WikiLeaks: US Embassy Probes "Anti-American" Attitudes of Canadian Universities

[Hissyspit]

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/04/09OTTAWA298.html

¶1. (SBU) Summary: As President Obama noted in Strasbourg on April
3, anti-Americanism in developed countries is sometimes both "casual
and insidious." Canada's traditionally liberal universities have
often displayed some anti-American biases, as emboff discovered
first-hand as a part-time graduate student at the University of
Ottawa in 2008. Students criticized the U.S. human rights record
and international human rights stances, and professors claimed that
international organizations had become ineffective "captives" of the
U.S. The new administration of President Obama has provided a
notable respite from such rhetoric nationwide (reftel), but Canada's
perennial desire to differentiate itself from its larger neighbor
means that some anti-Americanism will inevitably creep back in
academic and public discourse. End summary.

CANADIAN ANTI-AMERICANISM NOT A NEW PHENOMENON
--------------------------------------------- ----------

¶2. (SBU) In many ways lacking a strong national identity, Canadians
often define themselves simply by stating what they are not --
American. According to one University of Ottawa professor, Canadian
identity is based largely on those things Canadians feel they "do
better" than the U.S.: e.g., implementing government-run social
welfare programs; abiding by moral underpinnings; establishing a
harmonious yet multicultural and diverse population; and,
peacekeeping rather than peacemaking.

MORE

[saras]

1. If yer not with us yer satanic demons spawned in hell...

[applegrove]

2. I had a grandmother who was born in Nova Scotia in 1898. She saw communism as a blip. She was more

afraid of American domination. Little countries always act like that to big countries. I think it is the same with New Zealand and Australia.