There I was thinking that that biggest single source thing was held by Sasol with their coal-to-oil venture. Just shows what stats can do.

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Canada’s reputation as a ‘good guy’ state seems to have been based on what Canada was not–or seemed not to be–American. Even Jean Chretien, the longest serving PM in Canadian history, could not answer the question of what it is to be Canadian. His answer? “Well, we’re not American”! Canada’s “brand” has always been based on not being ‘American’.
Canadians are ‘risk averse’, consider conflict rude–unless it is conflict with the US… Canadians seemed self-effacing compared to American assertiveness. What we forget is that the US only became a ‘world power’ as a result of its ability to fund the Allies in WW2 and then fund the recovery of Europe afterward. America had steered a path of avoiding ‘foreign entanglements’ and only became involved in WW2 as a result of Pearl Harbour.

Canada’s sins are usually sins of omission whilst America’s are of commission. But Canada–very quietly–kept nickel and coal mines going in SA during Apartheid-even during the boycott years. Ditto in South America under a series of dictators.

Canada’s civic values have long been at odds with its commercial interests abroad. But Canada’s relatively small defense forces, sparser population and small tax base meant that Canada could only compete with rival US on the diplomatic front during the years of Liberal governments. Conservatives have always controlled Canadian industries which has become apparent under the current Conservative government.

The real and the ideal are ever at odds…

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Blame H(c)untley.

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I too was an admirer of Canada until two recent developments:
1. They acceptance of that racist white refugee Brandon Huntley, reminded me of how Argentina took in some of those Nazis after the World War 2.
2. The increase in right wing views as exemplified by the Canadian blogger Michael Francis.
Hopefully Canada will soon come to it senses

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Rory–a thoughtful analysis. Thank you.

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I have been going to Canada for thirty years and these people are the best. This is the country where the underground railroad ended.

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Canada Border Services Agency won’t comment on why the host of the widely syndicated radio and TV program Democracy Now had her speech checked at border

Ms. Goodman, host of the widely syndicated radio and TV program Democracy Now , said Canadian border guards pulled her over, asked for notes of her planned speech, what she thought of the 2010 Olympics and whether she would talk about them, and went through her group’s computers.

The guards took her picture and stapled a document into her passport, allowing her in Canada for only 48 hours.

Ms. Goodman, 52, said she is still shocked. “To ask basic questions, that’s fine. But to ask for my notes, to demand that I tell them what I was going to say, that’s very disturbing.”

She said she barely knew the Winter Games were being held in Vancouver. “But what if I had said I was going to talk about the Olympics? Would they have let me in?

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/04

Our detention and interrogation were not only a violation of freedom of the press but also a violation of the public’s right to know. Because if journalists feel there are things they can’t report on, that they’ll be detained, that they’ll be arrested or interrogated; this is a threat to the free flow of information. And that’s the public’s loss, an Olympic loss for democracy.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/canadas_

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fergie — the underground railroad didn’t end there by choice; the us congress changed the laws making it possible for southern slave owners to go north in the usa and take their slaves back.

and, by the way, they were allowed to take them back in canada, too; there’s a reason why ontario’s black population didn’t really take off until world war 2 while quebec and new brunswick’s black populations were the largest until after said war. [basically, the slaveowners couldn’t speak enough french to get their property back.]

i’ve always been “meh” about canada. i don’t tolerate snow that well, so. …

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Dave, I have no problem with your views on Canada but the two incidents you mention as reasons don’t sound convincing to me. And comparing the Huntley acceptance with the Argentinian policy of 50 years ago is preposterous!

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Michael Francis a right-winger. Lol. Dave Harris is also a right-winger I’d imagine by some people’s standards, not too keen on sharing with the rest of Africa, huh?

As I always say, know your enemies.

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Well, that’s a heap of illusions gone up in a puff of smoke, i’n'it? You sound as though your daddy just fell off his pedestal…
But really, no nation has no secrets in its closets. U.S. may have Obama, but it also has the Mafia. Canada also has a history of Catholic priests who ran orphanages and sexually abused the orphans.
We had apartheid, then HIV/AIDS denialism, more load shedding to come from 2011-2013, and a fixed-line operator that wants to become a mobile operator. What’s wrong, Telkom? can’t you stand a bit of competition? Any moment from now we’ll find out that Telkom’s has no spades to replace broken cables…

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I currently live in Montreal - the Quebec experience is a whole other ballgame - but Canada is certainly in no way simply the bright and shiny place its global image may be.

An unacknowledged genocide of indigenous people’s, continued horrific policies towards indigenous communities and reserves etc. A backtracking of human rights stringency and promotion worldwide. A horrific environmental record (though Quebec has a superiority complex about this because of its clean hydropower). A general aura of neo-colonialism when it comes to the developing world (though I have experienced the same in every European/North American country I’ve been to). etc etc.

