23 Comments

• Steve says:

  February 4, 2004 at 5:13 pm

  And here I thought we Minnesotans could take all Canada by ourselves.
• Andrew says:

  February 4, 2004 at 5:15 pm

  LOL! I’m having a hard time seeing straight after reading this article. Way to go!
• Jared says:

  February 4, 2004 at 5:37 pm

  Now Joe,
  While I must confess to getting a great deal of enjoyment from this post, I must, in all good conscience that, despite their rather inept government, the Candaian military – undermanned and underfunded though it may be (ok…IS), is truly superb. They fought bravely at Normandy (and in a no-win situation at Dieppe, especially), and more recently, a Canadian sniper team registered the longest confirmed kill while serving with our boys in Afghanistan (over 2.5 miles, I think). Let’s at least give them their due for that.
• Mike says:

  February 4, 2004 at 6:28 pm

  “An insult unpunished is the parent of many…” (Was it thomasjefferson?) Sorry, love your blog, but this was not funny. Canadians have fought and died as our allies in many wars, including Afganistan where US pilots inadvertently bombed a Can. convoy. They were not irrelevant.
• Kevin T. Keith says:

  February 4, 2004 at 7:04 pm

  “Your entire country hasn
• Andrew says:

  February 4, 2004 at 7:31 pm

  “contributed not one, but two women to my short list of former girlfriends.”
  This last comment explains the passion in the entire post that precedes it.
• Bob says:

  February 4, 2004 at 9:17 pm

  HEY, Hey… let’s be kind here. They did win a World Series sometime in the 20th century. That’s gotta count for something. Right?
• Daniel says:

  February 5, 2004 at 1:18 am

  Well…I thought it was funny.
• Stuart says:

  February 5, 2004 at 9:15 am

  I, too, dated a Canadian (and for six years nonetheless). I speak from experience that Canadians are militant in defense of their relevance. Also, if the health care system is so great in Canada why are all of the doctors in Atlanta from Canada? Because they hate the Canadian health care system, that’s why!
  They have fought and died bravely in wars past — WWI and WWII, significantly. BUT, now they all drink too much and Canadians are responsible for Bryan Adams, Shania Twain, Pamela Anderson, Paul Shaffer, etc. Let’s be honest, they export little in the way of talent.
  Nice people. Very clean (both the people and the country itself). As best as I can tell their snow skiing in Whistler and Banff is the best thing they have going for them.
• Shai says:

  February 5, 2004 at 1:47 pm

  this stuff is nearly as bad as the my country is better than your country discussions on usenet. i say nearly because the discussions there often end with something like “my country will nuke you”, which is the same as godwin’s law, excepting the substitution of nukes for nazis.
• Kristin says:

  February 5, 2004 at 2:48 pm

  You all are forgetting the most important Canadian contribution to the world: William Shatner.
• Rusty Lopez says:

  February 5, 2004 at 3:51 pm

  Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Super Dave Osborne, Hugh Ross, my Youth Pastor in HS, my former Senior Pastor… c’mon Joe.
• Joe Carter says:

  February 5, 2004 at 4:35 pm

  Neil Young?! As Skynard said, “Southern man don’t need him around anyhow…”
• tgirsch says:

  February 5, 2004 at 5:51 pm

  Wow, that piece of jingoistic tripe was far below what I expect from you, Joe. So much for the whole “Judge not” thing, eh? Personally, I love Canada, and would live there if I could. I’ve yet to find any place closer to heaven on Earth than Whistler and Banff. And as cities go, Vancouver is absolutely the place to be. Toronto isn’t bad, either. Added bonus: As long as you don’t come across with the “I’m an American, kiss my feet” attitude, Canadians are among the nicest people I’ve ever met anywhere.
  Sure, there are the jerks, and the people who blame the US for all their problems. But you’ll find that nearly anywhere. The vast majority of Canadians I’ve encountered have been wonderful, welcoming people. Maybe we could learn some lessons from that.
  But never mind all that. What strikes me as funny is that if the Canadians had come out against Clinton the way they did against Bush, you would be holding them up as paragons of virtue.
  P.S. The PM of Canada, until recently, was Jean Chretien, and he was in the news frequently, if you’d bother to pay attention. He stepped down last year, and I have to admit that I don’t know his replacement’s name. Although I can about guarantee that the PM has never pranced around in a military flight suit while safely docked in the San Diego harbor…
• Rusty Lopez says:

  February 5, 2004 at 6:01 pm

  And let’s not forget that immediately after the attack on 9/11 Canada allowed international flights, bound for the U.S., to land on Canadian soil.
• The Country Pundit says:

  February 5, 2004 at 6:06 pm

  The current PM is Paul Martin, and he’s been able to reverse to some degree the noxious anti-Americanism of the Canadian official policy, if memory serves.
  Admittedly, the Honorable Mr. Martin would never prance around in a military flight suit on an aircraft carrier because Canada hasn’t had fixed-wing carrier aviation for quite some time, since they disposed of their carriers somewhere in the 1960s or 1970s, if I remember correctly.
  If we ever invade Canada, we’ve got to capture Cape Breton Island and the whole of Nova Scotia intact to be established as a cultural preserve; any region that produces Natalie MacMaster absolutely has to be kept intact.
• RJ says:

