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(Since Trump vs Trudeau/Carney is pure culture war, this counts) Every now and again there are throwaway lines in comments here about how Canada is a bad ally, or incompetent, or just generally bad-and-should-feel-bad. And believe me, lots of us do. But those Canadians who disapprove of the direction the country has taken usually do so for internal political reasons (Justin Trudeau, immigration, house prices, indigenous rights-gone-wild, virtue-signalling gun laws, etc). The comments I'm talking about are usually hinting at foreign affairs, but even the most self-hating Canadian usually believes Canada is internationally respected. Please offer below your critiques/complaints about Canada from a foreign affairs/relations standpoint.
As someone in the US, I worry for you guys. You seem like a whole country of Californias but cursed with bad weather. I used to think you guys were friendly enough, but in recent years I've had several Canadians tell me in no uncertain terms that they disdain me and other Americans. I had the best maple syrup candy in Canada when I was a kid and so that's nice. If you guys want to be friends lets be friends.
I don't think you guys conceive yourselves as world powers so hopefully I'm not bursting any bubbles when I say you're not. What does being "internationally respected" mean to you? What would it mean if you weren't internationally respected? I think to be internationally respected would mean that there has to be a group outside Canada that is unified or has collective opinions, and that's not how the world works. I think Western Europe likes you more than they like the USA. I doubt most of the rest of the world thinks about you that much. Even the immigrants who are coming to Canada largely try to use it as a stepping stone to the US.
Perhaps the repeated jokes from the POTUS about Canada being the 51st state and the tariffs had something to do with that. This isn't exactly an unprovoked response, so I'm a bit confused as to why you're surprised?
Canadians take pride in things like peacekeeping missions (see Rwanda), international aid/charity and supporting the UN/international order. Have a good reputation abroad may be a better way to put it than being respected. America might be respected abroad, but after the last 25 years of warmongering, there's a lot of people who dislike them.
I've heard Canadians say they despise Americans before this current presidency. And also, I'd understand if they hated Trump or Republicans but it's not just that. I don't see a problem hating the IRGC, but I would be a monster if I despised Iranians as a category.
Yeah, as far as reputation goes, there's a reason some American tourists have taken to calling themselves Canadian when overseas since the 90s.
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