Read on Twitter
My favorite thing about Canadians is how when you say something good about Canada - ANYTHING, from "universal health coverage seems like a lovely idea" to "your town looks pretty" - is they have to immediately deflect by giving you a list of fucked up things about Canada.
You can literally say "I heard Nanaimo bars are good" and a Canadian will send you a fully researched essay about how the Canadian Human Rights Act is performative and incomplete, with references and footnotes, in one tweet with so many vowels. I really admire this energy.
I appreciate that Canadians don't want U.S. progressives to project bullshit idealism onto their society, as this is an undermining, minimizing and stupid act. And nationalism is dangerous, as we see here. But like...maybe at least one or two things about your country are better?
It would be rad, for example, if an American child broke a leg, to know that kid could go to the ER & the parents wouldn't have to worry about paying rent. Just saying, Canada, feels like that and butter tarts are objectively great! I know you're still fucked up and racist!
Contrast this with these United States, where tall poppies are mashed into the heroin of nationalism (give me a Pulitzer for this now), and if you say "the U.S. did a thing wrong" we are born and bred to say "FUCK YOU WE GOT REAL GOOD BURGERS AND FRIES YOU FUCK." Fascinating.
I know so much about how fucked up Canada is, and it's largely because when I've ventured to say a nice thing, I get a sermon on truly terrible things about Canada. This is the inverse of what would happen if you said one bad thing about the U.S. to most Americans.
And THEN when you write a Twitter thread lightly roasting and complimenting Canadians for their modesty and for their willingness to acknowledge and educate others on their country's abuses, they're like, "Yes but also we do that wrong." It's so wild.
However, I will say that Canadians will always tell you if someone or something great is Canadian. Or if that person even lived for six months in, like Saskatoon or something when they were an infant. Any celebrity. Any person who did something good. Any product of any kind.
It's wonderful to talk to people who are committed to engaging with and changing the abusive and unfair things about their community - whether that's a town, a province, a region, an entire country. I really admire it. (Now watch Canadians deflect this compliment too.)
Anyway, in conclusion, Canada, I know there are a lot of assholes and racists and shitheads in your country, and that you've got a legacy of fucked up garbage, but I still would say I think you're beautiful and increasingly diverse. Also your love language is avoidant.
I'm sure I hear more Canadians criticizing Canada re: various issues because I tend to hang out with activists, social workers, etc. online and IRL. This article is a good resource for some of the stuff some of these friends have taught me over the years! https://www.ellecanada.com/culture/society/11-indigenous-organizations-to-support
ALSO I ENJOY COLD WEATHER okay bye from Southern California.
Wait one more thing: if you are reading this and you are not Canadian, try finding a group of them and asking who likes butter tarts with raisins. This may vary regionally but my observation is that they will fight each other until they draw blood. It's evil to do this but do it.
P.S. Full disclosure, my cousins are Canadian and their parents emigrated to Canada in the '70s and they all love Canada (with caveats bc Canada) so I was raised with full Canadian propaganda, which is why I read the Bruno and Boots books and now you know my deep bias. Tee hee!
P.P.S. Here are some of my favorite Canadian books BESIDES Bruno & Boots books and Anne of Green Gables etc.: Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King; anything Alice Munro; Buddy Cole's stirring memoir by Scott Thompson...plus I must read some of these https://www.cbc.ca/books/100-young-adult-books-that-make-you-proud-to-be-canadian-1.4197577
P.P.P.S. Feel free to drop your favorite younger or lesser-known Canadian authors in the comments, because Grandma Sara loves a good read!
P.P.P.P.S. As ever, I love that people who've been on this platform for years don't know how to read threads. It is hilarious. BUT. I realized thanks to comments that I forgot to point out one of my favorite Canadian things...passive aggression. It is so beautiful.
P.P.P.P.P.S. Also...I KNOW YOU GUYS STILL THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN US. That's what is so fun about ALL OF THIS. God, you're hot. But cold.
I didn't mention hockey in this thread, not even once. Yet the replies mention hockey with frequency. Beautiful.
