Anti-Canadianism represents a consistent hostility towards the government, culture, or people of Canada. The culture of Canada, as a product of a North American developed nation, shares some common cultural roots with the United States. ...

History

One person commonly thought of as an anti-Canadian thinker was Voltaire, who is generally misquoted as saying Canada is "a few acres of snow." He was in fact referring to Acadia as it existed in the eighteenth century. The quote meant that Acadia, which was outside of Canada at that time, was economically worthless and the French Empire thus did not need to keep it. It is not clear from the full quote whether Voltaire was truly anti-Canadian or not. In fact, many believe Voltaire's statement to be more an indictment of war in general, that no piece of land was worth the trouble. The last of Voltaires statues by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1781). ... A few acres of snow (in the original French, Quelques arpents de neige) is a quotation from Voltaire popularly understood to be a sneering evaluation of New Frances — and, by extension, Canadas — lack of mercantile value and strategic importance to France. ... The national flag of Acadia, adopted in 1884. ... Map of the first (light blue) and second (dark blue — plain and hachured) French colonial empires. ...

Historical instances of anti-Canadianism never seem to have lasted long enough to persist in any given society. Even American anti-Canadianism (arguably the strongest example of historical anti-Canadianism) was due chiefly to Canada's willing participation in the British Commonwealth, and not necessarily to any attribute of Canada proper. American anti-Canadianism was most prominent surrounding the failure of attempted American invasions during the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, most of which were once governed by the United Kingdom and are its former colonies. ... Combatants American Revolutionaries, France, Netherlands, Spain, Native Americans Great Britain, German mercenaries, Loyalists, Native Americans Commanders George Washington, Comte de Rochambeau, Nathanael Greene William Howe, Henry Clinton, Charles Cornwallis (more commanders) The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence,[1] was a conflict that... The War of 1812 (in Britain, the American War of 1812 to 1815), was fought between the United States and British Empire from 1812 to 1815, on land in North America and at sea around the world. ...

Modern perceptions

Generally speaking, where people have formed opinions of Canada they tend to be quite positive. Dislike for Canada may rise for two reasons: a general dislike for "the West", in which Canada is included, or a specific objection to policies and attitudes of Canada and Canadians. The latter type is generally limited to the few countries who have a history of important disputes with Canada. // Early diplomatic history The British North American colonies which constitute modern Canada had little control over their foreign affairs. ...

United States

One satirical "flag" of Soviet Canuckistan

In the United States, Canada is often a target of conservative and right-wing commentators who hold the northern nation up as an example of what a government and society that are too liberal would look like. Image File history File links A fictional idea of what the flag of Soviet Canuckistan could look like. ... Image File history File links A fictional idea of what the flag of Soviet Canuckistan could look like. ... Canada-United States relations were famously described by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as being like sleeping with an elephant. ... Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ...

"Soviet Canuckistan" is one unflattering epithet for Canada, used by Pat Buchanan on October 31, 2002, on his television show on MSNBC in which he denounced Canadians as anti-American and the country as a haven for terrorists. He was reacting to a warning that had been issued by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs that Canadians born in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and Syria should be cautious travelling to the United States. An epithet (Greek - επιθετον and Latin - epitheton; literally meaning imposed) is a descriptive word or phrase. ... Patrick Joseph Buchanan (born November 2, 1938) is an American author, syndicated columnist, and television commentator. ... October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... MSNBC (a portmanteau of MSN and NBC) is a 24-hour cable news channel in the United States. ... Cover of Anti-Americanism by French author Jean-François Revel. ... It has been suggested that Political terrorism be merged into this article or section. ... The Department of Foreign Affairs, also referred to as Foreign Affairs Canada, is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for foreign policy and diplomacy. ...

Buchanan has a history of unflattering references to Canada, having said in 1990 that if Canada were to break apart due to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, "America would pick up the pieces." He said two years after that "for most Americans, Canada is sort of like a case of latent arthritis. We really don't think about it, unless it acts up." This article is about the year. ... The Meech Lake Accord was a set of failed constitutional amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the provincial premiers, including Robert Bourassa, premier of Quebec. ...

In the wake of Canada's refusal to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, as well as its turning down of the Missile Defense Plan, Ann Coulter has recently become another prominent anti-Canadian American. She has often proposed (semi-humourous) extreme solutions to "Canadian dissent", such as a military invasion of Canada. Combatants Coalition Forces (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland) Iraq Commanders Tommy Franks Saddam Hussein Strength 263,000 375,000 The 2003 invasion of Iraq, termed Operation Iraqi Freedom by the US administration, began on March 20. ... In Canada, there is a heated debate over participation in the U.S. missile defense program. ... Ann Coulter on the FOX News Channel Ann Hart Coulter (born December 8, 1961) is a conservative American syndicated columnist, bestselling author, constitutional lawyer, and television pundit, who frequently appears on the Fox News Channel. ...

In 2006, right-wing American strategist Paul Weyrich said Canadians are "so liberal and hedonistic" that they have a philosophy of "cultural Marxism". Paul M. Weyrich (born October 7, 1942 in Racine, Wisconsin) is a disabled US conservative political activist and commentator. ...

