First things first.  When was the last (or, first) time that you have heard about a Canadian soldier trying to defect to the United States of America, on any grounds, compassionate or otherwise?

The influence of the United States of America (USA) on Canada can be seen in the cars we drive (as we have no major automakers, we just buy American because we assemble them here), the places we go to retire (Glendale and Phoenix, Arizona, and anywhere in Florida) and the cost of the gas that we sell to the States and then buy back at an exorbitantly increased rate.  Does the USA really influence Canada, or is Canada it’s own country, with health care for anyone who needs it, and a military the size of many small towns?  Canadian culture has been, is and always will be affected by our American neighbors, but Canadian culture is not influenced by the USA.

One aspect that shows the major differences between Canadian and American cultures is the way the First Nations peoples are handled (in the States), and handle us (in Canada).  In Canada, First Nations tribes are constantly suing for millions and millions of dollars and royalties from the corporations that they say are raping their lands.  The Americans would say, “what, you don’t mind the land being raped as long as you benefit?”, and the Canadians say “how much?”.  In Northern Quebec reservations, people live in tar-paper shacks, drive brand new, extra-large pick-up trucks and SUVs, have the biggest and best Ski-Doos, ATVs and fishing boats (sport fishing boats, that is).

Canada does not wet it’s pants at the sight of the mighty military machine, we love that the USA  has become the protector of the free world.  With a fraction of the firepower and enlisted fighters, we still fight for our sovereign waters and resources, much like we may yet have to do in the Northwest Passage.

In the USA, the military is geared for war, whereas in Canada, the culture of the military machine is geared more towards search and rescue, and peace keeping missions.  Police and soldier training is regarded as a more culpable means of setting a restrained nation free, as opposed to shocking the awe out of them, as the States is so fond of trying.  The problem starts when the enemy is willing to fight to the last man.  Give them better paying jobs and better infrastructure, and they may just lay their arms down.

Canada’s culture is very much like the American culture, but with the difference of it being about 30 to 50 degrees colder outside during the winter months.  With that frigid five to seven months of Arctic temperatures, we tend to be a much more friendly and accommodating culture than that of the shoot first and ask questions later, hang ‘em high Americans.  We like to cuddle, Americans like to joust.  We smoke pot, Americans throw pot smokers in jail for life.

Canadian culture is more about helping others to help themselves, and to bring the most hard hit to Canada, where they can flourish without fear of cultural or religious persecution.  Canada is rated as the top immigration destination in the world, and every culture is represented in most cities.  As people are allowed into the country under immigration laws, if they do not have a family already here, they may be forced to settle in a city that is prescribed by the government.  This makes for a more spread out mixture of cultural differences, having most cultures represented in all cities, and not just in parts of those cities, either.

There are more differences than similarities between the USA and Canada, especially when dealing with criminals, un-documented illegal aliens, American draft dodgers and other aspects of our civilizations.  Canada really does try to emulate the actions of the USA, but not the actions that we consider not necessary,  we like to watch your television shows and major movie releases.  Let’s face it, when it comes to entertainment, nobody does it better than the Americans.

Canada has very little in the ways of post-production, major movie studios, as there are too many stipulations in the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) dictating how many of each culture has to be represented in each kind of movie and television show.  It would give American cultural icons migraine headaches to try and make cultural programming in Canada.

As cultures collide, as they do at the longest “undefended” border in the world, which is now highly defended, the idea is for criminals to run to the Canadian side if they get caught transporting illegal goods across the border.  The reasoning is the sentence would be a fraction of the time that they would get if tried and found guilty by American courts of law.

However, the cult of personality can be seen more in the melting pots of inner-city youth.  Canada has very few gangs that are extremely violent in nature, and has no prisons dedicated to gangs.  Only the major port cities are affected in Canada, and even then it is by foreign gangs.

Canada is the nice guy next door, and the USA is the heavyweight boxer with a machine gun, looking out for injustice everywhere, as defined by their leading government bodies and law enforcers.

But, seriously, we are all the same.  Canada and the USA were both built on the backs of immigrants, and the biggest family fortunes were originally made by illegal means.  We both like to think that we are so culturally diverse, yet we have Italian and Jewish neighborhoods, China Town and other such locales where cultures are forced to fend for each other against the other cultures.  

Maybe the hippies had it right after all?