Anti-Canadianism

Anti-Canadianism represents a consistent hostility towards the government, culture, or people of Canada.

Historical

Voltaire has been quoted jokingly as saying Canada was "a few acres of snow. He was in fact referring to New France as it existed in the eighteenth century. The quote meant that Canada was economically worthless and that France thus did not need to keep it. Many believe Voltaire's statement to be more an indictment of conquest in general.

Modern perceptions

United States

In the United States, Canada is often a target of conservative and right-wing commentators who hold the nation up as an example of what a government and society that are too liberal would look like.

"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 Canadian criticisms of US security measures regarding Arab Canadians. At least one reference to the term can be found on-line as far back as April 2001.

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."

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 (CMDP), Ann Coulter has recently become another prominent American critical of Canadian policies. She has often, in an off-handed manner (usually during interviews) proposed extreme solutions to Canadian dissent, such as a military invasion of Canada, and has said that Canada should be grateful that the US "allows" it to exist on the same continent.

In 2006, right-wing American strategist Paul Weyrich said Canadians are "so liberal and hedonistic" that they have a philosophy of "cultural Marxism.

Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is strongly anti-Canadian. He operates a website entitled "God Hates Canada," criticizing gay rights in Canada. Phelps is a highly controversial figure who claims that God hates homosexuals, and thus, by extension, hates the United States, Sweden, Ireland, and any sort of entity that is tolerant of homosexuality.

Brazil

Anti-Canadian sentiment has been observed in Brazil. People boycotted Canadian goods to protest a Canadian ban of Brazilian beef imports, reportedly because of fears of mad-cow disease (the country has had zero cases). Many Brazilians believed the Canadian ban was motivated by an unrelated trade dispute between the two nations. Canada's subsidies to aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and Brazil's subsidies to Bombardier's Brazilian rival Embraer have been a source of much tension because they are said to interfere with each others' business.

Anti-Canadian sentiment in Canada

Some hostility towards Canada can be seen within Canada itself.

From minorities

Québécois

In Quebec, some people, including some within the nationalist and sovereignty movements, harbour feelings of resentment towards English Canada or the Canadian federation in general. Alleged reasons include historical events such as the initial British military conquest of New France and the following historic centuries-long discrimination towards French Québécois by English Quebecers and other Canadians. Front de libération du Québec member and journalist Pierre Vallières wrote a notable book called Nègres blancs d'Amérique (White Negros of America) in which the situation of French Québécois is paralleled with that of the blacks of the south of the United States.

Also, until the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, the economy of Quebec and its high-ranking positions were controlled by the English minority in Quebec, despite the fact that the French Québécois comprised 90% of the province's population at the time. This led nationalist thinkers to denounce a colonial phenomenon that, as they believed, was at work between Quebec and the rest of Canada; some hold that residuals of this are still there in the present relationship. Journalist Normand Lester published three volumes of The Black Book of English Canada detailing events of Canadian history he saw as being crimes perpetrated by the majority on the minority.

Furthermore, other current sources of rancour include the fact that English Canadians are less bilingual than Québécois, the perception that English Canada is more conservative than Quebec and perceived paternalism and arrogance.

Up until November 27 2006, one such source of rancour was the refusal of an important part of the English Canadian population and political elite to recognize Quebec as a nation, or a "distinct society". However, a motion presented by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper recognizing the Québécois as "a nation within Canada" was passed on that day.

Lucien Bouchard famously said that Canada wasn't a "real country" sparking outrage across Canada. He later apologized for the remark.

Newfoundland

Many in Newfoundland harbour an ambiguous attitude towards Canada. Many blame the federation for economic difficulties experienced since the dominion joined confederation in 1949. Some Newfoundlanders perceive a disrespectful attitude toward them from the rest of Canada, and Newfie stereotypes and ethnic jokes that depict Newfoundlanders as stupid and/or lazy are a source of ire. There is also a fear that Newfoundland culture and Newfoundland English are diminishing and will disappear because of insensitivity and ignorance from the rest of Canada. Newfoundland premier Danny Williams notably ordered all Canadian flags removed from provincial buildings during a dispute with the federal government in 2004. Williams was, and remained, personally popular in Newfoundland, at times receiving as much as 75% support in polls.

