CANADA: World public opinion

Rob Gaudet replies to David Heap of Canada: "Any American who sews a Canadian maple leaf on his backpack is not "savvy" but rather stupid. I was travelling in Europe all summer and I didn't meet a single one of these impostors. I did, however, see the typical Canadian with the maple leaf. Pretty irritating. But I like to think of it as an expression of America's might that these Canadians feel the terrible impulse to shout their identity lest they be consumed by their larger, more famous, and more powerful neighbor. In the early days of hte Republic, Americans thought about taking over Canada. Ben Franklin counseled against it. He said that it would gradually become part of the USA without any struggle. So far, that is becoming true".

RH: I wonder what David Heap thinks about this. The US also planned to take over Mexico. I wonder what Mexicans think about that. Some argue that with President Fox it is happening. Americans should be aware that a backlash is occurring in South America. The new Brazilian President Lula da Silva calls for a strengthening of Mercosur to stand up to what he calls"annexation" by the US. He has traveled to Argentina and Chile to promote this idea, sand soon he will go to Washington. His conversations with President Bush should be interesting.

Ronald Hilton - 12/4/02