How America Fills Canada’s Cultural Vacuum

Canadians have a lingering insecurity that most people outside the country aren’t aware of. Unlike the United States, which actively shrugged off its British overlords, Canadians gradually — and legally — evolved into an independent nation. Canada’s steady march towards self-government required constant wrangling, incrementally seeking to prove its worthiness, and therein lies our deepest fear.

Buried in this struggle is a wracking self-doubt over who we are as a people. Canadians have a soft spot for shows of independence because it’s something we lack. Our leaders have long sought to compensate for that by highlighting Canada’s uniqueness, but no matter how hard we try, it just never works.