Yes, Canada has a better underlying ethic, public healthcare, less military aggression etc than America…but the assumption that they are therefore automatically ‘the good guys’ is pretty dangerous - especially under Harper’s right-wing thug-government.

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Huntley — another in over a million fine emigrants — simply did what he had to do. Top man!

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@Janet J Well said. Incisive comments.

On reflection, I should add to my comment above that during the Trudeau years Canada did accept large numbers of ‘draft dodgers’, established the public health care system, encouraged immigration of highly skilled people from around the world, became a major participant in international aid and development, accepted large numbers of refugees, and encouraged the ‘multi-cultural’ Canadian ethos–although less successfully with its indigenous peoples.

During the Mulroney Conservative government, however, Canada opened its doors–no questions asked–to Hong Kong ‘businessmen’ who could pay a minimum of $250,000.00 each for acceptance as ‘landed immigrants’. Basically, the Conservatives were selling the right to enter Canada. What they got was Triad and Tong gangsters who set up shop in Vancouver and carried on their ‘business’ –of human trafficking, drug dealing, extortion, and retributive assassination of other Chinese in Canada!

Every country in the world has a sordid side and Canada is no exception. However, its policies have often been more humane, constructive and internationalist than most and there is the potential for ‘redemption’ at the next general election. Because they eschew controversy, Canadians are slower to change direction but when they have had their fill of Conservative abuses of power and disastrous policies like the tar sands, they’ll be looking for a middle course candidate to lead them into the next decade. For their sake–and for the world’s sake–I hope that is sooner rather later.

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It is interesting for me how South Africans always slag off other countries so easily. Are they trying to say “maybe we suck, but just look at them!”? Guys, it isn’t working!

Having lived in North America for 7 years, most of it in Canada, I can honestly that Canada is not perfect. But it is (almost) as good as it gets, compared to others. Like perfect anything, perfect countries simply don’t exist, it would be very naive to think otherwise. Some are just (much) better than others. And imo, (and in the opinion of many surveying organisations) Canada is one of the best countries on earth.

@ Sarah. The tar sands industry is hardly new. Apart from the pollution - and landscape scarring - issues, water wastage (for production) is a major issue. Compare the coal industry in Australia. The Americans are mining oil in Alaska, for goodness sake. You drive your car, or buy nicknacks made in China, therefore they exist. $$$. Having been a greenie for 25years, I am not aware of countries with an untainted environmental records.

Harper (the Canadian minority Conservative “leader”) is a soul mate of Australia’s ex-PM John Howard. Like Howard, Harper’s time will come, but the opposition and its leadership are divided and in disarray.

@ Dave Harris. Nazis & Huntley? - BS & Yawn!
Michael Francis’ blogs? Lol! Can you even find Canada on a map of the world?

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Be careful, Sarah. The toes you stomp on today are connected to the arses you’re gonna have to kiss when the North Sea conveyor belt stops and Canada moves to Texas, Spain and most of Europe, meaning 70% of the world will want to move to Cape Town. The mousse is dead. Long live the moose.

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Remember that Sarah Palin is (almost) Canadian. Should we use her as a yardstick?. And Rory, on the USA avoiding foreign entanglements - Cuba? Vietnam? Chile? Iran? Iraq? Afghanistan? The list is constrained only by the number of nations in the world.

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@ dave harris I hardly think I am ‘right wing’ and I do not support or like the bloody conservatives. I usually vote green based on their policies and oppose Canadian environmental policies and see Canada as a rouge nation in those areas. I am also opposed to the war in Afghanistan. Your use of the label right wing for me is laughable in light of your xenophobia, uncritical support for the ANC and justification of Stalinist policies.

Left and right dichotomies are products of a simple mind and a lack of reason or critical thought.

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BTW the conservatives are a minority government so they do not run much and the NDP was able to leverage that to push through longer term unemployment support.

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Read more carefully, Bob. Rory said the US was largely isolationist until after WW2. The cases you cite are all post-WW2, when policy changed.

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Jeepers, if we are judging Canada and Switzerland on TL, can I ask against whom we are judging them exactly? Which nation of charitable, green saints is setting the bar high these days?

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@hds Thank you. Twice over.

@Bob Elder hds is correct. I was referring to US isolationism pre-WW2. The American withdrawal from the world stage–politically–after WW1 and their flat out refusal to enter WW2 before Pearl Harbour testifies to that. The huge surge in technological development in the US was at least partly necessitated by both wars but the unprecedented technological development during WW2 was decisive in moving the US to center of the international stage. For better–in the case of the Marshall Plan–and for worse–in the case of the CIA/Pentagon/Corporate convergence of geo-political/economic power. And for the very worst in the case of the Reagan-Bush-Twig years of megalomania, election theft, and irrational policies. That having been said, I’d rather see the US as the dominant economic/political power than, say, China…

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