OT: This post responds in a discussion of Canadian-American relations
as mentioned by John Macnab.

John Macnab wrote in message . ca...
(snipped)
Whenever I have travelled in the US, most people give Canada credit for
civility far beyond what we deserve. I have yet to receive any abusive
nonsense of the sort that anonymous posters dish out.

Dear Mr. Macnab,

I am pleased that your experiences among Americans have been so cordial.
Unfortunately, many people perceived as belonging to minority communities
in the United States have been treated less respectfully by other Americans.

It is usally pleasant to have the USA as a neighbour. Most Canadians do
agree with Pierre Trudeau's sentiment that sharing that long border is
rather like sleeping next to an elephant.

Yes, a Canadian civil servant told me that her department sometimes has been
more influenced by decisions made in Washington than those made in Ottawa.

Some Canadians graciously accept the American tendency to regard Canada as
"the 51st state" and the supreme intended American compliment that "Canadians
are just like Americans" (almost). Other Canadians are more nationalistic
and inclined to assert their independence from the United States.

For example, one Canadian veteran (1939-45) of the Second World War mentioned
that he becomes irritated whenever Americans assume that he must have gone to
war only after the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. Evidently, some Americans
incorrectly believe that Canada must have followed the United States into
the Second World War.

On a lighter note, a Canadian friend of mine once argued that Canada must
be a freer country than the United States because Canadians may legally
purchase Cuban cigars. I know that Canada offered refuge to many blacks
escaping slavery in the (pre-1861) United States and to some Americans
avoiding military conscription during the Vietnam War. But I doubt that many
Americans today would flee to Canada simply to be able to enjoy Cuban cigars.

On a more serious note, he also is proud to assert that Canada is a much
less racist society than the United States. As far as I know, I would agree
that Canada generally seems less racist today, but Canada also has had a
history of racism. For example, like the United States, Canada also interned
its residents and citizens of Japanese heritage (including the father of Paul
Kariya, the ice hockey star) during the Second World War. Many years later,
Canada's government officially apologised for that internment.

By the way, there's a Canadian film (or television miniseries), "The Arrow",
about the apparently promising Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow fighter project, which
was cancelled in 1959 by Canada's government, allegedly in part as a
consequence of strong political pressure from the United States, which disliked
the prospect of any Canadian competition in the aeroplane industry.

"In your obituary of Pham Van Dong (May 6th) you claim that, for the Americans,
the conflict in Vietnam was 'the only war they lost'. Although we in Canada
are proud of our cordial relations with America, it was not always thus.
America's first taste of military defeat came at the hands of British and
Canadian troops in the war of 1812. The American attempt to free us from
the yoke of British imperialism failed. Canada has the distinction of being
the only country to have successfully brought war on to American soil; the
White House is so named because that is the colour it was painted to hide
serious fire damage after British and Canadian troops put the torch to
Washington during that conflict."
--Peter Eady (Ottawa: letter to 'The Economist', 20 May 2000, p. 8)

On the other hand, if the United States had completely won the War of 1812, then
you and other Canadians might feel more included in rec.games.chess.politics
discussions today. :-)

--Nick