Loving The North

Canada, how do we love thee?

Americans may not have been there and may be abysmally ignorant about a next-door neighbor (or neighbour) that is by far its largest trading partner, best friend and closest ally. (Until the last election Harvard grad Barack Obama thought they had a president up there.)

But Gallup finds that a record 96% of Americans are feeling the love for that northern land of toques that's 10% larger than the United States with one-tenth the population. U.S. lovers of Canada are up 4% just in the past year.

In fact, liking Canada is almost unanimous in the 57 states. Only 3% of Americans think unfavorably (or unfavourably) of Canada, and they probably don't even know where it is. (North of everything except Alaska and Detroit.)

Of course, there's a downside (at least from the Canuck POV):

The reason the U.S. affection is bad news for them is because the United States, its loud culture, raucous politics and immense economy loom so large in the life of Canadians that the American presence can be overwhelming, even if accidental. They're best friends, like it or not.

When Americans start paying attention to anything, even if it's positive, they tend to unintentionally smother, crush the bushes and walk all over the flower beds, telling you how really glad they are to be there, you know what I mean? It's as if Randy McQuaid came for the weekend -- and stayed a month.

But hey, at least we are your friends, eh? Or, we would be if a certain Harvard grad didn't diss your oil...