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For both of you if necro posting is your most serious problem you have a good life.
A more serious answer is the rather bigoted and unfounded assumption that Americans know nothing about Canada. Rick Mercer's "This Hour Has 24 Minutes" played on that belief and belittled Americans as being morons. My Walter Mitty dream was to have Rick find me, and take him on a merry tour of Canadian history, government and politics on camera. Of course, though, he wouldn't use the footage of the tables being turned. I might ask him, for example:
The proposed name for the combined province that was supposed to take in the land or the current Alberta and Saskatchewan;
The difference between Vimy Ridge and Dieppe;
Whether PM Campbell or Tupper served less time;
To explain the workings of the King-Byng affair; or
The name of the dead dog PM King seanced with (OK, I don't know that one).
You've done nothing whatsoever to prove to the contrary that MOST Americans know absolutely nothing of Canada. Those of us who have spent considerable time in the U.S. over many years duration can attest to the fact that while the title just refers to Americans in general, it is a fact that MOST Americans know little to nothing and they will be the first to tell you so.
You're the rare exception jb.
Rick Mercer didn't make anyone look like morons - a lack of knowledge of Canada hardly makes one a "moron".
Their were others who appeared in similar street performance interviews arranged by a bunch of people - some of them Americans like Jay Leno and Kimmy Kimmel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReN82pdVZ4c
Unless that guy was playing with the Kimmy Kimmel he seems extraordinarily stupid. When Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states it was a big deal. In fact my family had one of the few 49 star flags issued during the year in between their admissions.
But you haven't given me anything to demonstrate that my knowledge of Canada is above average. The truth is, quite the contrary.
I think most Canadians forget that the US is the 3rd most populous nation in the world behind China and India. Ask many in those countries what they know about Canada and what they know about the US and the result should be predictable. Canada is generally forgettable. My guess is that when asked globally, people would say -
- Canadians are nice people,
- Canada is cold,
- Canada borders the US,
- Canada has Niagara Falls,
- they play hockey in Canada.
In population, Canada is 39th between Poland and Morocco. Americans probably know more about Canada than Poland or Morocco so that’s a plus.
Now you’d argue with the longest undefended border, and the greatest export destination, that many Americans should know more about Canada, but Canada doesn’t make the news much, doesn’t raise waves, and someone in Los Angeles would culturally and physically be more interested in Mexico anyway.
My kids spent a couple of weeks in Social Studies studying Canada, and now they’re on to other countries.
Canada is not less significant. It's in the G7, NATO, UN, Commonwealth of Nations,and member of the Five Eyes and has it's own space program working in tandem with NASA missions, among other things.
I travelled in USA in a camper for nearly 2 years on the road on the west coast and mid-west.
i have visited the east coast and the South a couple of times. My relatives live in those areas.
How did you get here? Dog sled? I told people I was from Alberta, Canada and was asked "What state is that?" "Do you really live in igloos?" One person wanted to know if we drink cow's milk.
Another asked me if I knew their friend Bob, "he lives up there". "Why would anyone want to go to Canada when they live in the greatest country in the world."
What does bother me is America still thinks they win all the wars. Allies were already engaged for 2 years in WW2 before America entered it.
As I've said many times before, it seems to me that before being concerned about whether Americans (or any other foreign nationalities) pay sufficient attention to Canada and its particularities, perhaps Canadians themselves should be more attuned to their own stuff.
Unless that guy was playing with the Kimmy Kimmel he seems extraordinarily stupid. When Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states it was a big deal. In fact my family had one of the few 49 star flags issued during the year in between their admissions.
But you haven't given me anything to demonstrate that my knowledge of Canada is above average. The truth is, quite the contrary.
We'll just have to agree to disagree, because the knowledge of Canada you've presented here on C/D, whether just garnered by instant google or not, puts you head and shoulders above MOST of your compatriots.
We'll just have to agree to disagree, because the knowledge of Canada you've presented here on C/D, whether just garnered by instant google or not, puts you head and shoulders above MOST of your compatriots.
To answer your implicit question, I only google when I want information I don't know offhand.
If you ask me or most Americans who Canada's first PM's were they would know it was Macdonald followed by Mackenzie followed by Macdonald. I didn't know that until I recently read Pierre Berton's The Impossible Railway. I venture to guess that most Americans know that from childhood, as well as American Presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers in order. I first learned about Pierre Trudeau when I read Trudeau; Son of Quebec, Father of Canada. I first learned about Brian Mulroney by reading On the Take.
That was hilarious. I can't believe that people are dumb enough to think southern Alberta has igloos.
Hard to believe, but true. I had people asking me the exact same question about southern British Columbia the first time I visited California in 1965. I was also informed that Canadians don't drink milk or eat beef because Canada doesn't have dairy cows or beef cattle. I've been asked about that on other occassions since then too.
To answer your implicit question, I only google when I want information I don't know offhand.
If you ask me or most Americans who Canada's first PM's were they would know it was Macdonald followed by Mackenzie followed by Macdonald. I didn't know that until I recently read Pierre Berton's The Impossible Railway. I venture to guess that most Americans know that from childhood, as well as American Presidents and Canadian Prime Ministers in order. I first learned about Pierre Trudeau when I read Trudeau; Son of Quebec, Father of Canada. I first learned about Brian Mulroney by reading On the Take.
That was hilarious. I can't believe that people are dumb enough to think southern Alberta has igloos.
Again; we're going to have to disagree as MOST Americans would NOT know the first Prime Minister of Canada, much less know them all in the order they served to present day.
Again: I would opine you are the rare exception by knowing AND for even having shown any interest in knowing.
As A/J has chimed in with his opinion again; I'll go him one better and agree with his opinion in that it would not be normal for MOST Canadians to know those Prime Ministers in order. Most might know a couple of them such as Laurier and McDonald that are pictured on Canadian currency but quite probably not the two pictured on the $50.00 (King) and $100.00 (Borden) bills.
A couple of them formed such a brief footnote in our history such as Clark and Campbell, that I would opine they'd be mentioned only briefly in any political science classes.
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I know! Mea culpa. I'm so bad. 
You're so right and I feel terrible about rising to bad bait. 
I should practise what I preach. 
Maybe I should go back to being a Pollyanna again instead. 
