Part of what I love about the country is it's modesty, but man, Canada really needs to grow some balls sometimes. It's the only way it will get the respect it deserves. People around the world love Canada not because it's great (which it actually), it's because it's non-threatening. It's the nice guy that hot girls go cry to when their bad-boy boyfriend does something bad. Canada is the "friend zone" of the international world.
As a Canadian living in the US, I've definitely grown more pissed off at Canada for not being more assertive and confident on the world stage (ie Stephen Harper actually being proud of being an invisible meek puppet at the Copenhagen conference). It's not about being cocky like the US sometimes tends to do, but having the quiet confidence to propel the country and it's citizens further. You can share an opinion without being an ass, and often times, Canada chooses to just not say anything.
The whole "we're not America" way of doing things is not the way to go though. There is nothing more annoying than a Canadian whose sole purpose is to prove how un-American they are. It's so transparent. A good citizen shows other what they can do, not talks about what they aren't. That's why that fat-ass poet reciting his "we're not them" poem during the opening ceremonies was so lame imo.
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