Friends with the elephant

Albertans are often accused of being the 'most American' province of Canada. Which is rather interesting, since many other parts of Canada have population centres much closer to American population centres. I don't know if it's right to compare one part of this country 'more American' since as Canadians we have a relationship with the US that we cannot escape just by virtue of geography.

The United States is a bit of a bogeyman in Canada. It is hard to ignore the world's most significant superpower. Canadians have a fear that we are continually overshadowed by our neighbour. That perhaps, this monolith to the south will someday just gobble us up. A lot of Canadians feel that our culture in Canada is overshadowed by the States. Americans are sometimes maligned here - anyone working in tourism has met the 'American tourist' and dread the obnoxious, ignorant, gas guzzling RV driver. I saw it once myself, just overhearing a conversation. The girl working the booth in Radium said she didn't live in the town, she lived the next town over, and the American asked'Oh, you live in Calgary?'. Calgary is a two hour drive, through very dense mountains. Not exactly the easiest road for a commute. The absurdity is easy for a Canadian to identify and it does lead to some smugness on the part of the Canadians.

I've also noticed some disparaging remarks in the American media about Canada. From our health care system to our aloofness to just showing Canadians as 'slow', the Americans like to make fun of Canadians.

The Vancouver Olympics were amazing. Much has been said about the outpouring of national pride, including my last blog post. But I saw something else in these Olympics, something a bit more subtle. I saw a recognition among Canadians and Americans that we are indeed friends. By virtue of geography, language, history and geopolitics, we are neighbors and so we might as well get along.

The final hockey game was a great competition against two very good hockey teams. But it was more than that. Whenever I saw Americans and Canadians sharing the podium together, they did so with hugs and handshakes. Americans cheered for Canadian athletes when they were the favorite in a sport and Canadians did vice versa. Oprah couldn't bring enough Canadian athletes onto her show during the Olympics. Of course many American tourists visited Vancouver during the games, so this was a great chance for them to partake in festivities. And they did so not as adversaries, but as friends. And for me, this is a great success.

Canada and the States are two countries that have a long shared history of cooperation. Things have soured a bit after 9/11, but I really think this Olympics re-established a line of communication and friendship that underlies our long border. Through cooperation, we can show that two countries can work together without sarcrificing our culture and values. There are still differences between our two nations, but there is also a lot similarities that allow us to share a jug of beer and sing our respective anthems together.