I’ve heard all the jokes: hockey, maple syrup, moose and beavers. All of the things that claim to be “Canadian” are made fun of by Americans and largely embraced by us, because we are “too nice to fight back”? All tropes of the typical Canadian are cringe from the Americans who espouse it, and the Canadians who embrace it – if I am being quite honest. Both Canadians and Americans like to trade tropes to other nations, and reflect on themselves; however, in terms of Canada, I think both Americans and Canadians are blind as to where our real national pride is found. It’s not in our hockey or anything like that, what Canadians love more than anything is being passive-aggressive about being Canadian.
“As Canadians, we are better than this.” This is what I’m talking about. Using the pathos-driven response to play on the emotions of people. Canadians like this are saying “We are the nice ones, so stop being an idiot.” This is rife in Canadian culture, especially amongst the liberals in identity and the Liberal Party supporters.
“The sensibility…of our collective Democracies.” We are just so sensible with Trudeau and one of the strongest democracies in the world! Even though Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on truckers wanting to voice their opinion against vaccine mandates. His lackey put this into action, second in command Chrystia Freeland (who has since resigned from her post as a member of Trudeau’s cabinet) who went forward with the freezing of bank accounts of the truckers and anyone involved in donating to the Freedom Convoy. No one is missing the Wicked Witch of Ottawa and her resignation, and she is not a hero by any stretch of the imagination. Below is a note from one of Chrystia’s notepads that leaked showing that she pushed a narrative on the Freedom Convoy in an act of Hussein-ian despotism.
“We need a new playbook. You need to designate this group as a terrorist group and seize the assets and imprison them.” Sensible democracy, right? You would think this might wake up these liberal Canadians from their stupor, but no, they tend to double down in instances like this in a mask-off moment.
They don’t want freedom in any form, even though they drone on claiming they are the “beacons of democracy” We need to keep our “Canadian sensibilities!” When scouring Twitter, and the profiles of these…people, a common thread emerges on their characteristics as humans and what they support:
- Covidians: support of forever masking, lockdowns, and endless covid boosters.
- Alphabet Mafia: support for the marginalized 2SLGBTQIAA+ “community”
- Mass Graves at Residential Schools: Note this has not been proven
As an aside. An example of pure Canadian passive aggressiveness comes from the responses to evidence that no bones have been found in the supposed “mass graves of residential schools” – such as “Oh so what no bodies were found, still residential schools are bad, and you’re a racist!”
Psychological Explanation
Merely showing the situational examples is anecdotal. We must go deeper to understand the psychological machinations of why certain Canadians act like this. I searched the web asking the question of why Canadians are not nice? Comically, some people provided input on a Reddit site (of all places) under the thread r/unpopularopinion. Even the online lexicon cannot believe that Canadians can be passive-aggressive/mean given it’s framed as an unpopular opinion. Here is some of the feedback I saw describing the attitudes of Canadians:
- Blunt and selfish
- Fake nice, pretentious.
- Less interested in establishing a close relationship, exchanging banter, or even sharing some details about themselves.
- Pleasantries are rarely exchanged.
- Rude and fake.
What makes Canadians act like this? Is there a psychological explanation? One explanation could be the cultural conditioning of Canadians. Being told you’re constantly the “nice people” will surely inflate your ego to the point that if someone doesn’t meet your exact definition of “nice” you tend to manifest that inflated ego in detrimental ways. Furthermore, the concept of group psychology and conformity is applied here. Canadian passive-aggressiveness can arise as a tool to enforce group norms and marginalize dissenters without overt hostility. We call this a sense of moral licensing which is the justified action to: “act like a pretentious jerk because we have the moral high ground”. This suggests that certain Canadians justify aggressive actions under the guise of moral righteousness (e.g., protecting democracy or marginalized communities). This phenomenon, where people feel licensed to act unkindly because of their perceived moral superiority, explains some passive-aggressive tendencies.
