Normally, we Americans don't have good cause to go out of our way to hoist a mug to toast someone else's independence day. But how about stretching our 4th of July fireworks fuse a bit by adding a belated congrats to our "true north" (a phrase from "O Canada") Canadian colleagues on the commemoration of their own Canadian birthday, which comes 3 days before ours.
Parodies aside, it's become an article of faith that we Yanks down below that 5,525 mile border regrettably do take Canada for granted. Understandable, if not excusable, given how reliable a friend Canada is for us through thick and thin and it does not ask much of us in return. No matter that Canada is our largest trading partner in the world $645 billion in two way trade supporting 8 million U.S. jobs, and right up there as an ally that delivers, delivers and delivers again when we face threats both at home and abroad.
American defense arrangements with Canada are the most extensive in the world (see for yourself and go to www.canadianally.com). Just take a moment to consider what Canada is doing to help the U.S. since 9/11 against Al Qaeda. Canada's elite JTF2 counterterrorism unit joined forces with the U.S. against al Qaeda around the globe. Canadian soldiers are standing side by side with our GIs in Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East, and they, too, are sacrificing their own blood and treasure because Canadians understand the threats we face around the globe are common to them as well. Canada's Seventh Book of Rememberance lists 150 Canadians killed in the line of battle since 9/11 -- most of whom were killed in Afghanistan.
Canada has deployed a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar to back up the U.S. as a significant commitment to the NATO-led effort there. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Canadians are training the Afghani police, and Canada is one of the top donors to Afghanistan's reconstruction pledging over $1.2 billion. Remember, compared to our own nation's 311 million this is a country with a population of only 34 million.
However, let me be the first to assert that military cooperation should not serve as THE yardstick by which to measure Canada's importance to Americans.
Last year, more Canadians visited the U.S. (18+ million) than from any other country or region of the globe. And Canadians poured $20.8 billion into the U.S. economy just from tourism alone (think U.S JOBS!) making it, yes, the single biggest source of U.S. global tourism revenue -- a whopping 15% of the overall $103 billion the U.S. earns worldwide from tourism.
Just think how many more jobs Americans would be out of work but for the importance of Canadian tourism dollars.
OK, I know I preached enough. And yes, there is plenty to add about what the United States has done for Canada in return. But in the world I usually write about in this hollowed blogosphere -- namely terrorism, failed peace, Middle East horrors, etc. -- it soothes the soul to write something good about something great -- that Canadian ally of ours.
P.S.
Aussi, a mes amis Francophone du nord mes felicitations a cause de votre jour d'independence et merci pour votre amitie a notre pay.
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Well my opinion is that Canada is drifting away from values that I admired. I watched the police brutality and abuses there. Saw frightening movement away from freedom and toward fascism. I heard about a gigantic order for fighter jets that was recently approved. Fighter jets for what? For who? I am sure it made the weapons manufacturers very happy (and richer), but the Canadian taxpayers will foot the bill. Now and in the future. And there has already been rumbling about pensions and universal healthcare in Canada. Is there a connection? Are spending priorities being shifted from the well being of the Canadian populace and to the weapons manufacturers and the banksters who finance the whole business? Well, with your militarized police and fascist anti terrorism policies Canada can take care of any rumblings. Maybe even find targets for those fighter jets.
Canadians, you should be afraid of the direction that you country is being lead. Because it is you and your children who will pay in taxes, blood and poverty.
As for our bankers, well - I think they are among the best in the world.
Thank you for the compliments. Maybe when your pundits call us every lousy name in the book you could do us a favour and set them straight.
We often get overlooked and ignored (not in an ugly way, but perhaps because we cause it so little trouble!!) by the average citizen of our neighbour to the south.
We appreciate the warm comments and your turning the lights on in our not-often-considered corner..
Two examples of how Canada has helped out U.S. citizens come to mind on this special day. First, and more recently, ten years ago, immediately after 9/11, when the U.S. airspace was completely shut down, many flights from Europe, Asia, etc. couldn't land at their scheduled destinations. Many of these flights were detoured to Gander, Newfoundland, and other Canadian airports, where the locals pitched in to help out their American brothers and sisters until they could continue on to their final destinations.
The second example occurred during the Iran hostage crisis in 1980. Under the noses of the Khomeini government, the Canadian embassy smuggled six U.S. State Department employees (who had been at the Canadian embassy at the time that the American embassy was taken over) out of Iran. I can still remember seeing pictures of billboards on the U.S./Canadian border saying, "Thank you, Canada!". A few weeks later, during the opening ceremonies for the Lake Placid Winter Olympics, the Canadian team got almost as big a cheer as the American team did!
Nice to have such a good neighbor--enjoy your holiday, Canadians!
Your postscript, however, made me chuckle; the one in which you congratulated your francophone friends to the north on their independence day. Canada Day, which is a celebration of the confederation of the country and not its independence, is largely ignored in the French-speaking province of Quebec, which celebrated its own "national holiday" last week, and has long had a strong secessionist movement which seeks its independence from Canada, making an otherwise minor blunder almost Palin-esque in proportion. The sentiment and the gesture, nevertheless, are appreciated.
Happy 4th of July weekend!