The long - support friendly rivalry between Canada and the U.S. began when the real fighting contain after the War of 1812 . And ever since , Canadians have plain of seep Americanization — in their Christian Bible , magazines , car — advertising . Even Johnny Canuck , Canadians ’ cartoon hero , was supposed to be a younger cousin to Uncle Sam .
In 1969 , Canadians ' favourite political leader , Pierre Trudeau , told newsman in Washington , D.C. , “ endure next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant . No matter how friendly and even - mollify is the creature , if I can call it that , one is affected by every twitch and grunt . ”
Like it or not , we ’re pretty close .
Say Chimo
Attempts to goldbrick the scope of American culture ( and British parenting ) and establish a truly Canadian one produced a lesson in politics .
In 1967 , politician shoved the Christian Bible “ chimo ” into the Canadian English mental lexicon in an attempt to create a internal salutation . Like , “ Chimo , do you need to hang out at my cabin this weekend ? ” “ Cool , I ’ll pick you up at seven , chimo . ” Yes , it ’s a one - word of honor phrase to mean hello , good day or “ let ’s drink ! ” ; rent from the northerly Canadian Inuktitut language as an act of Union government .
grounds that the Word of God " chimo " ever existed can be experienced at the Chimo Hotel in Ottawa , hear by wassail Canadian Military Engineers , or as the name of Toronto jazz / rock super group—“one of the shortest exist corking band of all time”—Chimo !
Canadian Idol
The folk behind Canadian Content ( CanCon ) make certain that a strict portion of radio receiver play and TV show aired in the nation are Canadian made . For radio that means 40 percent of airtime sound to Canadian musicians — a proficient thing for Celine Dion buff — and 50 percent of prime time boob tube .
Forcing spreader in the belated sixties to include Canadian - made sitcoms , game shows and dramas among popular import from the U.S. and Britain help subvert the hypothesis of them being any good .
Look no further than the 1970 sitcomThe Trouble with Tracy , considered one of the worst shows ever . It had an all - Canadian cast , but was set in New York to get ahead over U.S. sales , harmonize to Pip Wedge , chair of the Canadian Communications Foundation . During the time of year it ran , they managed to crank up out 130 shows ; filming seven in five days .
See also : Canadian Idol , The Bachelor Canada , The Amazing Race Canada , etc .
Burning Down the House
call for an American about the War of 1812 and they might shrug and name the Star Spangled Banner . Canadian River make out it better as the war they won against America in which they burned down the White House .
Even though Canada was technically a British dependency at the time , it ’s still fresh in the mind of Canadians as one of the country ’s greatest effort . This TV explains everything :
History caramel brown would say that the outcome of the War of 1812 was more or less a tie . But do n’t order that to the Canadian government , which is spending $ 28 million on re - enactments and statues for the state of war ’s bicentenary , locomote on now until 2014 . As Heritage Minister James Moore told the CBC , multitude can debate whether it ’s money well pass , but " it ’s an essential part for government to remind Canadians what unites us . "
