With the US as its only neighbour, on both sides, Canada is the bacon in a great American burger. The United States, with its huge media conglomerates that reach every house on the globe, affects every culture. Sharing a landmass with this nation means that it is easier for US culture and values to spread through Canada than any other land. Yet most Canadians vociferously deny that they are just like Americans, even though they look and sound more like Americans than any other nation.

Part of the reason that US culture is so pervasive is the prevalent belief amongst Americans that America is the best country in the world. While this is a normal conclusion for people of many nationalities, the difference is that Americans feel that everyone else must want their culture because it is so fantastic. Canadians do want US culture in their lives, in the form of entertainment, cars, and superstores selling cheap goods, but they emphatically do not want to be Americans in anything that really matters, like drug law enforcement or big gang populations or treatment of indigenous people.

One of the greatest services US does for Canadian culture is to make it look good. Although not perfect, Canada does a far better job of looking after its people, with universal health care and strong laws focused on protecting the weak rather than punishing the guilty. Canada is a much more pacific nation, more prone to excessive politeness than over-the-top aggression. In America a trespasser may find himself shot without warning; in Canada, he may find himself sharing a beer with a householder while he borrows tools to fix his car.

Canada’s best hockey teams compete in the National Hockey League which includes American franchises. American teams make Canada’s favourite game much better, providing more money, visibility, opportunity, and opposition for the Canadian players who dominate the league. Crossing the border is relatively easy and Americans come to Canada for the spectacular skiing, fishing, and money-making opportunities. Costs are often lower in Canada than in the US for film and television production, and when combined with provincial and federal tax incentives, filming in Canada is very attractive for those huge media conglomerates.

Canadian culture needs the United States. It needs its great mass of eager consumers to buy Canadian products and fund Canadian artists. In any great story, there must be a protagonist and an antagonist, just like Batman and the Joker, or God and the devil, or Cinderella and her stepmother. Against an enemy with greater power, strength, or cunning, we must find new ways to win and be successful. The US provides Canadian artists of all types with a valuable market and a positive pressure to be more creative.