US and Them

I'm often asked for my opinion about the United States. I usually don't have one, as we have enough problems here to worry about what they do. However, there are times that pop up that effect us a lot. A lot of Canadians dislike Americans. This has been a complete mystery to me as the vast majority I've met are polite, nice people. A far cry from the coldness of Torontonians.

The US has just wrapped up their mid-term elections. The Democratic party has taken control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994. The results for the Senate have yet to be released. It's hard to tell exactly what it means for Canada though.
Many Democrats have moved up to Canada in recent years. These people tend to be the most hard-core liberals who strongly oppose the Bush administration. A lot of these people have come up here with false beliefs about what Canada is and what it means to be Canada. The most common fallacy is that Canada is the United States without the problems. Of course that's not true, since we just wrapped the most important elections in recent history, which saw the Liberal party ousted for corruption. The ones interviewed on Global News last night think we're some sort of socialist paradise. It's amazing how people who have actually been living here know so little, like how the health care system they praise is no better than theirs. Studies have shown that. Our system is like stacking bricks on top of a wine glass. You know it will break, the question is when. It's funny how the most ignorant Americans are actually the ones who stare north with envy.

This election has been important for these people because it does switch the balance of power. However, I doubt our humble little country is going to see much gain out of it. Democrats are a more labour oriented party so we'll likely see a more protectionist economy, where production is domestically focused. Since Canada's economy hinges heavily on export to the US, this does not bode well for us. However, they will give into the powerful business lobby eventually. Border rules are not likely subject to change. Canada has become a convenient target for increased border security post-9/11 despite the thousands of illegal Mexican immigrants sneaking past their southern border on a daily basis. The Democrats will not want to appear weak on terrorism, especially homeland security, so we won't get any help from them on that issue. In fact, the Democrats have been calling for more limits of what we can bring across, trash in particular. Much of the key strategy will be to focus on America's war on terror on the other side of the globe, not at home. Iraq is going to dominate congress for the next while. My prediction is that relations between the US and Canada are not subject to undergo any change.

Finally, I'd like to wrap up with my view on George W Bush. Analytically, he sits outside of the conventional political spectrum. He is neither economically conservative or liberal. Socially, he sits far right about issues. He's a member of what's referred to as the Religious Right. A dangerous class of politically active people because they bring god into the picture. As far as I know, god has no vote, but his followers do. As a leader, Bush has done a poor job. He goes off in every direction with no focus. As a strategist, he is a genius. An expert on damage control and getting people to go along with him. The US unfortunately suffers from the same problems as Canada does. Poor leadership. There is nobody in either the Republican or Democratic party that stands out amongst the others. It's going to take a long while to bring the American ship of state back on course.