|
I think America likes to push everyone around it certainly managed to push tony blair in the UK
around, i think they just see them selves as bigger and better than everyone else, when really it is
not the case, yes they have a lot of great points but like people so do a lot of other countries of
a smaller size.
I think the problem is to much is judged on size when in reality all places should be seen as having
its own good points and bad.
I personally think Canada is lovely even though i have never been there, buy long to, everyone i
have talked to from Canada has been lovely, and i cant say the same for America and if i could
choose to live anywhere in the world other than the UK i would be begging to live in Canada lol.
Simple because i think Canadians are a lot more down to earth than the Americans. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Canada is an independent nation and should be respected as one by the U.S and other nations |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
The United States tries to push Canada around, but thankfully our government has a history of
withstanding this pressure, even though the population of the US is nearly ten times that of Canada.
Few people know, but we actually have a history of withstanding pressure from successive American
governments. For example, the late John Diefenbaker, a Progressive Conservative (PC) prime minister,
had very poor relations with John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy tried to get the PC government involved
in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Dief implied that the US was lying about the presence of Soviet
missiles, by asking that the UN investigate the matter before any action is taken. Dief, like many
in the PC Party, remained a big fan of Britain and wanted to stengthen ties with the "mother
country," instead of developing stronger relations with the Americans.
Canada also remained ambivalent about the Vietnam War, although Lester Pearson's Liberal government
was much less confrontational than "Dief the Chief" had been. Pierre Trudeau, however, was another
matter--his relations with the US were rather cool, to say the least, and the fact that he visited
Cuba in 1976 and was filmed shouting "Viva Cuba" during his visit did not help one bit. Trudeau's
relations with Reagan were also dismal and the Canadian prime minister showed his disdain for his
American counterpart. Trudeau's relationship with Nixon was even worse, especially after the
Canadian government decided to officially recognize China's Communist regime and set up stronger
diplomatic relations in 1969.
The most recent examples of confrontation with the US occured under Prime Minister Jean Chretien's
Liberal government, when Canada refused to send troops to Iraq and when Chretien's personal aid
called Bush a moron. After this provoked a storm of controversy, Chretien went on television and
told viewers how he "didn't think that President Bush is a moron at all." Then when Paul Martin
became prime minister in 2003, he proved to be even more vocal when it came to the issue of softwood
lumber; Martin regularly criticized the Bush administration in public forums, with one Liberal MP
going as far as to take a Bush doll, only to crush it on the floor under her shoes, on national
television.
Canada has been able to withstand US pressure thanks to the rise of English-Canadian nationalism in
the 1960s, which tended to be left-wing, populist, socially liberal and pacifist. Dief, Pearson and
Trudeau were all Canadian nationalists. Unfortunately, these days English Canadian nationalism
essentially revolves around standing in endless lines at Tim Horton's to buy a coffee and a donut,
waving a flag around on July 1st and watching the hockey game. A new wave of economic nationalism
would serve Canada very well, and we should continue to follow an independent foreign policy. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
30 Apr 2008 21:28
Sign In
For and Against Recent Activity