Another explanation could be cognitive dissonance and projection. Examples are found with the cheering for the draconian Emergencies Act or the act of calling someone a “racist” if they do not conform to your vision. Labeling critics as “racist” or “ignorant” without engaging in substantive debate reflects a psychological tendency to project flaws of yourself onto others, maintaining a sense of the moral high ground. Furthermore, this action may create internal dissonance, leading to behaviors aimed at maintaining the facade of “niceness” while harboring underlying frustration or judgment.
In my opinion, even speaking as a Canadian myself, the way certain Canadians act may reflect an inferiority complex and overcompensation. Living next to a global superpower like the U.S. might contribute to a national inferiority complex. Passive-aggressiveness becomes a coping mechanism, enabling Canadians to assert cultural distinctiveness without outright confrontation – leading to social facades and emotional inhibition. Traits like being “fake nice” or “pretentious” often stem from an inability or unwillingness to confront uncomfortable emotions openly. These behaviors protect individuals from vulnerability but can alienate others.
Not much is written about this, I rarely see this type of analysis from my country because I think most people are truly blind to their own psychological flaws. Like an inability to admit that we are the little guy compared to the United States? Well, let me tell you, I lived in the U.S., and it is true, that we are insignificant. This meme sums it up perfectly.
I must say, in my research of this, I did find an example of this type of attitude to our neighbors to the south, in a particular area. If Americans reading this want a barometer to compare this Canadian Passive-Aggressiveness to – have you heard of “Minnesota Nice”? Minnesota Nice refers to a stereotype of Minnesotans as being particularly polite, reserved, and conflict-averse. It’s a cultural ethos deeply rooted in Scandinavian and German immigrant traditions, which emphasize humility, community harmony, and modesty. The concept of “Minnesota Nice” shares similarities with Canadian passive-aggressiveness, stemming from similar cultural values and geographic proximity. Both cultures tend to minimize confrontation which can manifest as passive-aggressiveness when unresolved feelings leak out in veiled comments or subtle actions. Both cultures attempt to use “faux politeness” as a shield to mask deeper frustrations. Lastly, both tend to manifest group norms and exclude those who deviate from the perceived collective values – often through subtle digs, and judgmental comments.
One distinction that I find between Minnesota Nice and Canadian Passive-Aggressiveness is that Minnesota Nice tends to lean toward reluctance to engage, resulting in under-communication or avoidance. Whereas Canadian Passive-Aggressiveness incorporates subtle moral superiority or rhetorical devices aimed at defending national or cultural identity (e.g., “As Canadians, we’re better than this”). While “Minnesota Nice” might involve saying “Oh, let me know how I can help” without follow-through, Canadian passive-aggressiveness similarly features platitudes that sound polite but have an edge of insincerity or hidden judgment.
Conclusion
In the end, this analysis of Canadians is not to be a slight on my countrymen – well kind of – but it’s just to reflect; also, my previous experience plays a part in this. I lived in the United States for about a year, Florida to be exact, where I met people not only from all around the world but all across the United States; and I must say, the nicest people that I have ever met from across this globe are the people from places that the lexicon (typically from the media) like to demonize. The nicest people are from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee.
I met a girl in Florida who was from Louisiana, and I decided to invite her over to my apartment to hang out. When I heard the knock and answered the door, there she was holding a big pot and a bunch of fresh food from the grocery store! I mentioned that Cajun food from Louisiana looked so good, so she went out of her way to get ingredients to make authentic Louisiana jambalaya for me – and I mean authentic – like real andouille sausage. This happened many years ago and when I reflect on that, I have never met a Canadian that would go out of their way to cook food for someone that they just met. This happened well over ten years ago and I still remember that night to this day!
In conclusion, I ask Canadians that if you are trying to be nice people – take a page out of the southern US playbook and be authentic in your niceness. Authentic means being nice without even trying, but if there is something you don’t like, you don’t allow that to just happen and remain quiet. That is why the best moment, I think, in our recent history was the Freedom Convoy in 2022. It was authentic anger directed at the government, with no violence, with joy and care for your fellow countrymen and women. The Freedom Convoy was not a fake platitude, it was authentic in a way that many Canadians have not seen before – perhaps why some of the Canadians who are the passive-aggressive type were so angry at the Freedom Convoy attendees: a sign of their own inferiority.
carsonbabich.com 