When then-Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish launched a bitter anti-U.S. rant for the TV cameras in 2003 – “Damn Americans, I hate those bastards,” she said – nobody noted her hometown of Mississauga, Ont. was headquarters for Walmart Canada, General Electric Canada and Hershey Canada.
Thus the “continuing paradox” of Canada-U.S. relations, writes political scientist Geoffrey Hale. “Canada’s physical and cultural proximity to the United States leads many Americans and other observers to overlook differences between the two countries, not least many Canadians’ heartfelt desires to be different and to have Americans (and others) notice the differences.”
The same Canadians who harp on “American untrustworthiness” will never hesitate to “take advantage of their proximity to the United States to get the most they can from the relationship,” he writes. So Near Yet So Far invites readers to rethink our relationship with an open mind, stripped of smugness or “ideological agendas.”
