Harry Bolz

I had an opportunity to spend a week in the U.S., and I made a few observations. We often hear Canadians proudly say, “We’re not like Americans.” But I’m curious about what we mean by that, and why we assume it is something to congratulate ourselves about. The first thing I noticed was pride in their country. American flags everywhere! A sense that loving your country does not depend on who happens to be in power. In Canada, we have seen the flag treated as controversial one moment and encouraged the next. Apparently, we need to check the political mood before deciding whether we can proudly fly our own flag. If we need permission to show pride in our country, what else have we learned to ask permission for? So if pride in their country is one of the things that makes Americans different, that’s something I would welcome more of here. I also noticed more personal autonomy and confidence. People seemed comfortable making their own decisions and standing behind their beliefs. Political disagreements? Plenty. But nobody I spoke with seemed to need permission to have an opinion. When did walking on eggshells become a Canadian virtue? If Americans are more comfortable speaking their minds, why would we pride ourselves on being different? There also seemed to be less expectation that government should have an answer for everything. People help themselves, help their neighbours and take responsibility for what comes next, without assuming government will step in and sort it all out. Is that really something we want to distance ourselves from? Independence and personal responsibility sound good to me. Taken all together, what I noticed was less fear. More willingness to try something, take a chance and live with some uncertainty. A confidence that you can figure things out as you go, even when you have to. Are these qualities we should distance ourselves from? I want Canadians to be informed, prepared and confident in their own judgment. Ask questions. Understand the risks. Take chances. Succeed. Fail. Learn and grow. But for goodness’ sake, LIVE. We cannot let fear make every decision for us and expect government to fix everything. So tell me: why is it so important to keep announcing that “we’re not like Americans”? What exactly are we congratulating ourselves on? Give me something more than “we’re nicer.” When people are smeared, labelled and pushed out for expressing different views about this country, can we really say that with a straight face? Besides, I met some pretty nice people down there too.