What Are They Teaching Their Children???

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

nbcrusader

Blue Crack Addict
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
22,071
Location
Southern California
Poll: over 40% of Canadian teens think America is "evil"

The Liberal government came into power in 1993 gushing anti-Americanism. Former Prime Minister Jean Chr?tien?s communications director, Francoise Ducros, made headlines when she referred to President Bush as a moron. Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was picked up on a boom microphone saying, "Damn Americans ? I hate those bastards". Not only did Parrish not apologize for her remarks, but she later appeared on a television show hosted by alleged comedian Mike Bullard and laughed about the incident. Parrish played to the anti-Americanism of the youthful studio audience by saying that she couldn?t guarantee that she wouldn?t do it again.

So, this isn't just a GWB thing, it has been brewing for years.
 
Oh come on...and don't tell me that the U.S. doesn't make nasty comments about Canada? After all, if it weren't so pervasive, then "South Park" wouldn't have a running joke about it. And I'd consider it a compliment that America is mentioned in Canadian schools; we don't even acknowledge Canada's existence in ours.

I'm not trying to justify it, but don't think that America has a good attitude towards Canada in contrast. We definitely aren't better. I also think that once Bush and the GOP are gone, then they will like America again. The GOP, in contrast to Canadian politics, are probably considered extremist right.

Melon
 
Last edited:
GWB personifies all the boorish American behaviors that fuel anti-amercanism.


There were much better international relations with the previous administration.
 
deep said:
There were much better international relations with the previous administration.

this is true. clinton and chretien got along famously, as did mulroney and reagan and many before.

each of the incidents listed in your quote nbc happened in the last 2 years-not just since bush came to office, but since the war hawks turned their gaze upon iraq.

i dont know if its so much a canada:u.s. relationship thing as it is a world:u.s. wars thing.

edit to add, many of the media outlets and firms cited in that article are known for their consistent and relentless attacks on the liberal government's management of its american relations, which also happens to be a central element of the conservative party of canada.

consider this from the same site, an unbalanced consideration of elementary school textbooks which is seemingly unaware that grade school texts (if not the evening news), especially from the 30s, are just as much propagandistic as they are educational.

America?s children are portrayed as being brought up in "filthy tenements, driven out upon the streets to play in `gangs?," according to a 1934 textbook that was prevalent in Canadian classrooms of the day.
 
Last edited:
melon said:
Oh come on...and don't tell me that the U.S. doesn't make nasty comments about Canada? After all, if it weren't so pervasive, then "South Park" wouldn't have a running joke about it. And I'd consider it a compliment that America is mentioned in Canadian schools; we don't even acknowledge Canada's existence in ours.

I'm not trying to justify it, but don't think that America has a good attitude towards Canada in contrast. We definitely aren't better. I also think that once Bush and the GOP are gone, then they will like America again. The GOP, in contrast to Canadian politics, are probably considered extremist right.

Melon

:up:

Conduct the same poll in the US you will get "40% of American teens think Canada is wimpy"
 
Is saying "Damn Americans, I hate those bastards" the same as hating Bush and his administration for his policies? That assumes, it seems to me, that all Americans support everything he does and should be condemned in the same way that he is.

I have nothing against Canadians or people from any other country-I judge people as individuals :shrug:

Maybe some Canadians should get beyond their stereotypes, as should some Americans.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
Is saying "Damn Americans, I hate those bastards" the same as hating Bush and his administration for his policies? That assumes, it seems to me, that all Americans support everything he does and should be condemned in the same way that he is.

again, some greater context may be needed to fully appreciate the comments. parrish made her comment while turning away from a throng of reporters and answering their questions on iraq and the u.s. i don't think she literally meant she hates americans.

anti-americanism is not rampant in canada. these are 2 incidents where individuals spoke inappropriately and were picked up.

the article and conclusions drawn from the poll are more ridiculous than the issue itself.

canada presently has no plans to attack-just now.
 
I don't think it's right for *anyone* to make blanket statements about any nationality, Americans, Canadians, French, Italians, or whoever.
 
verte76 said:
I don't think it's right for *anyone* to make blanket statements about any nationality, Americans, Canadians, French, Italians, or whoever.

And I happen to know that there are WMD's in the basement of the childhood home in Canada of Michael J Fox

:D
 
I'm an American studying in Montreal, and I don't think anti-Americanism is widespread. Whenever anti-American incidents have taken place here, they've been small things like vandalism of cars with US plates by random punks. It's always widely reported in the media (English-speaking, at least; I'm not so good at French) and the response is always shock and outrage.

The other thing is that for good relations to happen, things have to go both ways. Bush's first visit outside the US was not to Canada, which had been traditional. Ambassador Celluci has made some controversial statements of his own which have offended Canadians. And whenever I go home to RI, at least 2-3 people ask me how things are in "Canadia" and tell me how they'd never go to Quebec because "They don't want us there; they don't speak English!" I think any anti- feelings toward any culture are bad and agree with what people are saying about blanket statements, but I also think both sides of the relationship could use some work.
 
