canadians' basic character. On the contrary, it seems to have reminded us of our unique heritage, while at the same time opening our eyes to a world we barely knew. Most importantly, it has reconnected us with the true sense of who we are. We are North Americans, in taste and temperament. But our values are uniquely our own. Our readiness to embrace diversity, at home and around the globe, makes us distinct from other inhabitants of our continent. In fact, part of the expression of this new nationalism is the epiphany that the movies we watch and the hamburgers we eat are not what define us as a nation. Our values do. And as our horizons have broadened, we have gained a renewed confidence and courage to face our responsibilities to a changing world, on our own terms.