Do you think that, in the future, Canada will grow more or less distinctive from the US culturally?

[wild goose chase]

It's a commonly heard cliche that Canadian identity is not easily defined or we have a hard time separating "our culture" from the Americans'.

Do you think, moving forward, Canadian identity will become more well-defined? Perhaps, we will start to develop aspects of culture, music, art, cuisine that we can claim to be "our own", homegrown and distinct.

On the other hand, we still have the general trend of our artists/celebrities going to or being shared with the US so that outsiders can't really tell us and our media apart, as part of a generic North American culture.

Globalization is also making cultures more similar generally worldwide with mass media, fashion etc., plus even within the US, cultures may already be somewhat less distinct (eg. among young people, regional US accents, whether Brooklyn or Texan, seem far less common than in their parents and grandparents). But a resurgence of local pride could always be a possibility.

What do you think the future holds?

 

[howl]

In Canada we have Lay's Butter Chicken Potato Chips.

In the USA Ketchup Chips are too exotic.

 

[OscarHolder]

I feel that we Canadian are progressing day by day in every aspect of life. I feel that we are kinda similar to the US culture. But it is always better to have our own identity

 

[wild goose chase]

I know it sounds totally cliche but I must admit to at times, wishing Canadians had a bit more of a distinctive identity to show others.
I've been asked a surprising amount of questions by non-North Americans which relate to this, and it's hard to give an answer without looking like a comedic illustration of the narcissism of small differences.

I remember even once being asked by someone from Europe if I would go home and cook Canadian food for dinner (to which I was at a loss to reply ), and have had many people put me on the spot as to what the differences between "my country" and the US are.

 

[Johnny Au]

At least nobody outside of North America would view poutine as American, despite poutine quickly gaining popularity in hipster areas of various American cities.

Poutine is one of those Canadian foods that are not American. In fact, poutine is considered Canada's unofficial national dish.

Disco fries (common in the NYC area) are similar, but not related to poutine (and even poutine proper is gaining popularity in the NYC area as well).

 

[AndreaPalladio]

 

[picard102]

We'll become more like them.
While we export our talent to US media, our own media is lacklustre to say the least. So by default, more Canadians will chose American media, and be shaped by it.

 

[vatche]

You can tell the difference between the US and canada only if/when u live in both countries, like I'm doing now. We're becoming more and more different.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I think we're becoming more distinct, but not in our standard entertainment, as that's becoming universal, at least across the English-speaking world. I think the distinction is more politically and cultural.

 

[King of Kensington]

I think less distinctive. The Canada of say, the Diefenbaker era, strikes me as more different from the U.S. than is the case today.

Seymour Martin Lipset, an American political sociologist who wrote a lot about Canada had this to say in the late 1960s:

"Nationalism in English Canada has undergone some curious changes from the time it represented a left-wing, often pro-United States protest against the Imperial connection, and the closed economic-political-ecclesiastial sustained by this connection...In the past decades the world image of the United States has changed drastically. Relatively few in the world still see the United States in the idealistic terms with which it views itself. To the leaders of the underdeveloped and communist world, and to many in the developed world, including Canada as well, the United States is now the leading defender of conservative traditional social forms, and is governed from within by an oligarchy or power elite. Many Canadians now seek to defend the integrity of Canada against the United States by defining their own country as more humane, more egalitarian, more democratic and more anti-imperialist than the United States. Many Canadians now view their country as more 'leftist' or liberal than the United States. Whether this shift in definition of the character of Canada's chief reference group, the United States, will also affect Canadian values, remains to be seen. Canada's "swinging" prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fits the 'new' Canadian image better than any previous political leader in both ideology and personal style. Ironically, the shift symbolized by Trudeau in Canada's self-image from that of a nation to the right of the United States to one on its left may in the long run contribute strongly to eliminating the relatively small differences between the values of the two countries. For a democratic leftist ideology is synonymous with the social content of Americanism. As Frank Underhill has pointed out to his fellow Canadians: "If we eventually satisfy ourselves that we have at least achieved a Canadian identity, it will only be when we are satisfied that we have arrived at a better American way of life than the Americans have."

Fast-forward to today: it's hard to think of a time when the US and Canadian national leaders (Obama and Trudeau II) seem to as much on the same page. Trudeau's campaign was very much a Canadian version of the Obama campaign.

 

[junior43]

Fast-forward to today: it's hard to think of a time when the US and Canadian national leaders (Obama and Trudeau II) seem to as much on the same page. Trudeau's campaign was very much a Canadian version of the Obama campaign.