First Nations

As for indigenous peoples, some First Nations call Canada an illegal nation state built on stolen land. One term used by some Native activists for non-aboriginal residents of Canada is "settlers".

Political accusations

Sometimes Canadians accuse each other of being anti-Canadian: For example, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer (NDP) accused the governments of Ontario and Alberta of being "anti-Canadian" due to their dislike for equalization payments. Doer's assessment is disputed, with one Calgary Sun columnist writing, "Get a grip, Gary.

From the right

Some anti-Canadian criticism from a few in the right of the political spectrum is coupled with proposals that the conservative province of Alberta secede from the country to form a new nation, either on its own or with other Western provinces. A separatist party obtained more than one tenth of the vote in the 1982 Albertan general election although no other separatist party in Western Canada has obtained a similar share of the vote in a provincial election before or since 1982.

Such criticism most commonly comes from libertarians, who criticize significant facets of Canadian life as being socialist, or from social conservatives, who couple it with criticism of issues such as same-sex marriage or abortion.

A noteworthy example of right-wing anti-Canadianism arose in 1997 when Stephen Harper, who was at the time vice-president of the right-wing lobby group the National Citizens Coalition, stated he believed "Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it." The speech was made to members of the American right-wing think tank the Council for National Policy and in the duration since it was given arguments have been made both for and against whether Harper's words were heartfelt, or if he was embellishing for the benefit of his audience. Harper himself dismissed the comments when they were cited by the centrist Liberal Party in attack ads against him during the 2006 Canadian federal election, saying that they were meant as humour, not serious analysis. (Ironically, Harper became prime minister of Canada in 2006)

From the left

Some communist organizations in Canada view a Canadian nationalist or isolationist line as revisionist, anti-communist and pro-nationalist in itself. They believe the communist view of the national question in Canada should be internationalist and consider that other nationalities exist within the nation-state, such as the Québécois, First Nations and Acadian peoples; as well as the borders being artificial boundaries put in place during the colonial period and held in place under capitalism. These views are usually held by Maoist, Trotskyite and other revolutionary groups that tend not to participate in mainstream activities such as elections. Such alternative views can be viewed as anti-Canadianism by more nationalist tendencies on both the left and right.

Anti-Canadianism and humour

Humorous 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. The fact that Americans especially but also others are perceived to know surprisingly little about Canada is a frequent theme in Canadian humour and such examples of self-deprecating humour are nearly universal among Canadian humorists. In keeping with this attitude, some genuinely critical anti-Canadianisms (such as "Soviet Canuckistan") are embraced by some Canadians as humorous, in defiance of the original intent.

Pop culture

"Blame Canada", a song from the film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut in which the town's parents blame Canada for the trouble their children have been getting into, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song. The song was, however, generally understood to be using anti-Canadian statements as a parody of American cultural values, such as a perceived tendency toward scapegoating and the shirking of parental responsibility, rather than a statement of actual anti-Canadianism.

"Canadian Idiot", by "Weird Al" Yankovic, a parody of the song "American Idiot" by Green Day, is a friendly critique of Canadian stereotypes. The right-wing American character that "Weird Al" Yankovic plays in the song uses many common Canadian stereotypes, such as the statement by some that Canadians supposedly "live on donuts and moose meat." Near the end of the songs, Weird Al Yankovic (through his character) proclaims that the United States should preemptively strike Canada. This statement supports the theory that he may actually be making fun of right-wing America, and their anti-Canadian antics. He has not, however, actually stated his position on any political issue.

Canadian Bacon, a fictional film by Michael Moore, also parodies anti-Canadianism, depicting a post-Cold War American president (Alan Alda) who provokes anti-Canadian sentiment in a gambit to produce an economic stimulus through a new Cold War: the movie's tagline is "Surrender pronto, or we'll level Toronto." The movie makes heavy use of irony in driving home the message that many aspects of Canadian culture are superior to Moore's own American culture, such as one scene in which an RCMP jailer writes heartfelt letters to ex-inmates, and another in which the Sheriff of Niagara Falls, New York "attacks" Canada by spreading litter in a public park.