A survey that can’t be ignored

Canada has a lot of problems.  Every year Canada has more problems because Canadian governments continually cause new problems that never get fixed.  The primary reason problems never get resolved is that the average Canadian denies the very existence of problems.

Canadians are a weird lot.  Our uniquely odd form of isolation has disconnected many Canadians from reality.  Canada only borders one other country.  There are only 14 other countries that can say that, but what makes Canada so weird is the country that we do border.  Canada shares the north half of a huge continent with the most powerful nation the earth has ever seen.

For more than 100 years that nation, the US, has treated Canada benevolently.  Americans view Canada as their irresponsible, possibly retarded, little brother.  The isolation and benevolent treatment by our only neighbor have made life very easy for Canadians.  It also disconnects us from the real world.  Canadians don’t worry about invasions or unstable countries on our borders.  These are real world problems that at some time affect almost every country except Canada.

The net result of this weird isolation is that Canadians are delusional.  They have come to believe that Canada is a utopia without problems.  It isn’t true but Canadians believe it.  They believe it so fervently that when anyone tries to highlight a problem conversation is shut down immediately.  The most common tactic used to shut down any discussion of problems is to point to some international survey that ranks Canada high in some meaningless metric.  This is not really evidence of the absence of problems but being Canadian means you never have to deal with evidence.

I am not a very good Canadian because I don’t get this line of thinking.  The survey results come from asking people who do not live or know much about Canada what their impression of Canada is.  How is that even relevant let alone evidence that Canada has no problems?  And more importantly, is it true?  Do foreigners see Canada as the utopia that Canadians believe it to be?  Judging by the world cup it would seem not.

The world cup came to North American.  Games were split between Mexica, Canada, and the US.  It was a smashing success in the US.  Fans flocked to the American games and spent their hard-earned cash vacationing in America.  Canada was anticipating the same, but it did not happen.  The world cup was a disappointing money losing endeavor in Canada.  The tourists did not show up.

Security for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup cost Canadian taxpayers more than $231 million, making it one of the largest federal expenses tied to hosting the international soccer tournament, according to documents tabled before the Senate.

Toronto sold barely a third of its premium FIFA Fan Fest Tickets, early data shows, potentially damaging a plan it launched to help manage escalating costs during the 2026 World Cup.

So, when people were asked to vote with their money, they chose the US over Canada by a wide margin.  People might think highly about Canada, but they would much rather be in the US.  Tourists chose Donald Trump’s fascist America over the Canadian utopia.  That should cause Canadians to rethink both those narratives; but it won’t.