  February 5, 2004 at 11:36 pm

  I’m Canadian and I really find this post insulting. Yesterday was my first visit to this site and seeing it was supposed to be evangelical, I had my hopes up about it being a Christian site. It obviously isn’t, and I returned just to make the following comments.
  You stereotype Canadians to insult them based on the MacLeans magazine article, which I didn’t like either. I live in a part of Canada similar in aspect to Texas, that stood up to support your President Bush and the war in Iraq. This was not for ulterior motives. The inhabitants of this part of Canada are more Christian fundamentalist and so understand the fight of good vs evil. Our Premier (equal to your Governor) send a letter to the US Ambassador to Canada supporting President Bush and got slammed for it by the former Prime Minister Jean Chretien. We stand up and continue to do so for President Bush. We might not be a majority in this country but we have made our voices heard. Many people (not just in Canada)don’t give Bush credit for anything. They prefer to believe the dumb cowboy stereotype. Let them ‘misunderestimate’ him because for a supposed dumb guy he certainly has a talent for leadership. He’s not perfect, but he’s the complete opposite of Bill Clinton.
  As one of those Canadians you sneer at, I personally take the time to pray for your president every day. I pray fervently for his re-election just as I have been doing since before his election in 2000. I believe he is going to be re-elected, by the way. He is too good a man not to be.
  Every day, I pray for God’s protection from terrorism over your country and your citizens. I pray for the protection of your military in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don’t have to do this. There are enough problems in Canada to pray for but I feel called to do this.
  Next time, please think first and pray before you go and put down all Canadians just because you don’t like how they responded in one survey. Thank-you.
• Kevin Walmsley says:

  February 6, 2004 at 3:27 pm

  But that’s the rub, isn’t it? Kevin Keith’s post above make many of the points for us: at one time, Canada was a steadfast ally on the right side of history. It is in the past sixty years that has postdated the second world war that Canada has slipped closer to Europe than the US.
  Canada has legalized gay marriage. Canada has laws that prohibit a pastor from speaking out against homosexuality from the pulpit. Canada has the Western Hemisphere’s most over-celebrated and -rated health care system. Canada has intervened in Washington to secure the release of Canadian Taliban. Canada has a comparably astronimcal tax rate of over 50%, counting the provincial and national marginal rates. Canada is an extremely liberal country, governed by liberals, with the predictable policies that liberals bring. And if Christians were even a detectable minority up there, much of this wouldn’t be so.
• Guardian says:

  February 6, 2004 at 8:16 pm

  I am both American and Canadian, and I am quite proud of my heritage.
  There are so many different kinds of people. Canada and America both have their fair share. There are many, many wonderful people from both countries. Both of these countries have good qualities, but neither are perfect. But personally, I’d rather live in Canada or the U.S. than any other country (i.e. Afganistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, etc.)
  BTW, I have been to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario. All of them can get get just as hot as NY.
• scotty says:

  February 7, 2004 at 10:57 am

  Hey Kevin, where are the American Jesus followers when their political leader wastes billions of dollars and countless lives to preserve oil stocks for him and his cronies? Where are the American Jesus followers when Muslims are persecuted relentlessly without cause in a post-Sept 11 paranoia? Where are the American Jesus followers when people are held in Guantanamo Bay without contact with family, without charges being laid, without trial dates being set, with all human rights except for food being denied them because the oh-so-perfect American government suspects them of terrorism? (so much for innocent before proven guilty and the rest of that stuff that used to mean something). These are all far more serious than allowing gay people to hold pieces of paper stating the state recognizes their union or problems with tax structures.
• Kevin T. Keith says:

  February 7, 2004 at 11:32 am

  “Canada was a steadfast ally on the right side of history. It is in the past sixty years that has postdated the second world war that Canada has slipped closer to Europe than the US.”
  I see no contradiction here.
  If our closest allies – both here and in Europe – have for generations shared our values and struggled for a free and secure world, and we now find ourselves isolated in opposition to them, perhaps there is a message we’re missing.
  “Canada is an extremely liberal country, governed by liberals, with the predictable policies that liberals bring.”
  Exactly.
  “[I]f Christians were even a detectable minority up there, much of this wouldn’t be so.”
  I think you’re selling Christians short. You seem to equate “Christian” with “anti-gay, pro-war, anti-social-welfare” reactionaries, a claim many Christians would reject. Europe is overwhelmingly Christian, and is overwhelmingly against Bush’s war, in favor of strong social programs, and increasingly gay-tolerant. In Canada, over 80% of the population is Catholic or Protestant (CIA World Factbook, 1991 data), and the policies you abhor are well-received there – yet you insist that Christians are “[not] even a detectable minority” there? According to you, there are no Christians among the Christians – or, at least, apparently none of the only-true-Christians-by-your-lights that you’re willing to acknowledge, a definition that cuts out well over 25 million people in Canada alone.
  With regard both to true Christianity and to the value of certain public policies, you insist you have the only right and moral position, and the fact that *virtually the entire relevant population disagrees with you* proves *them* wrong. You don’t think you’re being just a tad grandiose?
• Kevin Walmsley says:

