Canada Day: From An American Perspective

I was in Canada recently, during Canada Day. Canada Day is the Canadian version of the 4th of July. A time to celebrate the nation’s independence. The problem is that it just does not compare to the 4th of July; in importance, festivities or celebration. And it comes just 3 days before the 4th of July. Canada Day from an American perspective was an intriguing experience.

Of course, there were still many Canadians celebrating the day. In fact, celebrating Canada Day is one of the very important markers of Canadian supposed difference and sovereignty from the United States. Mentioning Canada as distinct from the United States is part of Canadian national identity. Maybe that’s why they call it “Canada Day,” instead of “the 1st of July.”

While Vancouver was a tolerable city, I was left utterly unimpressed by the country of Canada. Coming from the most powerful and influential nation in the world, the United States, I felt a level of drop off when I touched down on Canadian soil. Mediocrity was in the air.

I visited with a few friends and we thought like any independence day, that festivities would be everywhere. What we found was a lot of foot traffic, but nobody really showing their national pride, and very few people treating it like anything other than just a day off from work.

Despite its famed living standards, I had a few odd experiences in Vancouver. The first night I was there, I passed by a homeless man as I walked down the street. He said something like “have a good one” and I returned the phrase. But the homeless Canadian thought I’d said something else. I don’t know what. He got up in my face and I had to calm him down. He then started saying things in gibberish and possibly in French, until he left my friends and I alone.

Although I repeat myself, there were of other drug addicted homeless people I passed on my trip and I couldn’t help but feel bad for them. In the Chinatown/Gastown area there were people openly smoking crack, and nobody passing by seemed to care. I thought to myself, “I could get this in San Francisco, but then at least I’d be in the tech center of the world.”

It is common for other nations to try to diminish the US, but this is especially so for Canada. Their whole national identity seems to be premised on random differences it has with the US. Never mind the fact that there is much more difference between the South and the West Coast of the US than between the West Coast of the US and the West Coast of Canada. The asymmetric nature of how much Canada and the US focus on each other was palpable.

I was able to see Canadian flags and maple syrup. And I did enjoy exploring the city of Vancouver. But I didn’t see much in the city that showed a national character truly different from the United States, other than in the most peripheral way. I actually came away from my trip to Vancouver feeling disappointed. On the night of Canada Day, we went to a nice restaurant and asked the waitress, “why aren’t more people celebrating?”, she responded with, “The city tamed down celebrations of Canada Day to be respectful towards the indigenous community.” While I could not find evidence of the city of Vancouver doing this, they did strangely cancel the fireworks show, which was a Vancouver tradition for many years.

Experiencing Canada Day from an American perspective allowed me to get a better look at Canada. I can’t say that I saw anything that profound. But that is ok. There is no shame in being a mediocre, peaceful, prosperous nation. Canada lives under the post World War 2 Pax Americana provided by the United States.

They benefit from the US let world order, and have a high quality of life. There just seems to be that lack of spark that you get in the US on the 4th of July. Maybe instead of trying to accentuate the minor differences with the US, Canadians can embrace their similarities with the US and enjoy being friendly neighbors to the world’s greatest power. Either way, happy Canada Day!