Only Eight Per Cent of Americans Know Identity of Canada's PM, Poll Indicates

Canadian Press in The Ottawa Citizen ^ | December 1, 2002) | Donald McKenzie

[Gunrunner2]

Excellent. . .(wiping cold drink from nose, calling for rag)

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Where is Canada? Is that north of Boston?

[marshmallow]

Anecdote:

Margaret Thatcher was on her way to Canada on an official visit, back in the '80s. On board the plane was her husband, Dennis. Never one to mince his words, especially after a few gin and tonics, Dennis decided to pay a visit to the press corps at the rear of the plane.

"Do you know what Canada is full of?" he enquired.

"Er...no", replied a somewhat startled group of journalists.

"Canada is full of f*#k all", replied Dennis and promptly disappeared.

A short while later, so the story goes, a worried looking Prime Ministerial aide appeared in the press section.

"I believe that Mr. Thatcher was down here not long ago"

"Uh-huh"

"Did he ..........er.........say anything?"

"Yes, he said that Canada was full of f*#k all"

A visibly reddened aide turned and ran.

Mr. Thatcher had no more conversations with the traveling press corps during that flight.

[lilylangtree]

How come I wasn't asked? I miss all the polls.

[Snowyman]

Kind of like Voltaire and his few acres of snow.

Well Europeans weren't overly bright in the 20th century either.

[Drango]

WOW .... 8% is alot !!!

Yes, and still it's higher than the 5% of Candaians who know the name of their #$^&*( PM.

[x]

You'd probably have gotten similar -- or even smaller --numbers if you'd asked Americans who the Canadian Prime Minister was at any time since Canada's founding, but Chretien has done so little to make himself known to Americans -- or maybe even to Canadians. Maybe he should derive some pleasure from his non-conspicuousness, if people knew him better, they might not like him any better.

[Lloyd227]

"Only Eight Per Cent of Americans Know Identity of Canada's PM"

And 8% is more than I would have guessed.

As a rather typical "Ugly American", I can't imagine what I would need to know about Canada other than their healthcare sucks, their money looks funny, and they send some pretty decent comedians and computer programmers down south where they can make a decent living.

Canada is hardly a world player,so who cares who their Prime Minister is?

[Little Bill]

Many of us Americans look at Canada as sort of a U.S. territory.

My mothers family is Canadian, my Grandfathers attitude after he became Yanktified was: "Grandpa, why don't you go back and visit?" Grandpa, "F'em they know were I live." True story.

[JoeFromCA]

I spend about a month each year in Canada, so let me give everybody the perspective of a conservative who knows the place pretty well.
Right now the liberals are are in control. That's changing, as it did in the US--the conservatives are winning local and provincial elections and may soon capture the national elections, including PM. Sure, it's more liberal than the US, but if everybody in the US who wants to be one the dole figured out how to vote, I guarantee you the US would be just as liberal.
Canada has about 33 million people, about 1/10 the population of the US. That makes Canada's economy by definition much less "important" than the US economy. However, most of its inhabitants (cesspools like Toronto aside) are of western European origin and know how to work and how to obey the law--the crime rate is extremely low, especially compared to the US.
Everybody in Canada recognizes that the US knows very little about them, and accepts it. Every Canadian I have ever met acknowledges how important the US is to its economy and culture. It's bound to be with 10 times as many people, better ports, and a milder climate.
So don't be too hard on Canada. If we judged the US only by the activities of Bill and Hillary and the other dems when they were in control, we'd look pretty bad too.

[Malcolm]

LOL, no guts, no glory. Canadians hide behind America's shadow, both economically and militarily, so someone in a "shadow" doesn't merit much attention. Plus, most news from Canada regarding the US is of a negative nature anyway, the "moron" flap just the latest example. Canada considers herself more of a European nation than an American one anyway, mostly leftist and anti-US. Why would Americans want to study that nation, given all the negativity she directs at us? And why shouldn't the US be "inward looking?" We created a great nation, not by empire but by hard work and good values. Pardon us if we marvel at the grace of G-d, and the honest work of our hands. I know who is PM of Canada because I study politics as a hobby. But how important is knowledge of Canada to the average American? Chretien is just another in a long line of anti-US jacka--es, so why bother to learn this or any other Canadian info???

[muawiyah]

Ohio is half as populous as Canada, and I betcha not 1% of Canadians know who is governor of Ohio - and they border that state!

Hey, right? Ohio does have a governor doesn't it?

[twyn1]

Aha, so she really is a skank.

[Exit148]

I wonder how many Americans know who their Governor is, or their Senator's names ----- or can pick their state out on a map.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

forgot to wear underwear? Yeah right.

[kidd]

Canada (30M) has a population that is smaller than California (34M), but larger than Texas (21M).

I wonder how many non-Texan Americans know who is governor of Texas?