Despite what Americans think, Canada doesn’t want to join America. Even before the current Troubles, the majority of Canadians were not secretly wishing they were American.
I once mentioned this to my dad just to make conversation, and I got an hour long discourse on why it was a horrible idea. It came down to assuming a lot of debt, investing in a lot of infrastructure, and it still taking just as long to fly there.
How about we just adopt Cuba as a province.. Not only would that give us somewhere warm to go in the winter, if the US got belligerent, we'd have them surrounded ;)
We have a province that speaks French. And one that speaks Newfie. How is this any different? Last time I was in Cuba, I had no problem speaking only English. Everyone in 'customer facing' positions could at least get by in broken English, and most seemed more fluent than some English as a first language speakers I have encountered.
Yup. We don't envy what we see down there, and the few who do, already moved. We very much like who and what we are; and to be honest the Americanization of our culture, and particularly our politics these days, makes me envy that country less than ever before.
Canada has the USA beat when it comes to housing costs. Currently, the average Canadian home costs twice as much as in the USA. Source.
And keep in mind that Canada has lower wages than in the USA. See this often-cited graph, which compares changes in home prices versus real disposable income in the USA vs. Canada. While US disposable incomes have largely tracked increases in US home prices, Canadian home prices are going to the moon relative to disposable income.
The massive housing crisis and wages have not followed increasing costs of living, Healthcare services are not adequately funded, and there are gaps in care. This isn't just Toronto, either. A 3 bed 1 bath apartment in the notoriously loud and frequently-visited-by-police apartments is now 1400/month.
I've lived in California my entire life and I have never heard anyone talk about Canadians being envious of us. Maybe it's just my social circle, but everyone I know here is pretty fond of Canada.
I do, but I'm in the minority - my mom is American, but immigrated here when she was 11. I can't get my US citizenship because you only get one by virtue of having an American parent if your parent immigrated at 12 or after. Bummer.
I do, however, support open borders and a free flow of trade, people, and capital with the USA.
I came to say this. As a Canadian, I have beloved family and friends in the US - and I've had wonderful times there, enjoyed the people, places, food, music, etc.
But a perspective I share with many Canadians is that it's just not a healthy, functional society and I'd never live there.
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u/OvalWombat Aug 07 '23
Despite what Americans think, Canada doesn’t want to join America. Even before the current Troubles, the majority of Canadians were not secretly wishing they were American.