  February 7, 2004 at 3:23 pm

  Uh oh. Just when I thought I was in for a relaxing Saturday afternoon. Here goes:
  “Hey Kevin, where are the American Jesus followers when their political leader wastes billions of dollars and countless lives to preserve oil stocks for him and his cronies?”
  This again? It was the oil contracts with France, Germany, and Russia with Saddam Hussein that kept them out of the war. (1) George W. has no oil stocks. (2) Dick Cheney has no oil stocks. (3) If America wanted to, we could pump Iraq dry, keep the money to ourselves, and there’s nothing anyone could do about it. We’re not. (4) American oil companies were better off when sanctions were on Iraq, as it kept prices high for domestic producers.
  “Where are the American Jesus followers when Muslims are persecuted relentlessly without cause in a post-Sept 11 paranoia?”
  Name three Muslims who were “persecuted relentlessly” in the “paranoia”. What paranoia? Do you have a TV? When airliners crash into our largest commercial districts, killing thousands and shutting down the world’s largest economy, we’ve crossed the line from paranoia to war. Before we’ve even finished digging out bodies, our President is telling American school kids to get themselves Afghan penpals. The FBI, in the two incidents I know of, has charged American graffiti writers at mosques with hate crimes. Give me the names of three law-abiding Muslims who have been persecuted, and I might grant your point. I’ve taken sixteen flights since 9-11, and on 15 of them I’ve been pulled out of line for a search. And I ain’t Muslim. So I’ve been “persecuted” too.
  “Where are the American Jesus followers when people are held in Guantanamo Bay without contact with family, without charges being laid, without trial dates being set, with all human rights except for food being denied them because the oh-so-perfect American government suspects them of terrorism? (so much for innocent before proven guilty and the rest of that stuff that used to mean something).”
  Here now for a quick primer on American Constitutional Law: the Taliban fighting American troops in the Middle East aren’t US citizens, therefore they do not have the legal protections an American citizen does. They are being detained as POW’s, pending the resolution of hostilities. German and Japanese troops, when captured, were allowed to return home after the war. But while here, they were not charged, were not allowed to see family, etc. As to that, the Taliban are allowed to practice their religious faith, resulting in the well-publicized revelation that our own Muslim chaplains were serving as spies for the other side. They are allowed to receive care packages from home. All the planks of the Geneva Convention are being observed. What more do you want us to do? Let them vote in our elections?
  Now, for Mr. Keith:
  “If our closest allies – both here and in Europe – have for generations shared our values and struggled for a free and secure world, and we now find ourselves isolated in opposition to them, perhaps there is a message we’re missing.”
  Um, like when? When did Germany, Russia, and France fight for freedom? 17 of the 22 NATO countries have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Six former Eastern bloc countries are standing with us. There is a message we’re missing, but it’s not the one you suppose: Europe is re-aligning. The former Eastern bloc and central Europe, ex-Russia, is sympathetic to the United States. There is a proposal to move USAREUR headquarters from Brussels and Heidelberg to Poland, in recognition of this.
  “Europe is overwhelmingly Christian, and is overwhelmingly against Bush’s war, in favor of strong social programs, and increasingly gay-tolerant.”
  Absolutely absurd. Evangelical associations consider Europe to be unreached for the gospel. Thousands of churches that haven’t yet converted to bars and restaurants don’t open at all. In fact, by 2020 over half of the population under 25 is projected to be Muslim in France and in the Benelux countries. And, just as an aside, if European gays consider Christianity intolerant, let them try living under Islam for awhile.
  “With regard both to true Christianity and to the value of certain public policies, you insist you have the only right and moral position, and the fact that *virtually the entire relevant population disagrees with you* proves *them* wrong. You don’t think you’re being just a tad grandiose?”
  No. Liberals believe that they have the only right and moral position. So do conservatives. So do I. Virtually the entire relevant population of Nazi Germany disagreed with us as to their being a Super Race that would last for a thousand years. Virtually the entire relevant population of Japan believed in the immortality and divine will of their emperor. By 1945, both views had been smashed. Most Americans did not then, and shouldn’t now, measure world opinion when doing what we believe is right, particularly the opinions of those whose recent history on totalitarianism is, to put it charitably, shaky.
• Eddie Haskel says:

  July 5, 2004 at 10:26 pm

  Met loads of Canadians while living in Korea, English tachers for the most part. Interesting, America ( only Can’tnadians seem to be confused about which country that is ) population aprx. 300,000,000, Can’tnada aprx. 30,000,000, for some reason there seemed to be 10 times as many Can’tnadian teachers as Yanks. Why? Can’t find jobs at home, the taxes for that “free healthcare” are too high. Just something to think aboot…eh?
  By the way….there are more MRI machines in metro Atlanta, than all of Can’tnadia combined, but don’t worry, we have enough doctors to staff them thanks. Come to think of it, I think we have more Can’tnadian doctors in Atlanta than all of Ca’tnadia too!

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