If there's one thing that defines Canadian culture, it's that we always define and evaluate ourselves in contrast to the United States. This has been a constant theme throughout Canadian history. Rejection of the United States was even one of the biggest reasons for the creation of Canada in 1867. The United States is not a great benchmark, given the country's long history of imperialism, militarism, racism, extreme inequality, and violence that continues to this day. Compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. is an outlier in many ways. For example, the U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world and spends far more on the military than any other country (more than China, India, and Russia combined). An unfortunate result of our fixation on the United States is we have become adept at ignoring our own country's problems. “At least we're not as bad as the States,” we tell ourselves. We rightfully condemn Trump’s violent crackdown on immigration....
Commentary on Canadian news and politics