The effect is rather sobering however, when one goes abroad and is being hassled for being American; how quickly the attitudes of the provocateurs change if you tell them you're Canadian. No I have not done it, but it's been spoken of quite often... the Canadians I am friends with don't appreciate it much....
 
I was in London a couple of years ago, and my friend and I (both from Toronto) were talking to a couple of tour guides. They initially assumed we were American and when we told them we were Canadian, their response was "Thank God" followed by "Americans are really loud and ask everything three times and keep telling us they don't understand us."

On a tour, I went to Oxford. There was an American family, two older people in their 60s and their son, from Virginia, I believe. The tour guide told us that both Bill Clinton and Tony Blair attended this college, and the older lady then proceeded to ask who Tony Blair is. You could literally hear the eyes rolling.

And no, I would not travel without my Canadian flag on the backpack. Try it sometime and you'll see a world of difference in the way you are treated overseas.
 
anitram said:
And no, I would not travel without my Canadian flag on the backpack. Try it sometime and you'll see a world of difference in the way you are treated overseas.

that's really sad.

i don't see myself pretending to be canadian anytime soon just so someone with annoying, preconceived notions will be polite to me. i'm perfectly content being american, although i usually don't slap flags on my bags.
 
Screaming Flower said:
although i usually don't slap flags on my bags.

i just reread my reply. i didn't mean this last line to be as snobby as it sounds. i have no problem with people putting flags on their bags. :shifty:
 
i'm meeting my long-lost canadian relatives next week

kobayashi said:
bag flags or not, you should be canadian.

i feel honored to read such lovely things written by one of my favorite canadians. :sexywink: :slant:

and baw, how does one become an honorary canadian? :laugh:
 
Screaming Flower said:
i'm perfectly content being american, although i usually don't slap flags on my bags.

NOTICE: she fails to mention that she has a large (and I mean LARGE) Amercian flag on the back of her Ford pick-up - it hides the gun rack.

YEEE HAAAWWW!





Honorary Canadian, eh? :hmm:
 
Screaming Flower said:


that's really sad.

i don't see myself pretending to be canadian anytime soon just so someone with annoying, preconceived notions will be polite to me. i'm perfectly content being american, although i usually don't slap flags on my bags.

:up:

I don't think Americans are any louder than other nationalities, it's just that the accent stands out more. People speaking foreign languages or English with a heavy accent always seem REALLY loud to me.
 
If you think about what impression a country makes with his tourists all over the world you should allways remember that the worst ones shape the picture of the country or the one who wave the banner of their country proud in their guest-country.
Some tourists (incl. from my country of course) seem to think that they can show their worst part of their personality because noone knows them in that country and "they paid for it". :(
 
Hey, I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader. I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled. And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada, although I'm certain they're really really nice.

I have a Prime Minister, not a president.

I speak English and French, not American.

And I pronounce it 'about', not 'a boot.'

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.

I believe in peace keeping, not policing; diversity, not assimilation; and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

A toque IS a hat! A chesterfield IS a couch! And it IS pronounced 'zed'! Not 'zee'! ZED!

Canada is the second largest landmass! The first nation of hockey! And the best part of North America!

My name is Joe!!
And I am Canadian!!!

http://www.coolcanuckaward.ca/joe_canadian.htm
 
I'm going to tell you this. I've been to Europe, and Americans typically stick out like a sore thumb. I'll tell you why, though.

1) I could generally spot an American tourist a mile away, because they were fatter and had fanny packs on...lol.

2) Americans are LOUD. We have two volume levels when we speak: loud and louder. And I am generally guilty of this when I am home here, but I consciously lowered my speech by several decibels in Europe, as a courtesy. Most American tourists, though, don't care and stick out like a sore thumb.

I was in France several years back with a group, where I found that the French were generally very quiet. So what did the group do in response? Scream, laugh, and jump around the streets. Needless to say, I was pissed off. Combine that with our President, who seems to fulfill every negative stereotype that people have about Americans, and you can see why you'll be better received with a Canadian flag on your backpack.

Melon
 
getting back to the origin of this thread, i have this to say: i am inherently suspicious of polls of any sort, because the results are often meaningless and misleading. or in this case, totally inane. and let's not even start on the overuse of the word "evil".... :mad:

i'm canadian, and i know i can't speak for all canadians, but my friends do not think americans are *evil*. we have concerns about george bush's foreign policy and american-centricism (not to mention his bumbling propaganda speeches), for sure, but that's hardly the same thing as making such an ignorant generalization. reasonably informed people don't mistake george dubya as the archtype of all americans. nor do they take silly surveys like this and take them to be fact. :eyebrow:
 
Back
Top Bottom