The Vancouver Scrum

Try a little anti-Canadianism on for size...

Are you tired of the constant accusation that Canadians and their government are a bunch of sniveling anti-Americans? Actually, I don't really care what you think. Seems, though, that I'm not the only one who's a wee bit pissed off at the suggestions from some quarters that any disagreement with the poicies of the current U.S. administration equates to anti-Americanism. Dimitry Anastakis, who has spent his academic career studying the economic ties between the two countries, fires back. He suggests that those Canadian who scream Anti-Americanism are, in fact... Anti-Canadians! Ha ha!

...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...

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"...

Try as it might, the Post's search for a Canadian link to the 9/11 terrorist attacks did not yield any results...

[Alliance leader Stephen] 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 ..."

Calling a spade a spade? Sure -- but it does apply to most of the Canadian government's conservative critics.

Now, I have little doubt that there are many who criticize the government's decision to stay out of the Iraq invasion who honestly beleive that it was the right action, and that the case was there to invade Iraq now (while still preferring to regard North Korea as a 'regional threat). However, you can be pretty sure that most of the marchers at next week's sceduled "Rally for America" in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square are from that contingent of Canadians who want Canada and its government policies to be much more like those of our southern neighbours, and who are less than pleased with the views of their fellow Canadians, and the governments that they elect.

Bonus for you Scrum readers out there: While he was working on his dissertation, Anastakis wrote some articles for the (apparently-defunct) PunditMag.com -- here they are. I rather like this one about how the province of Alberta constantly complains about federal government policy -- then gets what it wants, and cries for more. It should give people in Alberta, and to a lesser extent, BC) pause to consider just how it is that they're seen in the rest of Canada.

One last thing: Another Toronto Star opinion piece, this one from Thomas Walkom, on why this war is America's and not Canada's -- and that while U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci might suggest that America would rally to Canada's defence in a crisis, it has not so far except when America has faced the same threat.