How do Americans feel about this quote by the late Pierre Trudeau?

Question

“Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

I think it is important to bear in mind that the population of Canada is 30 million - while the population of the USA is 300 million.

Answer 1

Most Americans do not know who Pierre Trudeau is or who the current PM is.  I don't.  The last PM I know is Mulroney.  Or possibly Chretien?  Was he PM?

Answer 2

We really don't care. Who cares much about Canada in he first place? There like a warm bucket of spit. No use at all. If you don't like the USA don't come here.

Answer 3

if your country was so great you might have a larger population, quit riding the coattails of the Americans, and grow a nut sa.k

Answer 4

Probably is true.  And I am neither American or Canadian.  My concern for the future is the possibility, as remote as it is, for the US to insist on access to Canadian natural resources.

Water?  True enough!

Answer 5

It's true. We had at least one candidate for prime minister vow to increase our independence from the U.S., but we ended up electing Bush's b__ch.

Answer 6

Well, he's got a point, doesn't he?

Answer 7

Unlike a lot of the posters here, there are people who are interested in Canada and do move there. The fact that it has 30 million people isn't such a bad thing at all. The US may have about 10 times that many people but the majority of them are compressed into large metropolitan areas on both coasts. The interior is for the most part, emptying out.

Some of you really need to travel more. I've been to both Canada and Mexico and I would return to Canada in a heartbeat. It's a nice country. Mexico, on the other hand is pretty horrible, especially along the border with the US.

Answer 8

Americans consider Canada a quaint cousin & not relavent in the world's economy. It was even suggested they consider them the 51st state. One day that will come back to haunt us. Yes I said 'us' because I'm an American.

Answer 9

It's not like Canada has millions of illegal Americans sneaking into your country. Americans have millions of illegal aliens from all over the world sneaking into our country and we don't have the ability to deport them all.

Answer 10

As a Canadian, I can tell you he's right. What happens in the U.S. can have an effect on us too. If and when your economy crashes ours is going down with it.

I love how any mention of Canada makes some Americans resort to that silly chest-thumping patriotism with no regard as to whether your country is even worthy of such devotion anymore. Warm spit indeed.....how many Americans know *anything about the world outside their own borders, other than which countries are your allies and which ones are "anti-American" or "where them turrists live"?

And Rio - I had no idea you are Canadian! Cool! It's always nice when the smart ones turn out to be ours.   : P

Answer 11

As a Canadian AND an American (I have dual citizenship, woot woot), I can say that Pierre Trudeau is a man who has not been without controversy in his day. Don't expect that many Americans to know (or care for that matter) who Pierre Trudeau was without a Google search or two.

That being said, how could Canada not be affected by every twitch and grunt? Since the United States has a population which is ten times the size of Canada, it would be impossible to ignore their antics. It would be foolish to try to run this country without observing different tactics of war, economy, and the governments efforts with maintaining the welfare of their people.

..."No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast"...do you know why he said that? Despite the United States out right claiming that they are a friend of Canada, there have been times when that friendship has been shaky (Canada not wanting to go into Iraq, Canada disagreeing with healthcare in the United States, etc.).  

The alliance between Canada and the United States is that like a shady friend that we have (we all have one) that we have fun with, talk about our futures with...but can't trust.

Remember how big the United States is, Canada can't deny at least a small dependency on that country.

Irregardless...this is the gender and women's studies section. There's a section for this kind of question under the Canada section.