Mulroney-Reagan were very close. They even sang a duet at one point at a function (Irish eyes are smiling IIRC)

And Trudeau's campaign should remind you of Obama's. He used the exact same companies and techniques and even sought advice from the DNC. That was their main goal in planning this election. Which is actually similar to how Harper got in using the GOP's techniques.

As to the thread topic:

I'd almost argue the US is becoming more like us in some ways. They are trying to pass laws for healthcare (Obamacare) and they may actually move to restrict gun ownership (but I doubt it, and it won't really help anyways (short term), the guns are already out there.)

Both will always be similar, but slightly different, we're giant neighbours, and their media, as someone mentioned, is taking over the English speaking world in general, not just us.

I remember from one movie - We're America lite. I take that as similar to the US, but without the bad parts.

 

[King of Kensington]

Mulroney-Reagan were very close. They even sang a duet at one point at a function (Irish eyes are smiling IIRC)

They had a generally good relationship but Mulroney more of a pragmatist than a "true believer" in the Reagan/Thatcher mold and he took more progressive positions on the environment, diplomacy etc. I personally think Mulroney was a terrible PM, so that's about as kind as I'll be.

 

[King of Kensington]

Nearly a decade of Harper, as well as the election of Obama in the US, really did a lot to kill off left-nationalism.

 

[WislaHD]

I also view Canada as America-lite, America without all the bad parts. We strive to be what the American left could only hope to accomplish.

Culturally, we will always be weird (to Americans) in our British, French Canadian, hockey loving way, but I do feel like Canada is becoming more regionalized. I believe Toronto is firmly creating its own kind of cultural identity as the city assumes its place as a 'global city'.

Another major factor is that Canada is also a lot more urbanized than the United States, and that Canada's urban regions are a lot more diverse, multicultural and perhaps most importantly, tolerant, than the States is as well. These are big big massive assets not just economically, but socially and culturally too. It makes Canada a desirable place for the world's brightest workers to relocate to.

One last thing to talk about is political culture. Canada ideologically speaking might be closer to the American political spectrum, but the Canadian political scene is most definitely not in any way American. This is best demonstrated by comparing election debates between the two countries, American debates pander to crap while Canadian debates actually discuss issues (even if some of the time it isn't to as high of a standard to our liking) and have substance. American political scene is dominated by wedge social issues while the Canadian political scene is dominated by economics and policy platforms of each party/candidate. The Canadian electorate is a lot better informed and expect a much higher standard of discourse than their American counterparts. In these regards, Canadian political culture is a lot more similar to British and European political culture than it is American. (Even if we sometimes mirror American political trends, like Harper's GOP strategy, Trudeau's Obama strategy, Mulroney and Reagan relationship)

 

[wild goose chase]

I think less distinctive. The Canada of say, the Diefenbaker era, strikes me as more different from the U.S. than is the case today.

Seymour Martin Lipset, an American political sociologist who wrote a lot about Canada had this to say in the late 1960s:

"Nationalism in English Canada has undergone some curious changes from the time it represented a left-wing, often pro-United States protest against the Imperial connection, and the closed economic-political-ecclesiastial sustained by this connection...In the past decades the world image of the United States has changed drastically. Relatively few in the world still see the United States in the idealistic terms with which it views itself. To the leaders of the underdeveloped and communist world, and to many in the developed world, including Canada as well, the United States is now the leading defender of conservative traditional social forms, and is governed from within by an oligarchy or power elite. Many Canadians now seek to defend the integrity of Canada against the United States by defining their own country as more humane, more egalitarian, more democratic and more anti-imperialist than the United States. Many Canadians now view their country as more 'leftist' or liberal than the United States. Whether this shift in definition of the character of Canada's chief reference group, the United States, will also affect Canadian values, remains to be seen. Canada's "swinging" prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fits the 'new' Canadian image better than any previous political leader in both ideology and personal style. Ironically, the shift symbolized by Trudeau in Canada's self-image from that of a nation to the right of the United States to one on its left may in the long run contribute strongly to eliminating the relatively small differences between the values of the two countries. For a democratic leftist ideology is synonymous with the social content of Americanism. As Frank Underhill has pointed out to his fellow Canadians: "If we eventually satisfy ourselves that we have at least achieved a Canadian identity, it will only be when we are satisfied that we have arrived at a better American way of life than the Americans have."

Fast-forward to today: it's hard to think of a time when the US and Canadian national leaders (Obama and Trudeau II) seem to as much on the same page. Trudeau's campaign was very much a Canadian version of the Obama campaign.

Well, there is this book written in 2003, Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, which claims that Canada and the US are diverging rather than converging, culturally and politically, based on surveys on social attitudes from the late 20th century.

http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Ice-United-States-Converging/dp/0143014234