WASHINGTON — Their sports columnists may be eviscerating our Winter Games, their congressional representatives may still not see the harm in “Buy American,” and most of them likely don’t know Ottawa from Moose Jaw.
But nonetheless, Americans love us.
Canada is once again on top in Gallup’s annual country ratings list, with 90 per cent of Americans viewing their northern neighbour favourably.
Britain is right behind Canada at 87 per cent, while Iran is at the bottom of the list with only 10 per cent of U.S. citizens feeling the love.
“What’s not to like about Canada?” Lydia Saad, a senior editor at Gallup, said Friday.
A longtime observer of Canada-U.S. relations says the rave reviews are likely due to Americans viewing Canadians as — well — similar to Americans.
“A lot of people in the United States have met people from Canada,” David Biette, director of the Canadian Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said Friday. “Canadians are respectful and nice when they travel here, they don’t have an accent except for when they say ’about,’ they look like Americans, they eat the same food as Americans, and so they feel familiar to Americans.”