Brazil

One place where anti-Canadian sentiment has been observed is Brazil where people boycotted Canadian goods and burned them in the streets to protest a Canadian ban of Brazilian beef imports, reportedly because of fears of mad-cow disease, but which many Brazilians believed were motivated by an unrelated trade dispute between the two nations. Canada's subsidies to aircraft manufacturer Bombardier have been a source of much tension with Brazil because they are said to interfere with the business of Bombardier's Brazillian rival Embraer. Look up Bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Bombardier Inc. ... Embraer, the Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica S.A. is a Brazilian leading aircraft manufacturer. ...

Anti-Canadian Canadians

From the right

During the 1990s, there was a controversial brain drain of well-educated Canadians to the US. Many prominent Canadian conservatives have expressed dismay at recent liberal trends in society and point to places like the United States and Britain as far superior to Canada. Many, like Conrad Black or David Frum have chosen to leave the country feeling that Canada is unsalvageable. Even among those who have stayed there is often more admiration for US conservative policies, personalities and history, than for the Canadian equivalents. Even current Prime Minister Stephen Harper at one point denounced Canada to an audience of American conservatives saying: A brain drain or human capital flight is an emigration of trained and talented individuals (human capital) for other nations or jurisdictions, due to conflict or lack of opportunity or health hazards where they are living. ... Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour OC, PC, (born August 25, 1944, in Montreal, Quebec), is a British biographer, financier and newspaper magnate. ... David Frum (born 1960) is a Canadian-American poltical advisor. ... Stephen Harper (born April 30, 1959) is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. ...

First, facts about Canada. Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it. Canadians make no connection between the fact that they are a Northern European welfare state and the fact that we have very low economic growth, a standard of living substantially lower than yours, a massive brain drain of young professionals to your country, and double the unemployment rate of the United States.^[1]

The Liberal Party of Canada tried unsuccessfully to use this quote against Harper to stop him from being elected in the 2006 election. The Liberal Party of Canada (French: Parti libéral du Canada), colloquially known as the Grits (originally Clear Grits), is a Canadian federal political party positioned around the centre of the political spectrum, combining a generally progressive social policy with moderate economics. ...

From the left

In Quebec, some people within the sovereignty movement harbour feelings of deep-seated mistrust towards English Canada. Former Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard famously said that “Canada is not a real country”, and author Norman Lester published a Black Book of English Canada detailing events of Canadian history he saw as being crimes perpetrated by the majority on the minority. As well similarly loud and forceful denunciations of Canadian government and businesses have traditionally come from the far-left of the Canadian political spectrum, for example the Communist Party of Canada. Often the criticism is that Canada too closely follows the United States lead and is acting like a 51st State. Motto: Je me souviens (French: I remember) Official languages French Capital Quebec City Largest city Montréal Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault Premier Jean Charest (PLQ) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 75 24 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 2nd 1,542,056 km² 1,183,128 km² 176... The Quebec sovereignty movement is a political movement aimed at attaining sovereignty for Quebec, a province of the Canadian federation. ... English Canada is a term used to describe either: the English-speaking residents of Canada or the Canadian provinces which are majority anglophone, i. ... Lucien Bouchard, PC , B.Sc , LL.B (born December 22, 1938 in Saint-Coeur-de-Marie, Quebec, Canada) is a Quebec lawyer, diplomat and politician. ... Canada is a nation of 31 million inhabitants occupying almost all of the northern half of the North American continent. ... The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. ... A U.S. 51 star flag has been designed in case of a 51st state actually joining the United States. ...

Anti-Canadianism and humour

Humourous anti-Canadianism often focuses on broadly-known attributes of Canada and Canadians (such as cold weather or public health care), as the finer details of Canadian culture and politics are generally not well known outside Canada. Consequently, such humour is often made at the expense of accuracy outside Canada. However, these broad targets are more accurately caricatured within Canada itself. Such self-deprecating humour is nearly universal among Canadian humourists. In keeping with this attitude, some genuinely critical anti-Canadianisms (such as "Soviet Canuckistan") are embraced by Canadians as humourous, in defiance of the original intent. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In popular culture

• In 1995, American director Michael Moore parodied anti-Canadianism in his film Canadian Bacon, in which the United States stages a cold war with its northern neighbour, inadvertently inspiring border raids.

• In 1999, the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut also featured a fictional war between Americans and Canadians, including an anti-Canadian song, "Blame Canada."

• The television sitcom The Simpsons regularly parodies Canada and Canadians.

Michael Moore. ... Canadian Bacon is a 1995 comedy/satire film written, directed and produced by Michael Moore. ... The Cold War (Russian: Холодная война , Kholodna-ya voina) was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ... South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a 1999 motion picture based on the cartoon television series of South Park. ... Blame Canada is a song from the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (that references/parodies the song Tonight from West Side Story. ... The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening. ...

External links

• Toronto Star article by Dimitry Anastakis
• Simpsons, Eh?

References

1. ↑  Full text of Stephen Harper's 1997 speech, CTV.ca, 14 December 2005; Susan Riley, "Harper's suspect evolution", 16 December 2005, A18.