I am Australian and hosted a Canadian backpacker for almost a year. We did road trips together, got involved deeply in each other’s worlds etc.
One day she ripped into me for hanging shit on the US. She claimed the US and Canada were so close, talked shenanigans across the border and claimed they were close to identical.
I told her ‘no, Canada rushed the gate to enter both World Wars because someone was being bullied, attacked, having their honour and sovereignty threatened so Canada were there in a heartbeat to defend them. The States were late to both wars and demanded payment. The US were not an Ally but mercenaries.
Canada would never have pulled a stunt like the Manhattan Project. How could someone call that the behaviour of an ally? That’s an opportunistic prick. Canada would never do that, social conscience, reliability, trust and integrity run far too deep in Canadians.
Canadians are part of the Commonwealth, reflecting deeply in how one understands their integral role as part of a bigger collective all with each other’s backs. US Americans don’t seem to understand anything that isn’t motivated by personal greed and with no regard for anyone else.
Canadians care enough about other Canadians to have sensible gun laws to keep everyone safe from nutters, the US don’t care the same about every or any other US citizen.
Canadians care enough for every other Canadian to have good Universal Health Care. Despite the money that’s there to be saved, US Americans don’t.
I’m sure my Canadian backpacker has over the last couple of months (April 2025) realized what I was saying. Such a pity she wasn’t right but C’est la vie.
The only similarities between Canada and the US serm to be the fact they are both English speaking.
I am not Canadian, but European, but I will provide my answer to this question nonetheless.
Donald Trump and other top American government officials keep berating Europeans about the 2% military spending target to GDP.
There is one thing that Americans need to be reminded, and it is that throughout NATO’s history, there is only one country that has invoked article 5, and it is the United States after the 9/11 terror attacks.
After the military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, a larger number of soldiers from other NATO countries were deployed there as peace keeping forces, many of which died.
Here are the numbers of soldiers from other countries who died in Afghanistan:
- UK: 457
- Canada: 159
- France: 90
- Germany: 62
- Italy: 53
- Poland: 44
- Denmark: 43
- Australia: 41
- Spain: 35
- Georgia: 32
- Romania: 27
- Netherlands: 25
- Turkey: 15
- Czech Republic: 14
- New Zealand: 10
- Norway: 10
- Estonia: 9
- Hungary: 7
- Sweden: 5
- Latvia: 4
- Slovakia: 3
- Finland: 2
- Jordan: 2
- Portugal: 2
- South Korea: 2
- Albania: 2
- Belgium: 1
- Bulgaria: 1
- Croatia: 1
- Lithuania: 1
- Montenegro: 1
And here the casualties from other countries in Iraq:
- United Kingdom 179
- Italy 33
- Poland 23
- Ukraine 18
- Bulgaria 13
- Spain 11
- Denmark 7
- El Salvador 5
- Georgia 5
- Slovakia 4
- Latvia 3
- Romania 3
- Estonia 2
- Thailand 2
- Australia 2
- Netherlands 2
- Kazakhstan 1
- South Korea 1
- Hungary 1
- Czech Republic 1
- Azerbaijan 1
(Source: Wikipedia)
People from other NATO countries paid it with their own blood when the United States was attacked. So Americans need to learn to show some more humility. And next time that they get attacked, they will get to learn what ‘America First’ means.
Donald Trump and his usual display of humility
I am a US citizen born and raised who moved to Canada and am now a Canadian citizen. As a dual US/Canadian citizen who has lived extensively in both countries, the people of the two countries are not the same. Gun worship and denial of reproductive rights are not a thing in Canada, School and mass shootings are not a thing in Canada. While Canada has healthcare access for all, the US has a significant segment of the population without any healthcare that they can afford. Canada does not have medical costs as a leading cause of personal bankruptcy as is the case in the US. Infant mortality and maternal mortality rates are much higher in the US while life expectancy is much higher in Canada. I could go on and on and on and on….
What is it you think is “basically the same? Canada even has a functioning and working democracy while the US is classed a deficient democracy. I have lived in both countries and now live in Canada. I am to the point I see absolutely no reason or value to ever set foot in the US again. Trump and Musk are turning the US into a shit hole. Trump and Vance take turns parking Putin’s balls on their chin as the US breaks agreements and denigrates staunch allies in place since the Second World War.
I know it will come as a surprise to you with the ever present Yankee arrogance most of you possess, but most Canadians want nothing to do with the US, your bullshit, your leadership or your products. The US used to be a nation for Canada to work with. Now the US is a nation for Canada to work around. Outside the US nobody wants anything to do with you, except Russia who is playing the whole nation as fucking fools.
